Soldering quality concern

[Grumpy Gasman]

Angle of the trv pipe is off but there is wiggle room on the radiator, or i may adjust the copper length on the horizontal. (It was fine on dry fit....)
View attachment 163253

Absolute mess.
Best place for that pipework is in the scrap bag.
“Wiggle room”?...that’ll be a shed load of wiggle room required to straighten that atrocity.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

I know they're more expensive and don't look as neat but solder ring fittings are easier if you're out of practice or learning. The joint in pic 3 looks a bit ish, the others should hold water.

 

[wrightsonm]

The draincock should be horizontal...you'll have fun trying to remove the washer when it's stuck on the seating. Just use a cloth backed emery type abrasive for the pipe ends and a proper pipe fittings cleaning brush eg. Monument. Flux and solder.

Rightly or wrongly, all of the other drain cocks are orientated downwards in the rest of the house and they open / close just fine. What is the issue if it points downwards?

 

[Grumpy Gasman]

What is the issue if it points downwards?

Ball-ache when trying to insert a tool in order to remove a stuck DOC washer, the other being the seating is not visable.
Magnetite/debri will collect on the seating causing a blockage when opening the DOC, considering a tool can’t be inserted in order to clear the blockage then.....

 

[wrightsonm]

Dissection complete.
Conclusion: rubbish joint!

 

[mattylad]

I'm no plumber but I would say that's pretty burnt.
Too much heat for too long.
Work quicker, be more accurate with where you apply the heat, do not apply the solder until the correct heat has been achieved, practice more.

 

[wrightsonm]

Yes i agree.

I tried the joint again with a new fitting, new pipe on the RHS and made the final connection elsewhere to close the loop.

Took much less heat to flow the solder this time.
Used wire wool which left a lovely clean surface, much better than the emery cloth I'd been using before.

More practice im sure would help!

 

[wrightsonm]

I'm no plumber but I would say that's pretty burnt.
Too much heat for too long.
Work quicker, be more accurate with where you apply the heat, do not apply the solder until the correct heat has been achieved, practice more.

It wasnt great before i tried to heat it out before giving up and then cutting it out to the finally heat and separate to see what it looked like. Reassuringly, the side I thought was ok was. And the side that wasnt, wasn't!

 

[FiremanT]

have you redone the left hand rad connection, or filled up yet?
If not, I note that you said it was correct on dry fitting. That suggests to me that one of the elbows connecting the short horizantal tube has moved, and the pipe is only just inserted.

Also, and this is for other budding DIYers reading this, it would have been better and easier to wrap most of the length of the tube in the chase BEFORE fitting into the wall

 

[wrightsonm]

I rotated one of the joints such that the pipe to the trv was much closer to vertical. Some of the 90 degree pieces weren't 90 by the time the solder had cooled.

Yeah still need to lag the pipe. Thought id do that after I had finished with the blow torch, but I suspect you are right that it is now going to be much harder!

Water is On , boiler on. rads bled. No wet patches!

 

[John D v2.0]

If it really is the last joint causing the problem it could be that the internal volume of the pipe work is sealed in and expanding with the heat. Admittedly you have confirmed the drain chick was out so it wouldn't happen in all of your joints.
I did that myself the first time i was capping off an unused pipe, and the heat from the soldering expanded the air inside the pipe and caused it to move and have a leak. Although i could see it spitting straight away so I realised.
Disclaimer I'm not a pro!

 

[durhamplumber]

other issue I think you have is too much heat.

Agreed..All looks like it has had way too much heat.

 

[durhamplumber]

clean with wire wool, not emery, which leaves grit fragments embedded in the metal.

wipe clean with cotton cloth

Never had any problem with emery .Wire wool is crap...especially tiny bits on S/S sinks that make an almighty mess if left.

 

[durhamplumber]

Rightly or wrongly, all of the other drain cocks are orientated downwards in the rest of the house and they open / close just fine. What is the issue if it points downwards?

Nothing.shove screwdriver up drain off if washer sticks.

 

[Deleted member 221031]

but any cooler and the solder wouldn't melt on the copper.

It will and does. Just takes a few seconds longer