Mike Lamb Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 This 2" piping is from an old toilet. It feeds water from the wall mounted tank to the bowl and is leaking at its connection. I think it is brass. What do you suggest? Should I take it apart and try to re-solder? I have never done brass soldering. Click to Enlarge 65.32 KB Click to Enlarge 79.56 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 This 2" piping is from an old toilet. It feeds water from the wall mounted tank to the bowl and is leaking at its connection. I think it is brass. What do you suggest? Should I take it apart and try to re-solder? I have never done brass soldering. Brass solders beautifully. If you've ever soldered a piece of copper tubing to a brass fitting or valve body, you've soldered brass. It looks like an easy repair. The toughest part will be figuring out how to hold it while you work on it. - Jim Katen, Oregon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 What Jim said. When I sweat big copper, I use vise grips to hold a tiny corner of the object, and then mount the vice grips in one of my bench vices. You might have to disassemble the joint and then reassemble it. Don't overheat/burn the joint, or you're screwed. Get a decent swirl head; they've got nice one's at Community Plumbing down on Lake just west of Halsted. Orient the joint so you get good flow; I know, I know, but for whatever reason, I get better results when I get the joint vertical (meaning, in this case, the pipe would be horizontal), and it makes the wipe easier because any overfeed runs to the bottom and hangs there instead of running down the pipe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randynavarro Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Brass takes more heat, yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted June 29, 2009 Report Share Posted June 29, 2009 Honestly, I don't know. I heat the stuff until the solder flows and sucks into the joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Lamb Posted June 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 This piece is available in chrome but not easy to find. I made a mistake in trusting a plumbing guy re: the length and wasted a trip to Villa Park this afternoon. I thought I would save time rather than trying to sweat this myself which I am told is brass ass tricky for larger pipe. The pipe and offset was perfect only the length was an inch short. Rats. I'd rather be doing inspections. Then I could say, "This pipe sticking out of your 80 year old toilet is leaking. Get it fixed." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted June 30, 2009 Report Share Posted June 30, 2009 You just need a powerful enough torch. The basic Bernzomatic is a little tricky for 2" pipe. After that, it's not much, or any, different than copper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Mike, you could have sent it priority mail and I would have had it done and back to you! The charge would have been one cartoon, featuring Kurt, Jimmy M and Scott P. ya know something like those dogs playing poker or that guy on tv that tries to heard cats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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