Which Is Better Solder or Braze? | Pressure Test

Son caños de cobre chinos con costura. Por eso explotaron de esa manera. Son caños de cobre de mala calidad.

This tube is crap

Yes I used to blow up hydraulic hoses at 10,000 psi and above to validate rated working pressures.

I was almost done installing my HVAC unit and my oxygen regulator popped. I ended up tig brazing my last joint on the suction line. It worked surprisingly well and didn’t ruin anything lol

Yes type k definitely do that one

I skipped ahead more than 10 minutes and he hasn’t even started the test

I regularly repair copper pipes after they froze and it's always the pipe that fails never the fittings or joints.

To me one factor that could be important is the behavior when it comes to thermal cycling and low temperatures that you see in refrigerant system. Tin has the ability to change state to a non-metallic state through a process called tin pest. That can be initiated at low temperatures (-30 to -40 degrees C), so that's why brazing is better for refrigerant systems.

If you find yourself needing to silver solder something use the flux. Also silicon bronze would be brazing this is still soldering.

map gas

Now i can rest easy about all those solder joints ive buried. Never been taught to braze.

The journeyman who taught me all ways said real plumbers wipe there joints. I always did it, but glad to see someone else out there doing it to. Brown jerseys and b tanks for the win

It would be helpful to dispel the concern over lead solder.

If you cannot use an inert gas in the pipe during brazing than you will ruin the pipe. Soldering does not require that much temp to ruin the pipe with just air inside. So look at cost. You have to have a tank and regulator to be able to braze. You do not to silver solder.

Hes paid by pex and sharkbite, which is why he isn't doing press fittings and sharkbite.

Thee White House as in 1812

Have you done a pressure test where you solder a joint then cool it down immediately with a wet cloth, vs a joint that was left to gradually cool?

As a pipefitter I was told/trained that brazing strengths are it can handle heating and cooling cycles better (like in refrigeration) and ductility when buried. Solder is faster, and cheaper but is more likley to crack if heated and cooled, or if the joints are flexed.

It's called annealing, metal becomes soft permanently after reaching close to the melting temperature. You can unanneal a metal by heating it and then rapidly quenching it in oil or water, then it's hard again. The braze makes the copper soft, the split hole is smaller because it burst at a lower pressure.

Not sure if you've already tried it, but I'd love to see press fit connections tested.

Leaked at the threads first. LOL.

A fresh joint is much different than an aged joint after electrolosis has attacked it. Add a few temperature cycles on a hot water system and ask any plumber about joints beginning to leak.
Otherwise it is a good video. There is a reason refrigeration lines are brazed and not soldered. The temperature cycling and pressure cycles have something to do with it. It would be much cheaper and easier to solder refrigeration systems, but they need to be leak free for years.

I think that the Stay Brite 8 Solder joint is as strong, if not stronger than the braised joint. The excessive heat from the brazing process actually anneals the copper pipe making it softer so the pipe bursts under less pressure and opens up less because it is annealed. I think the only reason why brazing is used in HVAC is because there is little if any prep required. You simply flow nitrogen and that’s it. I have soldered HVAC lines with Stay Brite 8 and and even regular leaded solder and as long as you prep well and use very little flux and don’t contaminate the inside of the pipe, the joints are good, and the system runs for years. Soldering causes no oxidation on the inside if done right. I have never seen a situation where brazing out performed a good solder joint with either lead or silver-based solders. Whether it was Plumbing or HVAC. My HVAC Tech would argue with me to the ends of the Earth about this but has never tried soldering as it is not the industry standard. He has never been able to prove otherwise. I have HVAC soldered joints that are still holding up even after 10 years, so i’m confident in my opinion.

Braze will be a stronger connection. Overkill for residential water. Used for AC refrigerant lines,etc

7k psi is insane pressure!

are u relative to hulk hogan?

I worked in HVAC and we used a small oxy acetylene torch and I liked 6 silver solder because I liked the way it flowed and it was way cheaper then 15 percent and I had to pay for it myself lol

Maybe change the type of copper and you’ll get better results. Try type L if you already aren’t doing so

Lead pipe 😂

Great video!

I would definitely like to see the pressure difference of L, K and M copper pipe. I'm not surprised that a good solder joint held and the pipe failed. In part, it's because the solder wicks in between the fitting and the pipe, and so you have double-walled pipe at the solder joints but only single-walled in the in the middle. It makes sense that the double walls of the pipe+fitting with solder in between will hold more pressure. That's why I would like to see how much pressure different thicknesses of copper pipe will hold.

So solder is stronger because the brazing requires more heat which weakens the copper

Home owner here, never did legal plumbing work. Used a regular ole bernzomatic torch, works for me.
Brazing: nope, never had to do it. 😁

Maybe I missed something, but the brazed joint pipe bursts at around 3,700 PSI and the soldered joint pipe bursts at over 7,000 PSI. Does that mean the heat from the brazing weakened the structure of the pipe or am I missing something?

You solder like a RAT.

Let's not solder with rubber gloves mkay.

Gotta be honest. I like watching anything you do. I really feel like I'm learning something every time I watch your videos.

Pex?

Was there a specific code per NFPA that required you to braze?
I use MapGas but i also only have to solder every so often for sensing lines

The brazed pipe definitely got annealed from the excess heat. Love the videos!

I wonder if the higher heat needed for brazing weakened the pipe? That might explain why it failed at a lower pressure. Still, if you've got 3000+ PSI in your home water lines, you have more important things to worry about!

Good Lord! 10,000 psi? You are gonna need more than safety glasses, you are gonna need body armor.

Stay Brite 8 is stronger than both, but looks and goes on like solder. I use it every were in refrigeration except at the compressor. I confirmed this Harris.

Hey Rodger, totally unrelated to your video. Can you talk about how they said that there will be a shortage this year of 550,000 plumbers. Thats just mind blowing to me. There are less than 3,500 Neurosurgeons in the USA and thats considered full.

Before you even started, I knew the failure would be the pipe and not the joints. I think most plumbers would know this.

I don't know about they type of copper lines, but would love to see the type of fittings that just press on. (not thinking of skarkbyte)

Weird, I know I was subscribed.. wonder why I was unsubbed. No wonder I haven't been seeing your videos

I really enjoy your videos, your energy and how informative you are.
Thank you.

Notice the same pipe gave way at two totally different pressures I would think because of the greater heat used to Brazed the fitting Vs. Soldering you Annealed the copper and caused it to burst sooner. 3000 psi vs. 6500 psi heat was the killer.

I was thinking "Why not try it with K?". Then you mentioned that at the end.

Glad to see that even a master plumber puts his backup wrench on backwards.

I’ve been plumbing 18yrs and I still do it everyday 😂