Thirsty Boy
ICB - tight shorts and poor attitude. **** yeah!
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I know that welding is the gold plate option for metal joints - but considering that soldering is much easier and can be done with a handheld propane torch rather than a TIG or MIG... why dont homebrewers solder more of their fittings??
You can solder copper to copper (so easy its laughable) to brass, to stainless, to aluminium and each of those metals to itself.
Sure, a soft solder joint isn't as strong as welding - but its not exactly weak either. I have a few soldered copper fittings in my brewery, and I tried to pull one apart the other day to see how strong it was. The copper pipe got nicely bent into odd shapes, but the soldered joint held. OK, you wouldn't want to build your brewstand out of it (although I have seen a lovely brewstand for an electric system made from soldered copper pipe) but kettle fittings? If you aren't an "it must all be stainless" nut, you could do all your own fittings in easy to work with brass and solder them into your vessels, without tape and o'rings and without paying someone to weld them. I know about glavanic corrosion, but its not going to be worse than if you used brass weldless fittings and plenty of people do that. Or just buy stainless plumbing bits and solder them in yourself - all stainless.
So why not more soldering and/or brazing??
Thirsty
some research to prove I am not crazed - check out the soldering of the pepsi can, not even hot enough to make the paint burn
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB-3.html
http://www.durafix.com.au/index.php?conten...onstrations.htm
soldering stainless video - - he recommends an oxy torch but says you can get away with propane for small jobs.
and a lovely kettle fitting with brass soldered to stainless - http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic....hilit=soldering with links to other examples of brass to stainless and stainless to stainless soldering
And I've personally seen Spillsmostofit braze a bit of brass to a bit of stainless tube - so its more than internet research and might even be true
You can solder copper to copper (so easy its laughable) to brass, to stainless, to aluminium and each of those metals to itself.
Sure, a soft solder joint isn't as strong as welding - but its not exactly weak either. I have a few soldered copper fittings in my brewery, and I tried to pull one apart the other day to see how strong it was. The copper pipe got nicely bent into odd shapes, but the soldered joint held. OK, you wouldn't want to build your brewstand out of it (although I have seen a lovely brewstand for an electric system made from soldered copper pipe) but kettle fittings? If you aren't an "it must all be stainless" nut, you could do all your own fittings in easy to work with brass and solder them into your vessels, without tape and o'rings and without paying someone to weld them. I know about glavanic corrosion, but its not going to be worse than if you used brass weldless fittings and plenty of people do that. Or just buy stainless plumbing bits and solder them in yourself - all stainless.
So why not more soldering and/or brazing??
Thirsty
some research to prove I am not crazed - check out the soldering of the pepsi can, not even hot enough to make the paint burn
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB-3.html
http://www.durafix.com.au/index.php?conten...onstrations.htm
soldering stainless video - - he recommends an oxy torch but says you can get away with propane for small jobs.
and a lovely kettle fitting with brass soldered to stainless - http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic....hilit=soldering with links to other examples of brass to stainless and stainless to stainless soldering
And I've personally seen Spillsmostofit braze a bit of brass to a bit of stainless tube - so its more than internet research and might even be true
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