Hey guys, thought I would post about my time trying to solder the frost free faucet in place. Let me tell you, the space I worked in was very cramped for me and made things really difficult. This was my first time soldering so the lack of space was definitely a worry of mine.
As you can tell from the pics, I did a very messy soldering job on the coupling, but a decent one on the sillcock attaching to the 1/2 inch copper. I am actually surprised nothing leaked right away since my soldering job was so messy and it seemed like I had missed a few areas around the joint due to not having a good view of all sides of the coupling.
I used 1/2 inch type M copper pipe with a coupler with a stop in it. I also used silver bearing lead free solder and water soluble lead free flux that came with a benzomatic propane torch kit.
Before I started soldering on the final products, I did practice soldering a joint twice. Came out decent for my first try, a bit messy though. Then I went on to the real deal...
I soldered the sillcock to the new copper piping (after prepping/cleaning/sanding/fluxing) outside my house and thus it was easier to do than the coupling. It came out okay, not great, but decent. It took a long time to heat up the joint up since the sillcock was brass I guess but it worked eventually, I just hope I didn't burn all the flux away by heating too long.
I then inserted the sillcock into the opening in the side of the house with the new soldered copper on it and used 100 percent silicone around the egdes of the sillcock to create a weather resistant seal between the house and the sillcock. I also drilled holes into the mortar and brick and inserted anchors and screws to hold the sillcock in place.
Then I went inside and soldered the coupling to the sillcock and to the indoor copper plumbing near a valve. I removed the entire handle and insides of the sillcock to prevent melting of the washer inside. I soldered near the valve inside my house without a wet rag on the valve since it seemed to take too long to heat the joint and I worried the flux would burn away. At this point I worried more about the flux burning away than protecting the indoor shut off valve. The soldering of the coupling was extremely difficult for me since the space was so cramped (from a beginner's viewpoint). It was difficult in comparison to soldering in a more open space. It took a long time to heat the joint (may have been that I used a small flame since I didn't want to burn the house and at first I had a wet rag on a nearby valve to prevent melting of the rubber in the valve) and at first the solder would just clump off and come off but finally it started to flow. I stopped after thinking it was enough solder, then quickly realized that the side of the coupling I couldn't see did not get enough solder. Even though you need to redo the entire joint, I decided to quickly just reheat it and get the areas I missed (even though the joint had been cooling for about 90 seconds). I got most of the areas I missed on the second try. At this point I thought the joint would fail and I would have leaks due to it being heated twice, the fact that I felt I burned away too much flux and overheated the joint in some way, and that it looked like I missed some spots. I waited about 4 minutes for things too cool naturally and turned the water on for a few seconds... then off... no leaks. Then I reinstalled the innards to the sillcock (I removed them to protect the washer) and then turned the water on again and left it on. No leaks.
So it seems I was able to create a functional solder joint, but it was not done cosmetically well and mechanically well, but I guess it was good enough to work.
The only functional problem I have is that the new sillcock leaks a bit from the spout! Which was my ORIGINAL problem! The outside part, LOL. It drips about once every 10 seconds. Either I have a faulty washer/sillcock, or maybe when soldering... some of the solder dripped in too far and obstructed the seal between where the washer would sit and the inside of the sillcock? I don't know.
Either way, I'm happy to have created functional joints that don't leak, but a little bit annoyed that the new sillcock leaks a bit from its spout. I was thinking about putting some silicone grease on the washer to help create a better seal inside the sillcock to prevent leakage, but don't know if that is okay with potable water.
Does anyone know why the new sillcock may be leaking? I am leaning towards just a faulty washer or the fact that some solder dripped in too far and is making a slight obstruction. Either way, at this point, I am not starting all over and installing a new sillcock, that is out of the question, hahaha.
But I basically just wanted to make this post to show you guys the final result. Thanks to everyone that helped me, I am glad I did this but I realize a need a lot more practice. But at least now I know the basic mechanics of how to solder, I just need to practice more. I had a great time learning, thanks again.
Feel free to make any comments, negative or positive, I welcome any criticism or concerns about the job I did. Thanks again
P.S. Some of the black stuff you see on the coupling is a burnt price tag on the coupling. And some of the clear clumps you see on the sillcock threads and pipe are some silicone that attached to it when inserting it inside the hole in the house.
then lock it onto the pipe just at the items common pipe you want to protect.when you solder the heat will not go past the wrench heat travels to the colder temp.i see the irrigation station and the in house shut off... what and where are you soldering
..are you changing the valve inside?with that wrench heat sink trick no rags are required but with soft solder you have to be clean and use flux and sandpaper..even grab the lenght of solder with the sand paper to clean it and dip it into the solder and watch that heat...if the cut was made outside and the 2nd pix is the removed sillcock you have plenty of room to solder without hurting that valve...are you torching inside or outside?
hitting the middle of that coupling the solder will flow into each side where the pipes are....definitly flux everything....no fingers on the sanded parts
no charred plywood!
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