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I am trying to teach myself to solder...I bought a torch (propylene i think), cutter, some pipes & fittings, flux, solder, etc.
I successfully made some joints, but they were a mess. I have watched a bunch of videos on how to solder, and the people in the videos seem to heat the joint from the bottom, and simply touch the solder at the top, and it flows all the way around, with me, it just seems to flow around 1/3 or so of the joint, and drips. I end up having to run the solder all the way around, and it turns into a big mess.
I am thinking maybe I am putting on the flux wrong, i just coat the inside of the fitting and the outside of the pipe, slide in, give a 1/4 turn, and start heating.
I also cleaned the inside of the fitting with a wire brush and the outside of the pipe with sandpaper before putting the flux on.
Or maybe I am not getting the joint hot enough?
Thanks.
I successfully made some joints, but they were a mess. I have watched a bunch of videos on how to solder, and the people in the videos seem to heat the joint from the bottom, and simply touch the solder at the top, and it flows all the way around, with me, it just seems to flow around 1/3 or so of the joint, and drips. I end up having to run the solder all the way around, and it turns into a big mess.
I am thinking maybe I am putting on the flux wrong, i just coat the inside of the fitting and the outside of the pipe, slide in, give a 1/4 turn, and start heating.
I also cleaned the inside of the fitting with a wire brush and the outside of the pipe with sandpaper before putting the flux on.
Or maybe I am not getting the joint hot enough?
Thanks.