[TheForge] copper pipe

[dann]

I confess,  I have never used "cold solder" on copper pipe, unless you call 
those "wrench tighten" copper compression fittings. For torch soldering 
copper pipes in a basement you need a steel heat shield ...or something as 
simple as a aluminum pie plate or a little heavier.   Also for connecting 
old run pipes (that might have an untimely  drip of water ) to new run 
pipes.  They  have little jelly bean looking  plugs that you slide inside 
the old pipe, and hold back the moisture long enough for the new solder 
job.  The jelly bean looking plugs  work better than stuffing bread  up the 
old copper pipe as a temporary moisture barrier.  Before I 
discovered  these,  I tended to overheat my copper solder joint when 
connecting old pipe to new, trying to over compensate for that solder joint 
destroying drip of water.   It seems to me  that the best copper joints are 
at that "sweet spot" temperature when the solder just flows into the joint.

Still I always seem to use  a few of those cold  compression fittings.  I 
find that  they  can be a life saver in a tight spot.