The BEST 25 Copper Pipe Tips & Tricks EVER! | GOT2LEARN

what's up guys and welcome back to another tips and tricks video in this video I would like to share with you 25 tips and tricks of the plumbing trade that'll make working with copper pipes a lot quicker and a lot easier so let's jump right into it alright so starting with number 1 is brushing your fittings cleaning fittings could get tiring quite quickly using your standard wire brush instead clip the end of it leaving around an inch to be able to chuck it in a drill and zoom your way through all those fittings in half the time number two is if you're new to soldering and you're afraid it might leak here's something that might help you an easy way to prevent this is to use thinning flux instead of normal flux thinning flux contains solder powder in it and it ensures a full coverage of the joint during the soldering process lessening your chances of missing a spot number three is using a scotch brite pad instead of Emery cloth I find that sandpaper or Emery cloth slips in the hand and causes unnecessary fatigue so what I do is I use a scotch brite pad instead it's grippy on both sides and makes it a lot easier to use than a paperback Emery cloth with no grip number four is running into an unsupported pipe like this that needs soldering a quick way to make it hold in place is to grab a pair of pliers and lightly crimp the fitting this will allow you to place it straight without having to install support number five is a step that a lot of plumbers neglect when doing copper pipes and that's deburring the inside of the pipe after cutting it a burr would eventually cause a pinhole in the pipe and lead to other problems so get a pencil reamer or an inner outer deterring tool like this and get that Bert right off it only takes about five seconds and you'll greatly reduce your chances of having a leak in the long run number six is another cool way to support a pipe while soldering get your mighty tape measure and lock the blade in place to use it as a temporary stand what I like to do is place it a bit higher and tap it down till it's level and then I solder it how's that for a hack number seven is a good preventative measure to take when soldering close to a valve of some sort first of all make sure the water is shut off and undo the stem portion with the rubber gasket as to not burn it if you have a ball valve you don't need to worry about doing this only on the older gate valves like this one number eight is a common mishaps beginners make when soldering and it's getting solder on the threads gauging how much solder to use isn't something we're born with and it takes time to master so a quick tip here is to solder these on the side when possible it'll remove the chance of it going in the threads and any excess will drip on the floor number nine is trying to solder with the slightest amount of water inside the pipe a few ways you could get this done is by first shutting off the water of course and opening a few fixtures in the building to break the vacuum in the pipes then you could use the purge on the main shutoff valve to get rid of any water and if that's not enough crack open the union nuts from the water meter and that should do it number ten is removing these stubborn manufacture stickers the quick and easy way grab your torch and burn it off it'll leave a sticky residue because of the glue so just get some flux and wipe it off easy as pie number eleven is if you're trying to solder a fitting in a vertical position when soldering vertically you run the chance of it falling off once you heat it so here's a cool idea for it not to just like before block off your tape measures blade and use it to hold the fitting in place then you could solder it without any worries of it falling number twelve is when soldering in a wall you must take the necessary precautions to not set anything on fire a good way to ensure this is to get one of these flame protectors they're dirt cheap and won't let the flame through them the way to use these is to get some thumbtacks to make it hold in place to make sure it doesn't fall number 13 is another common mistake we see and it's applying teflon tape on an adapter that is yet to be soldered if you do this you'll burn off the Teflon you just put on and it'll lose all of its lubricating properties so always solder the fitting on first wait for it to cool and then apply it you'll get much better results number 14 is what to do in case you have an out of round or oval copper pipe this often happens on pipes that exit a concrete slab in new constructions and that have been damaged and deformed so to make the pipe round again just get your adjustable wrench and spin it around the oval portion it'll force it into its original shape and allow you to carry on number 15 is a good tip to go by when soldering copper pipes and it's to not use lead solder for potable water lines contrary to popular belief LED solder is still widely used for heating and draining applications just make sure you use the right one for the right application by reading the labels on the rolls or else you'll violate the plumbing code number 16 is trying to speed up the process of cooling off a solder joint with a wet rag not good this is the worst thing you could do to a freshly solder joint and the best example is if you put an ice cube in room-temperature water this is what happens it'll crack the same thing applies to a joint if you wet it the difference in temperature will crack the solder and cause a leak so always let it cool on its own number 17 is knowing how much solder to use it's not a given to anybody to know how much solder to use for each and every joint especially as a beginner a good rule of thumb here is to use the pipe size as a reference so if you're soldering half-inch pipe you only need about 1/2 inch of solder to complete the joint and so on however if you do use too much this will happen and cause restriction and give you problems down the line number 18 is the famous bread trick but when do you actually use it the white bread trick is a real saver when you have the smallest amount of residual water coming out of the pipe you're trying to solder it'll act as a temporary plug all you do is insert it as far as you can not to burn it off and solder your joint the bread will then dissolve in the water and come out any nearby fixture just remember to remove any aerators before turning on the water or they'll get clogged up number 19 is a copper pipe cleaning tip it's always quicker and easier to clean the pipe before cutting it for your new branch if you cut it before cleaning it it'll want to spin and move all over the place making it that much more complicated to do number 20 is another cool way to protect any backing from getting burnt when soldering and it's to use an old license plate what's nice about this trick is that it's thin enough to bend around objects yet thick enough to not let any heat pass through it making for a great flame protector number 21 is soldering a vertical threaded fitting without getting any solder on the threads get some teflon tape and wrap the threads five or six times if some solder does overflow for some reason the teflon will prevent it from sticking on the threads and make for a very easy cleanup number 22 is whenever I'm soldering near a wall as such I either keep a spray bottle or fire extinguisher close by if I'm using a spray bottle I usually spray the area around my work this helps prevent the wall or wood from easily catching on fire and plus it serves as an extinguisher better to be safe than sorry number 23 is one of my personal favorites so let's say you cut a vertical pipe and there's a bit of water left inside as seen here you want to remove it without taking the chance of dropping anything inside the pipe so what I do is I grab a spray bottle head and use it to pump out most of the water what's nice about this trick is that you could use the spray bottle as an extinguisher like mentioned before number 24 is a trick to getting paint off of a copper pipe the easy way for repair or modification you could use sandpaper or a utility knife but a really easy alternative to get the paint off effortlessly is to use a pipe the bird inside is super sharp and it has a curve to it which makes it the ideal tool for removing that stubborn paint right off and number 25 is a trick that you won't use too often but could save you a bad headache and it's when you have a joint that's really close to a stud normally you'd heat the exterior of the fitting as such but in this case the wood is too close so here's a way to go around it instead take your torch and heat the inside of the pipe you'll be heating it indirectly and you won't risk setting the wood on fire and as always guys if you enjoy these trick videos help support the channel by liking sharing and subscribing and until the next one thanks for watching

Channel: Got2Learn

Views: 626,926

Rating: 4.854383 out of 5

Keywords: DIY, plumbing trick, do it yourself, pex plumbing installation, plumbing hacks, plumbing, fix it yourself, plumbing videos, plumbing tools, plumbing basics, plumbing repair, plumbing diy, plumbing how to, plumbing video, how to do plumbing, how to repair plumbing, how to fix plumbing, rough in plumbing, how to solder, soldering copper pipe, how to solder copper pipe, how to sweat copper pipe, how to sweat copper fittings, got2learn, pipe, copper pipe

Id: mt_SPghmRJI

Length: 10min 21sec (621 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 04 2019