In my farrier practice, i often resort to brazing when the ambient temps are low as is my bottle level and i just cant get welding heats. How to correctly braze silver solder a copper pipe. How to braze copper to steel with silver solder sciencing. Thats a good indication that brazing material flowed where it was needed. Your melting points go from less than 450 degrees f for the tinsilver solder, up to well over 1100 degrees f for 80 percent silver brazing rods. Copper tube brazing service copper tube coils tubing coils.
Induction brazing of copper and brass pipes to steel. Accet accreditation serves the interests of companies, agencies, and the public through the establishment of standards, policies, and procedures in conjunction with an objective thirdparty professional evaluation designed to identify. December 3, 2014 coppers c10100 c15999 are alloys registered with the u. Brazing filler metals suitable for joining copper tube are of two classes. The solder will flow into all areas of a properly cleaned and fluxed joint. But for plumbing fixtures and similar applications, this is not a problem.
Technical bulletins company literature case studies brazing book calculators. Dont be brazen when it comes to soldering and brazing. Brazing stainless steel tubing to copper tubing with ssf6 silver solder using a hand held propane torch. Weve said that a brazed joint makes itself or that capillary action, more than operator. In the process of joining the tube ends, high temperatures cause an annealing of the tubing, allowing the localized area to become slightly softer at the site of the braze and tube ends can be fused together. The more silver the rod has, normally the lower the melting point will be. Lemonplumber fl sum,it is the approved way of doing it. Both processes are often referred to in conjunction with the filler metal. If you are brazing copper tubing its not good to overheat it for too long. Ive always used nitrogen but have read in a couple of specs and text books that say you can use co2.
If the metal is hot enough the rod will immediately melt into the copper. How to join 2 copper hvac pipes together without brazing. Keeping the flame on the opening touch the brazing rod to the copper pipe leak. Sweat solder vs brazing written by doityourself staff. Amazons choice recommends highly rated, wellpriced products available to ship immediately. When looking for a stronger joint, brazing is one of the options.
Where heating will reduce the clearance, for example brazing a copper tube to a steel header, start with a relatively loose fit approximately. Apply a thin layer of leadfree soldering paste flux to the end of the pipe using a flux brush. What steps are needed before brazing attic ac copper. On thicker sections, the tig goes faster because of its startup heat. The time is approximate due to the heat cycle being interrupted during the test power was turned on and off. Brazing copper tubing better and faster sperko home page. How to braze properly metal brazing procedures lucasmilhaupt. Unlike welding, which requires a neutral flame, hvac technicians prefer a slightly carburizing. Brazing shall take place within 8 h r c e ning and sse i the test coupons. The strength of brazed joints is commonly greater than the filler metal but less. To meet this requirement a phosphoruscoppersilver braze rod is used. Hvacr pipe soldering brazing refrigeration systems. Copper mechanical couplings such as victaulic have a pressure rating of 300 psi for all sizes two inches through eight inches for both k and l tube. Hvacr pipe soldering brazing in hvacr there are two major types of soldering done.
The copper will turn from a bright copper color to a dull red to a dark deep red color in about 2030 seconds. There are various techniques for both types of soldering and everyone develops their own in the field but it is important to follow the basics of soldering when joining the piping together. A preform of the silver brazing alloy was seated above the joint, and flux was added. When brazing or soldering tubing, we have a few things we need to accomplish to. Procedures for troubleshooting brazing pipe and tubing 12. We know youll find the brazing book informative and helpful. Hvacr technicians using improper techniques for solderingbrazing copper and copper alloys will have joint failuresand customersto contend with. As you can see, the silver solder flows very well and finishes with no pinholes or porositywith a strength of over 70,000 psi. Both of these have advantages and disadvantages, and if you are looking to join pieces of copper pipe together you may be unsure what is the best way of. For type m tube it starts at 250 psi for two inches tube and decreases as the sizes get larger to 200. This article explains basic brazing concepts, including joint design, the behavior of filler metal and metallurgical aspects of making brazed joints. Copper braze has a higher melting point but is generally more economical.
Just curios if anybody knows of a good reason not to. As the silver content goes up, so does the strength, the price and the melting point. Bronzeflux causes the bronze to penetrate deeper into the joint, making a stronger union than is possible with other fluxes. Sperko brazing dimpler corporation 4803 archwood drive greensboro, nc 27406. Bernzomatic pc3 copperphosphorous brazingwelding rods, 3. Brass is a metal alloy that is made up of a mixture of copper and zinc and has a. You can join copper to copper without flux, by using a brazing filler metal. Then a 3 kw of power is supplied for coppertoaluminum brazing at 200 khz for 95 seconds. Induction brazing copper tube with induction heater. Apply the flux along the joint where the larger pipe meets the 2 thinner pipes, and use. Use an oxygen analyzer to verify the absence of o g nor tooxygen content shall be less than 10 before start of brazing. For induction brazing copper to brass, first the copper tubing and brass fitting were assembled together. Bag series filler metals should be used when joining dissimilar metals, or the specific characteristics of the. For refrigeration pipes, its best to fit another pipe with a larger diameter between the 2 pieces of copper to create a sleeve.
For brazing brass, bronze, copper, steel, nickel silver, and malleable iron. Bc depict slaves using reed blow pipes and charcoal fires to braze gold. Alloying, diffusion into base metal and grain boundaries, penetration of filler metal along grain boundaries, and formation of intermetallic compounds are minimized by selecting the proper brazing filler metal. I use copper sometimes wire, often flattened tubing since its melting point 1900 f is much higher than braze rod. So, be sure to adjust the initial joint clearance accordingly.
Here are basic tips for silver brazing copper to steel, or stainless steel. All i had on that day was a cutting torch but it allowed for a soft enough flame to get the job done. Brazing questions blacksmithing, general discussion i. Lighter pieces, of course, heat up faster and so require less flux. When brazing copper to brass or to steel, a flux is always required. Purge all tubing with oil free rog 5 to 2 flow ate while brazing and until cool to the touch. Faster post cleaning with little metal discoloration. Brazing is a method of fabricating copper tubing that renders the connection largely leaktight. The phosphorus in these alloys acts as a fluxing agent on copper. Braze or solder copper to stainless steel tubing muggy weld. For oxyacetylene, use a slightly carburizing flame. We are brazing honeycomb rings onto the inside diameter of some metal ring housings for aero applications, but weve occasionally seen some of the honeycomb pull away from the substrate during the furnace brazing process. Brazing is a metaljoining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal brazing differs from welding in that it does not involve melting the work pieces and from soldering in using higher temperatures for a similar process, while also requiring much. Chemical composition of copper alloys wrought copper alloys revision date.
Copper pipe tube expander hand expanding tool universal hand refrigeration tools copper pipe swaging tool tube expander 14inch 516inch 38inch 12inch 58inch 34inch 78inch. You know that nonferrous metals copper, brass expand more during heating than ferrous ones steel, stainless steel. These ratings are for all types of tube with standard solder joint pressure fittings and dwv fittings. When brazing copperbased alloys, failure will occur in the copper or brass. Induction brazing they tested brazing with a flame torch, a browns gas torch, and induction brazing with the ultraflex ultraheat sm 5kw. Test the joint by touching the solder to the seam on the side opposite the flame. The curved part although oval out will not show any concerns. In fact, brazing reference books recommend a short braze cycle. The coil was positioned slightly over the braze joint because steel heats up much faster than copper. If you use helium for leak testing your leaks will show a pressure loss much faster and smaller leaks can be found since it weighs so much less.
If you have ever been involved in medical gas piping or refrigeration piping, brazing is where its at when joining copper tubing. The fluxes best suited for brazing copper and copper alloy tube should meet aws standard a5. Fluxing is an essential step in the brazing operation, aside from a few exceptions. The bcup series filler metals are more economical than the bag series, and are better suited for general piping applications. Insert the pipe into the fitting, making sure it is tight against the bottom of the fitting. On the plumbing side, we tend to solder copper tube joints when using a torch. Soft soldering for soldering water pipes and brazing or silver soldering for soldering refrigeration piping. In addition to medical gas and refrigeration tubing, brazing is common in water piping and fuel gas piping, to name a.
You also need to talk to your supplier that you buy the rod from. Move the flame away from the joint and feed about 12 in. Brazing cycles can be reduced further by starting the cycle on higher. Industry standard guide for the design and installation of copper piping systems. The bulk tensile strength of silver solder alloys is 40,00070,000 psi. If i remember correctly, copper will begins to anneal at 700 degree f. Soldering a copper pipe can be done through two different methods, known as sweat fitting and brazing. The brazing alloy we use is an alloy which means it is a combination of metals each of which adds something unique to the mixture so that the combination works much better than any.
It is the most efficient and economical brazing flux on the market. The process is relatively fast and economical, requires relatively low temperatures and is. Seeing silver solder melts at a much higher temperature, youll be needing more heat than your typical soldered joint. Brazing the ac system line set while purging with nitrogen using the flow guard. These general brazing guidelines are intended to provide background information and supplementary instructions to contractors and their brazers who are using national certified pipe welding bureau welding. This means that it is the coupling and not the material that is dictating the pressure rating.
The tempering rings that occurred when you did it indicate that you over heated the tubing which will cause weakened integrity. Time to temperature for base material, slower, faster. The assembly was placed the twoturn helical coil, and positioned so the targeted joint was centered in the coil. The phosphorus content makes these alloys selffluxing on copper. Copperphosphorous brazingwelding rods ideal for use in refrigeration, electrical and plumbing jobs contains 12inch rods tensile strength. Induction brazing of copper tubing and brass fitting. When the copper is hot enough, the solder will melt like butter. Distortion is equal or slightly better with the torch.
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