How To Solder A Cracked Plumbing Pipe ?

By Scott Rodgers

The lack of maintenance may lead to certain problems in your plumbing system. The cracked or broken pipes may be accredited to such a careless attitude of the homeowners. Hence, get the cracked pipes repaired as soon as you locate one.

Patching a cracked plumbing pipe is one such task that could be accomplished by even a novice. You can approach the problem in tow ways, either you can replace the affected section of pipe or you can patch up the cracked area of the pipe. Replacing the pipe may work in case of a small crack but fails to serve the required purpose for larger cracks. This is because the larger cracks call for a longer pipe replacement and hence, could prove costly for you.

Take a look at the plumbing tool kit to locate the essential tools and supplies. The supplies such as solder paste, solid solder, pipe couplings, torch kit, pipe wrenches, cutters, Teflon tape etc. would be required in the regular scheme of things.

Also, give enough time to the concerned plumbing segment to drain down standing water. To manually drain the affected pipe, turn on the sink and tub valves.

Mark the portion of the pipe to be removed. Leave out a margin of 2 inches on each side of the crack. Start cutting the pipe from the defined markings such that a clean cut is rendered to the pipe setup. The margin is left to accommodate the coupling fixtures.

Remove the affected portion of the pipe out of the fixture and make way for the soldering operation. In order to increase the efficiency of the soldering, apply a liberal amount of solder on all the fittings. Sand the old pipe from the head with the help of sandpaper. Repeat the same process with the new pipe and couplings as well. Take a liberal amount of solder paste on your fingers and apply it on all the connecting components. Confine the application of the paste to the areas that need to be attached.

Now, bring in a torch kit to complement the soldering operation. Use the flame of the torch to heat up the concerned juncture.

Place the solder in between the flame and allow it to melt. The melted solder would occupy the voids of the connection and would render a stringent setting to the pipe. - 30517

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