oxy propane soldering

[oggy]

The company i work for are moving to new factory in the next few months,
Some of the work i do involves soldering copper /brass radiators,
At the minute we use mains gas & compressed air.
The boss asked yesterday if it would be possible to solder with oxy/acet ?, I said yes but think we would be better off with oxy/propane sets if he wants to use bottle gas.
My only concern is, will we still be able to get a fine enough flame if needed with this set up ?, ie, a nice pointed flame like we can get now .
thanks

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

The oxy propane will give you about as finer heat cone as you will get with it set right. For soldering you wont want as much heat as compared to brazing say.

 

[oggy]

Yes as regards the heat, I did tell the boss that the oxy/acet would be to hot, although i have soldered with it before,
I did say that oxy /propane would be better if he wanted to use bottled gas,
I have looked on the weldequip site at the oxy propane brazing setup & i think that would be ideal, i'll show him on monday & see what he thinks,
Then he can buy one set to try first,instead of the 4 sets he would need & they being not upto it,
But i think he will go for it, if not it will find its way to my house

 

[piman]

Hello Oggy,

it might be worth finding what sort of torch they use for lead burning. I've tried with my normal (Sapphire ) torch with a number 1 nozzle and that seems to much heat. Could be my technique, or lack of it however?

I have done small soldering jobs on radiators with it also.

Alec

 

[brightspark]

The company i work for are moving to new factory in the next few months,
Some of the work i do involves soldering copper /brass radiators,
At the minute we use mains gas & compressed air.
The boss asked yesterday if it would be possible to solder with oxy/acet ?, I said yes but think we would be better off with oxy/propane sets if he wants to use bottle gas.
My only concern is, will we still be able to get a fine enough flame if needed with this set up ?, ie, a nice pointed flame like we can get now .
thanks

take a look at the flamefast torch u can use them with compressed air and propane in stead of natural gas just use an adjustable regulator . try it on the torch u allready have and will probably work

 

[oggy]

Cheers alec, I have soldered radiators with a number 5 nozzle with oxy /acet without no problem, once the brass tank is warm & you keep the torch moving the solder will just follow the flux & flame
I will look at the lead burning torch though
cheers
trev

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

It may help as far as insurance possibly too if bottled oxygen or acetylene aren't kept on the premises.

 

[oggy]

We would still use oxy/acet at the new place as i use it for aluminium brazing on some oil coolers we make.
cheers
trev

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

woould tig not be easier? Or is there some sort of special method you have to use?

 

[oggy]

I do use the tig on some coolers we do, But the ones we braze, is alot quicker with the oxy/acet, Not so much cleaning,pre heat them in an oven & away you go, maybe do between 150 /200 coolers aday that way

 

[mike os]

for lead usually just a standard setp with a no2 or 3 tip & lots of practice

 

[hotrodder]

Sorry, bit off topic but...

Oggy, does your place manufacture cores or buy them in?

 

[oggy]

We make all our own cores , copper/ brass & aluminium ones, make all the coolers from scratch too.

 

[hotrodder]

Ahhh, do you sell cores and if not is it something you'd consider? I don't do a huge amount of rads/coolers but do the occasional one for a local car builder... long and complicated story involving them having problems in the past with a couple of custom rad suppliers (cores that'd pop after a year or so). They've got a source for most of their rads now but occasionally their build time/rad lead times clash... current one is for something with a lairy BBBC (blown big block Chevy), deadline mid march but due to what the engine is going in everything is currently in flux i.e. we've got a good idea but can't finalise anything yet. Got a core sorted yesterday from Docking Engineering but things were getting sketchy... Pace currently have a 4 week lead time on cores and struck out everywhere else too- available sizes etc. Be nice to have another source

 

[oggy]

The cores we do are all quite large amounts, from 50 cores upwards,rather than one offs like we used to do years ago, A company called nar in northamton might be worth getting in contact with, They build one offs & i know they supply the rads & coolers for aston martin , I can get you the number for the chap who runs it if that would help you .

 

[hotrodder]

Cheers Oggy dunno how i've never stumbled across them before but with a name google found their site

 

[oggy]

No problem mate, I can get you the main mans number on monday so you can talk to him direct if you like, He knows his stuff .

 

[Paul.]

Cheers Oggy dunno how i've never stumbled across them before but with a name google found their site

Geoff Holmes is the manager there, you could tell him Paul sent you, he'll probably double the price , top class company and workmanship though.

 

[hotrodder]

Yeah, go on then be nicer to know who to ask for when i'm next core shopping. Cheers

Edit, too slow. Cheers Paul