Home › Forums › Public Forums › General Plumbing › cleaning copper pipes/fittings
- This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 24 years, 3 months ago by bungie.
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7 Jul 2000 at 12:08 am #273176MasterPlumbersKeymaster
I find cleaning the copper pipes and fittings with emery cloth or a brush to be the most tedious, finger stiffening part of the job. Isn’t there a solvent or acid that the parts can just be dipped into to get them clean? Fast? Easy?
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8 Jul 2000 at 12:51 am #287035SylvanLMPParticipant
yes there are several acids and self cleaning fluxes on the market. BUT if you do not flush the joint properly after soldering you can get piping/joint failures from the acid eating away the base metal.
They do make a machine ELECTRIC that has attachments to cleaning the out side of copper tubing and the inside of the fittings.
Contact Ridgid tool manufacturing
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10 Jul 2000 at 1:12 pm #287036bungieParticipant
Up to about 2′, there is a round wire brush that fits over the outside, and in the inside of the pipe, at the same time. One full 360′ turn, And inside and out of the pipe are cleaned
hmmmmm gonna have to go looking for my disclaimer again
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10 Jul 2000 at 1:28 pm #287037hjParticipant
Why would you care about cleaning the inside of the pipe, (or the outside of a fitting for that matter), the only places that require cleaning are the solder surfaces.
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11 Jul 2000 at 11:02 pm #287038SylvanLMPParticipant
HJ. Bungie most lightly meant the KNUCKLE cleaner that is a stainless steel brush INSIDE a round plastic disc. The 2′ Bungie posted must have meant to be 2″
With this cleaner all you do is push this disc over the tubing to be cleaned and make one full rotation 360 Degrees and that would clean the outside of the piping. Then you have this side attachment that is nothing more than a regular wire brush to remove the oxide from the internal part of the fitting Joint. FORGET what Bungie posted THINK of what Bungie Meant.
At least Bungie had the right idea instead of pushing an acid type self cleaning flux.
HJ PLEASE try not to be so critical of other plumbers. Please take your chill pill. By the way WHEN Brazing S. G. Flagg flow fittings YOU would not only clean the outside of the fittings BUT Put lots of flux on it so it doesn’t oxidize from the Oxyacetylene flame of 5,700 DEGREE F. The flux acts as a temperature guide as @ 212 Deg F the water boils off @ 800-950 Deg. F the flux turns to a white powder Around 1,000 degrees the Flux turns into what appears a liquid again and @ 1,200-1,900 Your ready to apply the filler rod BUT hey your great so you dont need the flux like EVERY OTHER CERTIFIED Brazer would use.
The T. P copper fittings had better be well fluxed inside and outside if you wanted a professional looking Joint. (Other wise the silver/ filler metal turns completly black)
Another case where you CLEAN the outside and inside of “plumbing” piping is lead wiping to a brass ferrule for better WETTING action for capillary atraction/action of the solder. Hey keep on trying guy. Some day you may get it right
Ah the joys of playing plumber
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14 Jul 2000 at 10:55 am #287039bungieParticipant
One tool does two job’s.
Now HJ, if you can turn off the inside cleaning brush whilst cleaning the outside, and visa versa, you are a better man than I
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