Mistakes Apprentice Plumbers ALWAYS Make When Soldering

Soldering copper pipe is VERY common in plumbing. During your plumbing apprenticeship you'll have to learn about soldering. Soldering scares a lot of plumbers, but it really shouldn't. With a little practice, learning to solder copper pipe become very easy very quickly. In this video I'm going to tell you some of the common mistakes apprentice plumbers make when learning to solder. Hopefully this helps you in your plumbing career!

Thanks for watching! I'm Roger Wakefield, LEED AP, The Expert Plumber and welcome to my channel. On this channel I teach homeowners how to save money on their plumbing by doing DIY plumbing projects. I also teach plumbers and plumbing company owners how to be the best plumbers in their area and run successful plumbing businesses. My goal is teach you everything you need to know about plumbing.

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[mikew]

Roger reminds me of that older guy you'd meet at a work place who'd be knowledgeable AF who'd always help you.

[NolanConley]

I’m a first year apprentice doing mostly new builds and some service. The licensed guy I work with lets me do all the soldering which has been really beneficial in my progression. I’ve made a few mistakes but my joints have gotten a lot more clean in the last few months especially. Feeling confident and excited when I go to work. I really enjoy your videos and I appreciate the tips as always!

[lvyumn]

All aspects of treatment to a soldier joint is imperative. For beginners I would suggest that you use a marker pen and mark your pipe back the distance of your pipe size, 1/2" for 1/2" pipe etc. Over the years I have found where someone possibly new in the field had made a solder joint that was only holding by 1/16 th to 1/8", a good vibration could have made the joint come loose resulting in major water damage.
Always ream your pipe, an un reamed joint will cause the water to swirl and wear the joint causing it to leak. This is especially true with 90° elbows.
As superintendent on an 8 story condo the plumbing contractors plumbers failed to ream the pipes. They were finishing up the 8th floor rough-in when a HUD inspector decided to have a few joints taken apart for inspection. When he seen that the sections taken apart were not reamed the PC was required to start all over from the 1st floor up remove each joint and ream each piece of pipe or make sure that it was reamed. Had to place an observer at each plumbers work area to make sure the pipes were reamed. This story is meant for those just starting out in the trade or who is a DIY'er.

[alexrochon]

YES PLEASE ROGER, give us a video on silver soldering. Great video!!! Keep up the good work.

[blueg]

Love the cleaning at the end. Dont be messy, have pride! Wipe that flux off after. Makes the joint look so good!

[bbarker]

Normally I would put a level on this.... Matter of fact I'm going to go ahead and do that.

That's when you know you're used to doing it right and it messes with you to do it wrong.

Love your videos Mr Wakefield.

[shawn_paps]

Roger Yes! Please do a video on Brazing! 2.5 years in the trade down here in FL. I love your videos. Always something to learn, even on these “fundamental” videos.

[leomella]

new plumber here (2 years) loving all the tools and tips from this channel so far!

[averyworldwide]

Hey man iv been an Apprentice for about a year. I love this work! I love you channel! At first I got put with a lot of different plumbers. In some cases I was more knolageable than my tech. So being able to watch to u do things the right way has been awesome! I love what your doing! I love plumbing! Can't wait for that 100 an hour lol! I work In SC In an open shop. Iv moved up really quickly and I'm really good at this kind of work! I study everyday for my tests and one day hopefully I'll be as skilled as you!

[BrooksMoses]

Roger, I've been watching a half-dozen or so videos this evening on how to solder copper pipe, because I figure the more advice the better. Your video is one of the best, and I learned several things from it that nobody else mentioned, including the different abrasives and the "3/4 inch of solder for 3/4 inch of pipe" rule of thumb.

Also, thank you for not repeating the "heat from the bottom because heat rises" nonsense that several other videos said. Hot AIR rises, sure, but heat doesn't rise in copper; it spreads all directions. The good reason I heard for starting at the bottom is that if the top is hotter, the solder will run down from the top and then have nowhere to go that's hot enough.

[chuckgladfelter]

My first solder job at my house last month was a success because of your helpful video. I had to put in a new 3/4" main water supply shutoff valve. I also rebuilt several water shutoff valves (icemaker and two commodes) with the Home Depot kits made by Brasscraft.

[Skorlang]

The American Copper institute recommends starting out on the bottom of your joint in this position, working up the side, building a fillet of solder up to the top. Repeat on the other side, lapping over on the top. This applies for all sizes of pipe.

[alski]

Love the tip about bending the length of solder according to the diameter of pipe. Noobs (like me) always put down too much solder.

[Lordjerm]

I do minor plumbing at my own house. Your videos have helped me do a better job and make it look good and I know it will last. Thank you so much for the videos.

[alimamythullah]

Yes Mr Rogers I really need your plumbing classes.... you are really an expert in Plumbing....I like Plumbing since was a kid

[danieldeak]

Channels like this are neat.
Not only do i have fun watching theese videos but i also learn something useful.

[ghw]

That's a beautiful solder joint no dripping nothing left there! Top notch man

[voraliswoofie]

Your instructional videos have helped so much with my diy home repairs. This video helped with my technique for replacing a 1970’s hose bib that was soldered directly to a copper pipe! Keep up the great work!

[kelseyarmenta]

Never will I ever need to know any of this or use it but I just love watching your videos and how informative you are! 😊definitely would love to see more of these

[oldironsides]

No better way to solder. Love teaching the new generation to solder cause you can't press everything. Love the video brother.