The Importance of Solder Joints and Flux in Pipe Systems

When it comes to pipe systems, solder joints are a crucial aspect of maintaining their integrity. However, if not properly executed, solder joints can lead to local turbulence and erosion corrosion, causing damage to the system. This is particularly true when bur at the end of the pipe is not reamed to remove it, as this can create an impediment that can cause problems down the line.

In fact, most people are unaware of the existence of reaming tools specifically designed to open up pipes and prevent such issues. These tools are typically found on every tubing cutter, serving as a vital component in ensuring the smooth operation of pipe systems.

Excessive flux applied to the inside of joints can also cause problems. When excessive flux is applied, it can remain after the pipe is put in service, leading to residue buildup on the inside of the joint. This residue can then be picked up by flowing water and redeposited, causing further damage to the system.

The problem is often more prevalent in hot water systems due to the heat of the water, which can melt and dissolve flux. In contrast, cold water systems are more prone to issues related to flux, as the presence of oxygen in the water causes it to react with metal, leading to corrosion.

In the case of a homeowner who was experiencing problems with pipes in their home, an engineer took a sample of the pipe and ran tests to determine the cause of the issue. The results revealed a nodule of corrosion on the outside of the pipe, which, under high-powered microscopy, showed that there was a pit corrosion point and iron underneath it.

The presence of iron in the system was suspected to be from the hot water heater, and further investigation revealed that this was indeed the case. A glass-lined water heater had been installed, but the tank itself was made of steel, with an enamel coating on one side. However, due to the presence of oxygen in the water, the tank began to corrode, leading to leaks and damage to the system.

The engineer explained that the sacrificial anode rod, which is designed to protect the tank from corrosion, had been consumed by the corroding process, leaving the tank vulnerable to further damage. The result was a buildup of rust in the bottom of the tank, which then flowed into the pipes and ultimately reached the faucets upstairs.

To prevent such issues in the future, the engineer recommended that anode rods be replaced every three to five years on new installations, as this can help extend the life of the water heater. Additionally, regular testing of the system is crucial to identify any potential problems early on.

In conclusion, solder joints and flux are critical components of pipe systems, and proper execution of these processes is essential for maintaining their integrity. By understanding the causes of corrosion and taking steps to prevent it, homeowners can help extend the life of their pipes and avoid costly repairs down the line.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell here we have a piece of new copper pipe that's been split lengthwise to show the inside notice how bright and shiny the inside surface is well that isn't the way it remains for very long as once it's exposed to water it begins to corrode and it develops a film and we have to have a very uniform protective film on the inside of the copper pipe to protect against corrosion so this is what the pipe is supposed to look like that's right so this film what could damage this film and cause the corrosion well there's a number of factors we have to consider one of the most important is the water itself we water chemistry can affect pipe but generally it will affect pipe in an entire area like your neighbors in other houses in the same area have you asked anyone in your area about whether they've had the same problem yeah I have spoken to a couple of neighbors and nobody seems to have the same situation so it's all your problem yeah pretty much then we have to look at the things that can happen inside of your house like what well one example is stagnation here is a piece of pipe in which we observe the corrosion product on the outside due to a leak when we split the pipe and examine the inside we see rows of pits what happened in this case is the new pipe was installed and it was initially flushed but then it was allowed to remain stagnant for an extended period of time several months and right at the water line inside the pipe we have rows of pits so if you've been leaving your water off for months at a time not with four kids my waters run at all I don't think it's stagnation so what else we got another possibility is high velocity and erosion corrosion this is an example of that problem the green material is the film it has been eroded away look at how it's just completely right there's a little horseshoes yeah where the water velocity is remove the material another related problem is where the ends of the pipe are not properly prepared in making solder joints if the bur at the end of the pipe is not reamed to remove it we have local turbulence and that can cause another related erosion corrosion talent is so important most people have no idea that on every tubing cutter there's this a reaming tool made to be able to open up that pipe so you won't get an impediment that's right very important all right what else when excessive flux is applied on the inside of the joint it can remain after the pipe is put in service this sample shows a residue of flux on the inside just downstream from the solder joint once the flow started it picked up this residue and it redeposited each one of these are a pip point inside the pipe that's right now you mention something about what cold or hot water pipe being more prevalent cold water issues are much more prevalent the reason being is in hot water systems if you had excessive flux the heat of the water melts it and carries it away we dissolve it right this section of pipe is a companion to our cold water sample and it shows that there are no pits on the inside and the surface is very smooth so with that what do you think my situation is well since your problem is in the hot water piping I don't expect that it's related to flux the only way we can really tell is with your permission I'd like to cut a piece of that pipe out take it back to my laboratory split it open and analyze the inside and determine what's present and see if we can tell what is causing the problem okay I really look forward to finding out what my situation is thank you very much so our engineer takes our pipe back to his lab yep what does he find out well here's the results right here here's a piece of the hot water pipe that we cut out you can see the corrosion point on the outside and the pipe is split we see a nodule right here of corrosion and that was in a variety of places under a high-powered microscope here's the images that we see you can see one of the nodules right when that nodule is broken apart you can see there's a pit corrosion point and there was the presence of iron underneath it and the corrosion builds up around that little flake of iron that's right but how does the iron get into the system why is it in our hot water pipe well we suspected it was from the hot water heater and we got really lucky about two weeks later how's that the what he delete boy now that's a plumber talking well lucky that the water heater it gave us a prop okay so this is the actual water heater from that house so I took a saw and I cut it hard Oh Oh Richard is horrific that is horrible looking what happened well this is a glass lined water heater glass lined steel actually the tank itself was made out of steel on this side on this side is this enamel coating oh that's the glass they're talking about right actually just kind of wraps around in here over the steel that's right now water in the presence of oxygen will always try to eat any metal right inside of any water here will be a rod like this this is a sacrificial anode rod that sits down into the water sacrificial wife sacrificial it's made out of magnesium it's a less noble metal than the tank so this is what gets eaten rise looks like it's completely gone a little in a way absolutely now once that anode rod is gone the water now has a veritable buffet it can eat the entire tank and that's what happened right so this tank now starts leaking all this rust down into the bottom now what happens every time you open up the hot water faucet here comes the water filled with iron particles leaves right here through this pipe goes into the pipes goes right up to the faucets upstairs so as you touch the turn the faucet off what happens those on your flakes settle right down here and where do they go they come right down to the horizontal pipe yeah in the basement right like right here okay so now I understand how they got into our pipe what do we do about it well on the water heater on a new installation if you can change that anode rod every three to five years and stay on top of it you can get a water here to last a long time it's been more than 10 years don't even bother with audio okay if it's on the cold water side you see pit corrosion you would suspect flux right so the pit point here so you really have to decide is on the heart of the cold if it's on both have your water tested so we're gonna do some testing and we want to do it at the cold tap the hot tap explained to me and compare the three all right well a lot of good lessons and you're right we were lucky it's not often that we get inside of a water heater welcome to my world youwell here we have a piece of new copper pipe that's been split lengthwise to show the inside notice how bright and shiny the inside surface is well that isn't the way it remains for very long as once it's exposed to water it begins to corrode and it develops a film and we have to have a very uniform protective film on the inside of the copper pipe to protect against corrosion so this is what the pipe is supposed to look like that's right so this film what could damage this film and cause the corrosion well there's a number of factors we have to consider one of the most important is the water itself we water chemistry can affect pipe but generally it will affect pipe in an entire area like your neighbors in other houses in the same area have you asked anyone in your area about whether they've had the same problem yeah I have spoken to a couple of neighbors and nobody seems to have the same situation so it's all your problem yeah pretty much then we have to look at the things that can happen inside of your house like what well one example is stagnation here is a piece of pipe in which we observe the corrosion product on the outside due to a leak when we split the pipe and examine the inside we see rows of pits what happened in this case is the new pipe was installed and it was initially flushed but then it was allowed to remain stagnant for an extended period of time several months and right at the water line inside the pipe we have rows of pits so if you've been leaving your water off for months at a time not with four kids my waters run at all I don't think it's stagnation so what else we got another possibility is high velocity and erosion corrosion this is an example of that problem the green material is the film it has been eroded away look at how it's just completely right there's a little horseshoes yeah where the water velocity is remove the material another related problem is where the ends of the pipe are not properly prepared in making solder joints if the bur at the end of the pipe is not reamed to remove it we have local turbulence and that can cause another related erosion corrosion talent is so important most people have no idea that on every tubing cutter there's this a reaming tool made to be able to open up that pipe so you won't get an impediment that's right very important all right what else when excessive flux is applied on the inside of the joint it can remain after the pipe is put in service this sample shows a residue of flux on the inside just downstream from the solder joint once the flow started it picked up this residue and it redeposited each one of these are a pip point inside the pipe that's right now you mention something about what cold or hot water pipe being more prevalent cold water issues are much more prevalent the reason being is in hot water systems if you had excessive flux the heat of the water melts it and carries it away we dissolve it right this section of pipe is a companion to our cold water sample and it shows that there are no pits on the inside and the surface is very smooth so with that what do you think my situation is well since your problem is in the hot water piping I don't expect that it's related to flux the only way we can really tell is with your permission I'd like to cut a piece of that pipe out take it back to my laboratory split it open and analyze the inside and determine what's present and see if we can tell what is causing the problem okay I really look forward to finding out what my situation is thank you very much so our engineer takes our pipe back to his lab yep what does he find out well here's the results right here here's a piece of the hot water pipe that we cut out you can see the corrosion point on the outside and the pipe is split we see a nodule right here of corrosion and that was in a variety of places under a high-powered microscope here's the images that we see you can see one of the nodules right when that nodule is broken apart you can see there's a pit corrosion point and there was the presence of iron underneath it and the corrosion builds up around that little flake of iron that's right but how does the iron get into the system why is it in our hot water pipe well we suspected it was from the hot water heater and we got really lucky about two weeks later how's that the what he delete boy now that's a plumber talking well lucky that the water heater it gave us a prop okay so this is the actual water heater from that house so I took a saw and I cut it hard Oh Oh Richard is horrific that is horrible looking what happened well this is a glass lined water heater glass lined steel actually the tank itself was made out of steel on this side on this side is this enamel coating oh that's the glass they're talking about right actually just kind of wraps around in here over the steel that's right now water in the presence of oxygen will always try to eat any metal right inside of any water here will be a rod like this this is a sacrificial anode rod that sits down into the water sacrificial wife sacrificial it's made out of magnesium it's a less noble metal than the tank so this is what gets eaten rise looks like it's completely gone a little in a way absolutely now once that anode rod is gone the water now has a veritable buffet it can eat the entire tank and that's what happened right so this tank now starts leaking all this rust down into the bottom now what happens every time you open up the hot water faucet here comes the water filled with iron particles leaves right here through this pipe goes into the pipes goes right up to the faucets upstairs so as you touch the turn the faucet off what happens those on your flakes settle right down here and where do they go they come right down to the horizontal pipe yeah in the basement right like right here okay so now I understand how they got into our pipe what do we do about it well on the water heater on a new installation if you can change that anode rod every three to five years and stay on top of it you can get a water here to last a long time it's been more than 10 years don't even bother with audio okay if it's on the cold water side you see pit corrosion you would suspect flux right so the pit point here so you really have to decide is on the heart of the cold if it's on both have your water tested so we're gonna do some testing and we want to do it at the cold tap the hot tap explained to me and compare the three all right well a lot of good lessons and you're right we were lucky it's not often that we get inside of a water heater welcome to my world you\n"