Harder than I thought. I have a Bialaddin that had a a large leak, replacement washers in everything sorted it out but there was still a 'micro' leak - from around the control cock boss. Reading posts on here, and following advice from various forum members i bit the bullet and soldered it. It came out okay, i am quite pleased, will re-pressure test it tomorrow to see if it's cured the slight leak. Filled the font with water, and draped wet cloths over the filling and pump tubes so they didnt accidentally unsolder..... Luckily it all went okay, couple of aborted attempts but i cleaned it up again and 3rd time was the charm. This shows where it was leaking before prep After paint stripping flux applied, and black marker to stop the solder flowing too far out and soldered. As this was a new thing for me to try, i spoilt myself and opened my last new-old stock box of Ersin lead solder. I was saving this for a special occasion, cant think of a better one personally. Cost 75p decades ago lol, lovely solder this. Will pressure test, and test light tomorrow evening after works and report back. Thanks to all those that gave advice, much appreciated. Ed
That's a really neat job done for a first attempt. If it cured the leak, you'd be on the same league as a soldering professional.
You had the good solder there with Ersin Multicore. All the same be proud of that lovely neat shiny fillet! Are you taking commissions?
haha perhaps it wasnt a complete first time fluke, i have soldered electrical components for years and have been welding with both arc and MIG for years (and dabbled in TIG - but thats hard as hell) so i understand the technique - heat (apply lots but not to much), keep moving, don't add to little or to much filler metal! I am very pleased with how it came out, and i think i will deliberately start looking for leaky and broken things that i can solder up The erisn solder is amazing stuff, its really good, flows well and the flux in it is nice. Its my favourite solder. Shame i am on my last big reel (that should last a while though lol) Ed
That explains it, @TocsinEd . I was thinking that you must be naturally-gifted in soldering to be able to accomplish that on your first attempt..
No leaks and the lamp doesn’t ‘pulse’ after about 10mins of running. Ran it for 30mins and outside was gone dry, will do a long run later to see if it does anything when it’s nice and warmed up Pretty pleased Ed
