I intend to have my first go at soldering for many years. My last experience was with a copper soldering iron/ flux/ stick solder. Things have moved on and when I visited my local equipment supplier I was offered a range of electrical soldering irons of different wattage and size but I was reluctant to purchase these until I had the advice of the sages at CCS. My Question is: If I use this "new" equimment in order to carry general soldering work on brass stoves what size of soldering iron would you recommend, and what type of solder. Should it be stick type or the Multicore containing the flux? Any advice would be appreciated, regards, Brian.
https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/135161 https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/3909 https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/4316
Hi Brian, just my opinion but others may disagree. Unlike small projects or electronics kits, soldering brass on stoves have a bigger area and require more heat than a low wattage soldering pencil. Likewise, you need to heat up the area as quick as possible without affecting other soldered parts melting as with my experience although like all, we also use a wet rag over areas we do not want affected or some cooling process which goes back to having a high wattage soldering iron. Then again, I normally use, if necessary, a pencil flame tipped propane torch nowadays. Just me though. Ron
Hi Brian there are a few teqniques in general soldering,me personaly for stove work i use a blowlamp/torch,George has shown some great links on the topic. I use resin core solder and frys fluxite soldering flux. A couple of important hints in soldering is all the surfaces to be soldered must be perfectly clean and the corect flux applied for the solder used. The surfaces to be soldered, should be a tight fit to form a strong joint,and so the solder will flow into the joints by cappilary action, there is a tollerance the gap can be or the solder will just fall through,the parts to be soldered will need to be heated too the melting tempreture of the solder, for it to flow. A great place to look if you have some time is in the fettling forum and fettling master class, there are a good few picture tutorials on soldering and silver soldering,all so some brilliant restorations and very soon you will be doing some brillliant work your self.Good luck on your soldering providing you follow the right procedure,it is not as hard as you think,we are all here to give help and keep us informed on your soldering
Thanks for the links to the soldering items. I have now obtained the appropriate blowtorch, solder and flux and will embark on my first tank repair early next week.Great guidance that will hopefully save me some tears!! All the best, Brian.
Ron, Brian, thanks for your tips that complement the tutorials. I will have no excuses if I screw up but now feel quite confident. (that's probably a mistake to say that. I will probably end end up woth a dollop of molten brass). All the best, Brian.
Hi Brian if you have any scrap peices of brass copper,you could have a little practice first,and give you a little guidance in how much solder to use in doing a neat job and to see how well the parts are soldered together. Just another reminder it is vital all parts are cleaned and dry before soldering.i usualy use fine steel wool or very fine grade wet and dry,once again Brian good luck and we will look forward to seeing your first sucsessfull tank repair
Hi Brian, This comment is hopefully redundant, but better safe than sorry. You mentioned embarking on your first tank repair. A quick scan of the thread and I can't see what sort of repair you are undertaking. For any tank that's recently held fuel ensure it is fully flushed and there is no possibility of fuel vapours reamining before getting to it with a blowtorch! Best of luck! As (the other) Brian says a bit of practice on scrap first will result in a more rewarding first time repair. Cheers, Graham.
A very good point from Graham even a tank that has had paraffin in it even a ting amount of residue needs to be flushed out as soon as heat hits the tank the residue of fuel will vapourise in to a flamable gas. My tecnique is i pour a good amount of soda crystals in a bucket and pour large saucepan full of boiling water in it and take the hot solution outside and emerse the tank in it and leave it for about half hour till the water is cool and then slosh the tank about for a minuete or two, the reason i take it outside is any fuel either paraffin or petrol the vapour will come out of the tank, and the fumes will be dangerous indoors,i then realy flush the tank out again with plenty of hot water,i have used this method on both paraffin and petrol tanks
Graham, Brian, the tank is leaking at the filler cap. During the pressurised phase a steady stream of minute bubbles can be seen at the junction of the filler cap and the tank proper.The safety advice is great. I did appreciate the risks associated with vessels that have contained flammable fluid OR dust but it is a timely reminder which is much appreciated. I will carry out some trials on some junk brass trip prior to starting the job proper. Great advice, much appreciated, Brian
Hi Brian sounds by your discription the soldered seem where the filler cap collar and the tank has failed,you never mentioned what stove you have i assume a paraffin pressure stove. You will need to remove the filler cap, clean the area around the collar and tank with steel wool or a fibre glass pencil,makeing sure the araea around the joint is perfectly clean, and the apply the flux all around the join,t and then apply the heat,sometimes that will work with out adding any more solder,just apply some solder and watch it run aroun the joint. If the stove is a paraffin pressure stove, the larger 2 pint stove, have there pressure release ky and stem mounted on the filler cap stem, you will have to be care full, as the the pressure release collar, can very easily become desoldered, and that will have to be resoldered.
Brian,the stove is a 2 pint Burmos type with a "silent" burner. It may very well be a hybrid but the only evidence I can find as to its identity is the Burmos and British logos on the filler cap and valve. There has been an attempt at a previous repar at the filler cap (not by me) but this has not been a total succes. I have attched three images of the stove. Thanks for your advice re the proximity of the valve and the potential for it to de-solder and come away.The legs are fixed to the tank and my get in the way. All the best , Brian
