ARARA resurrection? possible? COMPLETED!

Neither am I; have wire brushed it over and over; used brake cleaner fluid/spray that leaves no residue then wire brushed again with stainless steel brush with more flux; then heated the font till glowed with a reddish blush ONLY REDEEMING point if there is one; it is not leaking under pressure - for now !; geeves am not at all happy either

geeves am using Kester brand; don't know its composition as the label over the last 20-30 years has worn off and is pretty much illegible believe probably electrical and non acid
will follow up on this and see if changing flux might be a better option; the seam was practically smothered in flux to where it ran out and dripped onto the floor; so it was not a problem with quantity; probably using wrong flux !
yes; the riser is non threaded; used my entire roll of silver solder & the floor looks quite interesting with the silvery splashes and spatters and will have to pass by the welding supply store to pick up another roll and get some "plumbers flux"; thanks again YD and geeves; cheers
Lou

 

found an unopened container of the flux I used and it is an acid based self cleaning type used for mostly electrical purposes and general soldering; question should I go to a another type as this kind is not giving me the desired results or is it just a symptom of my lack of abilities?

lots silver solder on the floor wear boots


nearly an entire 1 lb roll 4% Ag. gone between the "electrical Solus" and the ARARA

will be back at it again this evening all critiques welcome and appreciated; this is a learning experience
cheers
Lou

 

Silver solder is a different beast and has its own fluxes to use. Also its toooo expensive to try substituting from the correct flux. It will flow into the tiniest of spaces if it's clean but won't go anywhere if it finds a speck of dirt or corrosion. Don't know how to clean inside the join but you must do this.

 

Geeves am running into that problem of "cleaning" ; can get to the outside of the tube without any problem and leave it shining bright BUT how in the heck do I get to the inside of the tube unless I cut the reservoir neck



One tube is inside the other and crimped in place! am waiting to get some phosphoric acid based flux to see if the acid can clean out years of debris without cutting the neck

Unless y'all know of other options? cheers and thanks again for the input
Lou

 

I don't really understand the problem, but cutting the neck is not the solution. I would have expected the solder to wick in there no problem at all. Are you sure it has not done so, could it be going into the font?

P.S I would really would have binned this font so I am not the best person to be offering advice.

 

There is more value in silver solder already on the floor in the earlier picture than this stove will ever be worth.

 

Might make a nice lamp.

 

Absolutely correct; heck I bought her to scrap her and use for parts. yep; at today's prices but I purchased the solder when it was very/dirt cheap. member when gold was 37$ an oz? hate to say it but I do and wished I had bought a lot of it, am going to keep pluggin away at her till I can get her fired up at least once; chalk it off as a learning experience have a couple of ideas and will see how they do, they might work if can overcome clumsiness + ignorance. will share the outcome.

just wondering where she came from?; but looking at her and wondering how she got this far so darn unusual; there was a WW2 POW camp close by where many DAK prisoners were housed along with others close by in the south; who knows?, if she could only speak; this old girl has some history cheers and thanks for all the help, advice and encouragement; always dutifully appreciated; negatives also are appreciated
cheers;
Lou

 

I did also ; but am wondering about how much crud/corrosion is still inside the reservoir neck where it can't be reached

am thinking it is a matter of cleaning out the tube where the riser is crimped into the neck; thus the idea crossed my mind of cutting her off beneath the crimp to have both surfaces VERY clean and allow the solder to wick into the joint, am thinking cleaning solutions can only go soo far with decades of buildup and might eventually require mechanical cleaning

should have some phosphoric acid this evening BUT there is plentiful TSP where I am working and was wondering if anyone on this forum had experience with its usage
thanks in advance; cheers
Lou

 

You are determined! How about inverting the stove, and heating the riser to try to flow the solder that is already there.

This is more tricky but in the past I have, once, removed a pump tube, wrapped solder around the fuel pick up tube, with the stove upside-down. Then heated the riser until the solder flowed through. That worked but it was really a solution to a different problem (I was trying to re-attach a support ring inside the font).

 

One thought. Others may tell you this is a bad idea with a good reason why its bad but otherwise worth a crack.
The chances are that grease from cooking is the reason the flux wont flow and clean it. Acid fluxes are no good on grease. Try a trip through the dishwasher or maybe some caustic soda to clean it then a good rinse before trying soldering again.

 

Hi,
Geeves said "Others may tell you this is a bad idea, with a good reason why its bad, otherwise worth a crack."

How appropriate (the reference to the crack):

A stove tank,Caustic soda, and a dishwasher, Not a good combination.

I expect that parts of this tank are still under high internal stress from manufacture and dent pulling.

Stress corrosion cracking has been observed in Alpha brass (70/30 copper/zinc alloy) exposed to sodium hydroxide, under certain conditions.

I believe that a dishwasher has much the same heat and moisture conditions as a labaoratory corrosion-test cabinet.

Best Regards,
Kerophile.

 

George; geeves; was disgusted with the neck and filler cap results am doing something wrong
soo. lets start over
geeves says neck around filler cap looks like crap " my words" and it also still leaks a bit.
off she comes! first burn off the solder in/around the filler cap emery cloth and wire brush i can get in to clean

clean inside of neck and the neck itself.

Now lets burn off ugly solder from filler neck!; maybe directing flame down riser?!; whoa what is fueling the flame? have washed her out many times with detergent and water

always stunk of diesel so probably had some hydrocarbon residue caked inside and contaminating the flux/solder explaining the difficulty in "sweating/wicking" the joint; have never cleaned with anything other than detergent and denture cleaner.........yes; I tried that also; have some at home
Lou

 

spent too much time so could not post above soo here are the results + new problem. + mailman brought in a very nice valor Burner that fits nicely
Riser soldered in place....no leaks

filler neck soldered in place; yippiiii no leaks


new leak found where leg was pulled away from reservoir and cracked the canister

well, 2 problems solved out of 3.
now, how to get into the crack behind the leg and clean + resolder?? open to more advice; TSP?,Citric Acid?, brake cleaner?? anyone have thoughts on using an agent to clean?, finish pulling off leg and restart ? will be difficult to clean behind leg to resolder
cheers
Lou

 

I think that soon your stove will be solder held together with bits of brass!

 

Hi Lou, you are likely better taking the leg off, cleaning up the area, and mending the crack, before re-attaching the foot/leg.
Here are some hints on the latter.:

https://classiccampstoves.com/posts/4316
/post/37720/#37720

https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/

Best Regards,
George.

 

sure is looking that way; might have to use a bit of emery cloth?, ya thank?......both she and I will never win a beauty contest
cheers
Lou

 

George, took your advice to heart and got a large hose clip that fit around all the legs + canister, but did not take the leg completely off.
opened up the legs slightly by spreading AFTER was able to stop drill the crack; cleaned well; wire brush; over and over + brake cleaning fluid + sandpaper; several times; then black flux; tightened the hose clamp bringing the leg back into position then soldered with 5% silver bearing solder.
great, yippii no leaks from the leg repair; so lets submerge the entire canister in water whoa again don't get too happy!!

still has a leak from the base; so many other leaks did not let me see it





now have to deal with the base; will see how it goes;
cheers
Lou

 

Don't listen to him, Lou - in my book, it's 10/10 for perseverence!

 

OK, once I cleaned it up the damage was a lot worse than I realized



wash, wire brush, brake clean fluid, wire brush, heat again, over and over and over; black flux; 5% silver bearing solder had to resolder about 40% of the circumference of the base; no leaks now at ALL
she might be ugly Trevor but she is mine, all mine.......she must have a heck of a story to tell, wish the old girl could speak
time to do a REAL pressure test ; can go up to 125 lbs psi on this 25Gal. single stage compressor but the question I have
how high a pressure do I need to go to?, have been pressure testing for leaks around 30-40 Lbs psi; should I go higher?, appreciate all advice;
cheers
Lou