.... This one is pretty rough... Even has a stripped nrv stuck inside it .. Figured I'll try desoldering the pump...haha... Never did that before... But figured what the hell... If I can't get it to work then I'll send it to @Pharael because he likes challenging stoves haha....I would not do that to him though...so... Just went ahead and hit it... Some idiot soldered a nut to the fuel cap to make it easier to tighten it?? OMG
Now I just need to put the tube in. Any advice? I've never done this before.... But figure I'll try it...
I think my plan of attack will be to fill the tank with cold water. I'll put the tank in the vise to hold it and make a donut out of plumbing solder, flux it and heat it until it's pooled and immediately off the torch and wait for it to cool. Then I will know if I can pump it up and maintain pressure... I'll be good to go
Can tin it where the old solder was, I’ve never filled the tank with water. I had an old Patent 00 I had to remove the pump tube to remove the NRV with an extractor and Vise Grips. Have done a few with tube removal, notice the old solders angle to replace where it was originally. Duane
@Remus1956 If you want to add to your pump tube removing/refitting skills, purchase a Burmos! I had a beaut where some enterprising soul had decided to solder the NRV in, yep…solder everywhere, even in the end cap threads, which obviously required a thread re-tap. Nowt so queer as folk.
@hikerduane ok .. Seems easy enough. I am probably going to use radiator solder...it's the same thing but if plumbing solder is 500 degree melting point .. radiator solder is 430 degrees. I am filling the tank with water because the guy who had this put an obscene amount of solder around the seam of the tank and if it's holding then I don't want to chance ruining it or causing fractures. Can't be that hard right? Seems like a few others have done this before. Piece of cake right? Haha
@Pharael I've been looking for a Burmos 96 just to try fixing it...or some junk tank to practice on.... Nothing like trying on the real thing! Yeah this one is rough. I'm out right now getting materials to solder and I'll do a dunk test after. Sounds like your stove was about as bad as this one. This one had a warped head on the nrv and I'm glad I got it out
@Remus1956 Having soldered the pump tube end cap back on, I would pop an NRV in and water test the pump operation in a bucket of water to ensure there are no leaks from the end cap, prior to re-soldering the pump tube back into the tank. I have never filled a tank with water when re-soldering a pump tube back in place and IMO, would be detrimental to the heating/soldering process. In regard to your concern, I would suggest considering externally wrapping the soldered area of the tank in workshop paper soaked in cold water or something similar. (On three legged stoves, I will also wrap the adjacent leg in workshop paper soaked in cold water to prevent the leg becoming de-soldered). I would clean the pump tube and as @hikerduane mentions, note the line of original solder and if needing to add to this line, add a very thin amount. Clean up and flat the solder in the tank’s pump tube receiving ‘wall’ with some wire wool. I always insert some workshop paper soaked in cold water and push it up to the NRV to prevent any possibility of heat transfer desoldering the pump tube end cap. With the pump tube positioned into the tank, use the gas torch to equally heat around the pump tube/tank joint so you don’t create any hotspots. Moving the gas torch away, you should then be able to add the solder stick to the heated joint so that the solder immediately melts (and with the aid of the flux), runs around the joint and successfully seals it. You should then have a neat looking joint. Pharael.
Look at this craziness....a nut soldered to the radius fuel cap! It came right off with some heat.... But are we kidding??
@Pharael ok!!!!! Thank you!!!! That makes sense. I'll try it in about an hour.... I'll check the pump first... Good idea. I was wondering how to check my work. I used the last of my solder putting the cap back on the tube. To get it straight...wrap with wet cloth. Fill pump tube with wet paper...flux and solder... Got it
@Remus1956 I wouldn’t fill the pump tube with wet paper…just ensure you have a sufficient amount at the NRV end of the pump tube. What you don’t want to do is to overall cool the pump tube as this will be detrimental to the soldering process - you just need to cool the end cap part of the pump tube. Once you have re-soldered the pump tube in place, reinstall the burner etc and pump test in a bucket of water to check for air leaks. Hopefully there will be none!! I am now off to the land of nod. Pharael.
Plus one on heat sinks instead by other soldered pieces and on the bottom seam, doesn’t take much. Duane
@Remus1956 Back on… Whilst you are of course aware, for anyone else, just to clarify my earlier comment in this thread: I mean by this, push the soaked paper to the ‘NRV end’ of the pump tube. Clearly the NRV itself should NOT be fitted when re-soldering the pump tube back into the tank. Pharael.
Well...I got the damned thing together but I'm getting bubbles out of the nrv area. Did it like you both said @Pharael and @hikerduane and got it sealed. It was really a pain in the ass and must have been at it for 8 hours now I soldered the cap on the tube... Tried the nrv both ways...took the nrv out and packed with wet cotton halfway down the tube....cleaned and tinned the parts and fluxed. Soldering came good on the second try (was crooked) but hear and see bubbles from the nrv. After 8 hours at it... I'm kind of spent. I know I'll have to try it again tomorrow... It's probably something with the cap on the bottom of the tube though I did check it and got good hydro lock. Im at the point to find a junker 111 tank and try yanking the tube out of it to try it again. I just think this skill is beyond me.
@Remus1956 When you remove the pump tube, you will obviously be pump testing in water to confirm it is the end cap which is leaking. I have never encountered a cracked pump tube on any Radius but worth closely inspecting nonetheless. Over the years, I have had to remove a fair few pump tubes and resolder the end caps. I have always used workshop paper (due to its high absorbency) such as this, soaked in cold water, then manually ‘squeezed’ together then finally soaked in cold water for a second time, to protect the end cap. Hindsight is always a wonderful thing - but if you find you have re-heat to adjust the pump tube angle, I would recommend first removing the pump tube packing material you are using, re-soaking in cold water and re-installing, so that you are providing as much protection to the end cap from heat transfer as possible. Just remember this famous saying: If at first you don’t succeed… …let the missus have a go!
I bet all that excessive solder on the tank & the soldered on nut to torque down the filler cap could of been avoided with new seals! Keep at it - will be so satisfying to put right all the abuse it's had.
@Pharael this is the after math of 8 hours. Thinking on it now it's not easy to get the nrv in or out...I suspect the cap on the tube opened up. However inspection through the filling port it looks intact. Either way.... The nrv is not seating right so it's probably a drip of solder in the way. Too bad really as this was the best I could do with the pump. The tank seam was definitely "repaired" by the previous owner and looks like he had the whole tank in two. There are a few "repairs" that I can see from the inside and coincidence they're on the outside too
