Bob what is the melting temp of "Brigit"??? For most of our work, 50/50 is plenty strong enough. And usually I do not need the gap filler but in this case, because I was working with a situation where I was hammering the flange over and the bottom was moving within the upper shell I did indeed have some small gaps. In addition I was using heat all around the bottom of both pieces which caused them to became hot enough to cause gaps to lose their filler. After waiting a bit for the brass to 'chill' then I was able to go back and fill the resulting gaps. Nothing special but this is a first so far as I know. What I mean is, to my knowledge no one else here has tried a full dismantle of a brass stove and then reassembled it. Do I trust my work??? You bet! With over 45 years of soldering experience (not full time mind you) I am fully confident this stove will, unless it experiences a similar failure, outlast my grandchildren. That may sound argumentive but it is not intended it should, nor do I consider your comment to be a "Blast" at me, I just want you to know this is not my first rodeo. Lance
Hi Lance, Impressive repair, thanks for sharing. Can you shed some light on more of the process around setting up the piece prior to soldering. I've never yet had cause to totally remove the bottom from a tank (and sort of hoping I never have to in anger). However, my understanding of the construction is that the bottom will simply rest on the flange turned over from the side of the tank? If that is correct, once you'd got it back to round as best you could, when you came to solder it up did you just let gravity do it's work and solder from underneath, or did you set up some sort of jig so you could solder from the top (i.e the tank is upsidedown)? If the latter I'd have thought the bottom of the tank would just fall inside hence why some sort of jig would be required. Can you explain how you physically set up the parts in readiness for soldering as that would make the story complete for me. Many thanks, Graham.
Yes, makes me curious also how you kept the bottom part close to the side seams if you did solder it upside down. Ron
Hey, Lads, Just time for a quick one, as time is very short, and work is VERY LONG, today! I happen to know for a fact, after reading recently declassified military documents, that CWO Lance, as part of his illustrious military career, was often lowered by the tiniest spider web of string, into fuel tanks, water tanks, and just about any other type of shipboard tank, many times with water still in them, to braze, weld, or solder, leaking seams. He did this UNDER the water, too. By the way, I am not kidding here, Mates.... So, it's entirely possible that Lance had himself lowered, by a mere spiderweb of string, down into the fuel tank of that little Phoebus 30, and did the repair from the INSIDE!!! (I AM kidding about that part, OK?!) By the way, I think that with Lance's brazing experience in the military, his repairs WILL last not only his lifetime, but those of his grandkids, without question!! 8) 8) Hey, maybe we should offer a special "CWO Lance on a string" mobile, in the gift area here at CCS!! I'd buy one! Take care, and God Bless! Every Good Wish, Doc
So would a lot of other mates here Doc but most of them want that string around my neck, pulled taut, and suspended from a yardarm. Not that I'm against such but most also don't want it to be a doll but the real thing. That thought is causing me to lose sleep at night. Lance
The soldering was done with the fount in the upside down position. If you look at this or any other stove of this nature in that position you will see there is a "ledge" for the bottom flange to rest against. Then the upper shell is formed over the bottom to complete the joint. You can see this "ledge" in the first picture. That is also why I had such a problem with "gaps". As I was tapping the upper shell flange over the bottom I was also pushing the flange, or rim, of the bottom piece down the camber of the main body of the stove. In effect reducing the overall diameter of the bottom flange. In prepping the stove shell I opened the upper body shell to a complete circle and opened the bottom flange of the upper shell until it was fully extended so that the bottom could easily fit into the upper shell. It was a snug fit but not so taut as to need "pounding" to make up the joint. Lance
Hi Lance, No dig intended at your EXCELLENT work. Just wanted to make folks aware of a different product that is superior in strength to regular 50/50 solder. It's "manners" with respect to flow characteristics are superb. Bridgit does have a higher liquidus temp than 50/50. 210 degrees to be specific. Might that be a problem? Harris Bridgit specs pdf Bob
Not at all, I was just wondering about it because of the lised strength. I wondered also because you said you used a big iron and iI assumed you meant an iron like your wife might use to press your clothes. I didn't think a Sunbeam iron got hot enough. But remember I've never needed to use an ironing iron to solder a join. As for the "dig" I didn't really think you meant it to be such, but I'm not the only person reading these posts as you know. 8-[ Lance
Hi Lance, No, Not that kind of iron. A 300 watt electric soldering iron used for soldering sheet metal. Something like this with a diamond/chisel point. Electric soldering iron Were you an underwater welder? Based on Doc's post it sounds like you did a bunch of shipboard work. Navy vet myself. Retired refrigeration pipefitter/HVAC tech. Had my share of "green hands". The days of using 95/5 were brought to an abrupt halt when Bridgit came on the market. Did a large hydronic heating job with over 100K joints. Not one leak with this stuff. That sold me. On my repair I tried using a soft flame but it had too much overheating to the adjacent area. That's when I got out the iron. I was surprised how well it worked with MY application. Not to say it would work on every situation. It did localize the heat which was what I needed. Bob
Hi Bob. I'm a retired Chief Warrant Officer of the Coast Guard. Was wearing stilts when I enlisted so they thought I was taller than 6 foot. They said I could become a deep water sailor, seeing as how the stilts make me just over 7 ft tall. Ok on the iron I thought that but when you said a large one you confused me. Have pity, I'm 60 years young and I confuse easily. Lance
Hi Lance, LOL!!! Don't look back! I'm nippin' your heels at 59. My buddy Doug Coveny just retired a CWO gunner's mate from the CG a couple years ago. We swap "sea stories" from time to time over a cold one or when we coyote hunt. Bob
Very, very impressive fettle Lance. Thanks for sharing this. Great thread! Do you think it would be possible to remove the stove bottom if there had not been a "blow-out" like you had to get you started? How would you approach that removal? I have a couple of old tanks that another stovie gave me as they were in his bin for disposal because of severe damage to the tank tops. That *might* be repairable damage if a feller could open up the bottom and get in there. The tanks are nothing special, so no harm done to practice. Best, Gary
First, thanks guys for all your kind words. This was one 'ell of a learning experience i have to tell you. Gary, it would be much simpler I think to remove it without the "blowout". Especially if you are doing a two pinter or larger. The reasoning behind that is you would not have to remove the legs to get the bottom off. The same procedure would be used where you would first melt the solder and then with a thin screwdriver or other such to seperate the two pieces, lifting the upper shell flange off the bottom and working it 90 degrees to vertical. then once you have done that all the way around the fount you will only need to pry a bit on the edge of the bottom flange. And as I think of it you might not have to pry the whole shell flange 90 degrees off, but it would have to be freed from the bottom all the way around. Lance
Thanks Lance! I'll take some pictures if I try it. If it works out the way I hope, I'll post them. If it doesn't work out.... well, we never had this conversation. Thanks again for showing your awesome fettle! Best, Gary
Lance, I will line up a project on my list and I have just the perfect subject - a MKII brass tank! Lemme see, I still have the alky stove to clean up, a coleman 500 also to clean up, then desoldering and resoldering of a tank. Hmmm I have enough to be done over the winter!
An amazing fettle, Lance. Your matter-of-fact description makes it all sound so easy, but truly it's an achievement.
