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Can anyone advise on soldering banjo/oilfeed connections?

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i need some opinion on soldering cast brass banjo fittings to 3/16 OD copper pipe feeding rockers on 1950 ES 2. Should these be silver soldered (high temp stuff) or will lesser methods be ok? I have repaired this line once in the past with common plumbers 50/50 and it held but since I am doing a total rebuild I went with new line. Does anyone know if one method will better withstand stress from vibration ? I believe the silver solder joint is stronger but is it also more brittle ? Any advise will be appreciated ! Thanks- Richard
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Previously wrote:

i need some opinion on soldering cast brass banjo fittings to 3/16 OD copper pipe feeding rockers on 1950 ES 2. Should these be silver soldered (high temp stuff) or will lesser methods be ok? I have repaired this line once in the past with common plumbers 50/50 and it held but since I am doing a total rebuild I went with new line. Does anyone know if one method will better withstand stress from vibration ? I believe the silver solder joint is stronger but is it also more brittle ? Any advise will be appreciated ! Thanks- RichardHello Richard I think you may think again when you see the price of sliver solder , If the plumbers solder as worked ok in the past then it sould be ok now ? yours Anna J Dixon

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Hello Richard,

I'm a plumber by trade, regular lead free solder will be fine for your application, the inside of any modern boiler will reach temperatures far in excess of the feed pipes to your ES2 rockers. Buy yourself a tub of LA-CO regular solderingflux paste and get the brass almost to the point of glowing red (without burning off the flux), any cooler andI can guarantee the solder simply will not take and the vibration from your bike will loosen the joint very quickly,brass requires far more heat than copper in order to solder correctly. I've seen so many poorly soldered brass fittings on classic machinery, you can simply pull them apart and this is all down to not getting the fitting hot enough.

Best Regards,Karl.

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Hello Anna & Karl-

Thank you both for the quick reply - I will certainly heed Karl's advice & save some money as well ! ( Perhaps a little too late for the saving money bit as I've already dropped a fortune on this project-) Thanks again- Best regards- Richard

 


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