What's new!

Can anyone tell me how this new pre-soldered fittings can work. Would pro's use them?
Thanks

Speaking only for myself, I prefer to see the solder flow into and around the joint with my own eyes.

Having said that, I can't say anything good or bad about them.

Post back if you use them and let us know how it went.

call me an intermediate DIY'er concerning plumbing and soldering. Haven't done lots and lots, but enough to know now that I can solder joints and likely walk away with no worries about pinhole leaks. Well almost. I might still be unsure until I have the water on, but not as nervous as I used to be. =)

I used the presoldered some, just to try them out. At the same time I also started using oatey's #95 tinning flux to experiment. I found that proper use of the tinning flux made everything work... even connections I deliberately tried to do a crappy job of heating uniformally.

oatey's #95 flux is a tinning flux with solder powder mixed in, got it at HD or Lowe's... so you are essentially presoldering the joint. I do still use and have solder... but I think it's a lot easier to see when the temp is right with the tinned flux. When it gets hot enough you see the solder liquefy in the joint and then you can hit it around quickly with a little extra solder. Yes, you can do the same without pre-tinned flux just by touching the solder occasionally until its ready, but I really like the visual cue that the pre-tinned gives, and I've seen no failures yet. The pretinned flux was recommened to me by a guy who does a lot of plumbing and said he didn't use it but its not bad for a DIY'er like me.

so at this point, though the pre-soldered always seemed to work, I think its more cost effective to use the oatey's #95 and I didn't have a single leak last year when I ran new lines to a bathroom and new connections to a water softener and home filter. And also helped run lines at a buddy's house. That was when I was sold on the tinned flux... when I could run lines at a friends and not worry that his house would be flooding later that night.

Home depot and Lowe's have the presoldered fittings on clearance. I have used them. They appear to have thinner walls. I used them exactly the same way I used the other.