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I understand that there are states that require this product instead of acidic type flux. Those of you who have to deal with the fine line between solder and burn must be quite a talent.
In my area we do not have that restriction to use it and I'd be hard pressed to "adapt" to the product as it is like putting hand lotion on the pipe.
However, given the national chains of Home Depot and Lowe's, along with a slew of all those other hardware store chains, and that oh so wonderful blister pack of flux/solder/brush along with some sandcloth for under $10 bucks to me is like a hidden advertising machine.
Just today, got a call for a job 30 miles away from me to get this guy on the straight and narrow with his situation. He ran 30' of copper pipe and he stated all his joints were leaking. I explained (since I wasn't going to take the job anyway) by asking him the simple question "was the flux white" that he burned those solder joints and that's why they are leaking.
I told him that for me to correctly fix that problem, for every joint you installed I'll have 3 in its place, because there is absolutely no way I'll even consider burning those fittings back off and go through the methodical application of cleaning the pipe. It simply isn't worth it on the time frame of things.
He didn't seem to agree with me on that....I went on to tell him he'd be better to cut it all out and start completely over which went right over his head.
Nevertheless, I never advised him to use a different flux, just explained he burned the joints up. I'm sure he called numerous plumbers after talking to me but he did say he appreciated the true diagnosis of the situation.
I told him $100/hour starting at my driveway and of course, I told him that I'd be too expensive for his situation.
I might be slow but I'm not driving out 30 miles one way. Check might look good on the office desk the next morning but I'll keep it local where my advertising dollars keep driving to a minimum.
Seems to me that long distance jobs can create the worst headaches, even though some are very simplistic...like a packing nut that started leaking that you never touched and they don't feel comfortable doing it themselves. Great.
In my area we do not have that restriction to use it and I'd be hard pressed to "adapt" to the product as it is like putting hand lotion on the pipe.
However, given the national chains of Home Depot and Lowe's, along with a slew of all those other hardware store chains, and that oh so wonderful blister pack of flux/solder/brush along with some sandcloth for under $10 bucks to me is like a hidden advertising machine.
Just today, got a call for a job 30 miles away from me to get this guy on the straight and narrow with his situation. He ran 30' of copper pipe and he stated all his joints were leaking. I explained (since I wasn't going to take the job anyway) by asking him the simple question "was the flux white" that he burned those solder joints and that's why they are leaking.
I told him that for me to correctly fix that problem, for every joint you installed I'll have 3 in its place, because there is absolutely no way I'll even consider burning those fittings back off and go through the methodical application of cleaning the pipe. It simply isn't worth it on the time frame of things.
He didn't seem to agree with me on that....I went on to tell him he'd be better to cut it all out and start completely over which went right over his head.
Nevertheless, I never advised him to use a different flux, just explained he burned the joints up. I'm sure he called numerous plumbers after talking to me but he did say he appreciated the true diagnosis of the situation.
I told him $100/hour starting at my driveway and of course, I told him that I'd be too expensive for his situation.
I might be slow but I'm not driving out 30 miles one way. Check might look good on the office desk the next morning but I'll keep it local where my advertising dollars keep driving to a minimum.
Seems to me that long distance jobs can create the worst headaches, even though some are very simplistic...like a packing nut that started leaking that you never touched and they don't feel comfortable doing it themselves. Great.
