What Is Plumbing Solder Made Of

Electrical solder is commonly a 60/40 blend of lead and tin. Because of the dangers of toxic lead in drinking water, local building codes now legally require the use of lead-free plumbing solder on all potable water plumbing connections that require soldering.

What kind of solder is used for plumbing?

Acid core solders are most often used in plumbing applications to join metal pipes or sheet metal. Rosin core solder is also fabricated with a hollow core inside the solder wire, but the flux used is a milder variety made of rosin, which is a solid form of resin derived from conifers such as pine.

Does plumbing solder contain lead?

Solder connects pipes in household plumbing. In 1986, the U.S. mandated a lead-free solder for plumbing, so the age of your house and knowledge of when the plumbing was installed can help you. If your house was built before 1986, your plumbing may have lead solder. Scrape the solder to see if it has that shiny color.

Does plumbing solder contain silver?

Safe Flo Silver Lead Free Solder is also effective on stainless steel, brass alloys, chrome alloys, galvanized steel and cast iron piping. Oatey products have earned the trust of plumbing professional for over 100 years.More videos on YouTube. Brand: Oatey Material: Metal.

Is there a difference between electrical solder and plumbing solder?

Perhaps the key difference between electrical and plumbing solder is the type of flux used in each application. The flux also aids wetting, helping the solder to flow and bond with the metals more readily. Typically, electrical solder contains rosin core flux; plumbing solder uses an acid-based flux.

What solder is best for copper pipe?

What Type of Solder is Used for Copper Pipe? Lead free solder is best for copper pipes carrying drinking water. It will be free of elements you don’t want entering your drinking water. However it will require a higher melting point than a 50/50 solder.

Is plumbing solder toxic?

Why are Solder Fumes Considered a Health Hazard? When solder wire is heated, fumes are produced that contain various chemicals. Breathing of these fumes can cause asthma or aggravate existing respiratory conditions. The fumes can also cause irritation of the upper respiratory tract, eyes and skin.

What is plumbing solder made of?

Does all solder have lead?

There are two main types of soft solder; lead solder and lead-free solder. Lead solders have about 60% (or 63%) tin and 40% (or 37%) lead in them.

Can you use plumbing solder jewelry?

Even though jewelry soft solders are similar to rosin-core tin/lead solders used for electronics and acid-core tin/lead solders used for plumbing, you should not substitute these other solders for jewelry solder.

What is copper pipe solder made of?

The process of joining copper pipe and fitting is called soldering (or sweating), which is a critical step in the copper installation process. Solder is a metal or metallic alloy that historically consisted of lead (known as lead-based solder) and tin in various proportions.

Is silver solder safe for drinking water?

It is safe for water supply lines. Silver solder is often used for copper gas lines. It melts at a much higher temperature. The key to soldering is to get the surfaces which will be soldered clean.

Can you use electrical solder for copper pipes?

Electrical solder is often a softer alloy, so it won’t withstand pressure as well. Definitely flux the pipe fittings as you normally would. You won’t get good coverage with the flux in the solder.

How do you know if solder is plumbing?

1 Answer. Plumbing solder is generally kind of thick – more than 1/8 inch. Electronic solder is usually much thinner – less than 1/16 inch. You can tell if solder has a core by melting some on a piece of paper – it will leave a greasy, maybe sticky spot if it has a core.

What kind of solder do I need for electronics?

For electronics soldering, the most commonly used type is lead-free rosin core solder. This type of solder is usually made up of a Tin/Copper alloy. You can also use leaded 60/40 (60% tin, 40% lead) rosin core solder but it’s becoming less popular due to health concerns.

Why is the solder not sticking to copper pipe?

If the solder is beading up or running down the pipe, you have a dirty fitting. Just as Vic says use clean fine grit sandpaper or emery cloth. Clean both surfaces, spread flux as soon as you clean them. Also clean and flux joint after you fit them together.

Do you need flux to solder copper pipe?

Strong metals such as brass and copper will require a synthetic acid flux in order to be soldered. This will remove not only oxidation but also corrosion and other residues that build up on these metals.

Can you use too much solder on copper pipe?

Don’t feed too much solder into the joint. It’s tempting to melt a few inches of solder into a joint as extra insurance against leaking. But excess solder can puddle inside pipes, restricting water flow, and can form small balls that break loose and damage faucet valves. Use about 1/2 in.

Is lead solder safe for drinking water?

Since the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986 the use of lead-containing solders in potable water systems has effectively been banned nationwide. The major impact of the Act has been on solder containing 50% tin and 50% lead (50-50), until then the most widely used solder for drinking water systems.

Are solder fumes bad?

All solder fumes can cause occupational asthma and other health problems (leaded and lead-free) if used for long periods at a time. The best solder wire contains something called Rosin that helps the solder flow when hot. This causes asthma if you are over exposed and is irreversible.

How do you know if solder is lead free?

Yes you can tell if lead solder has been used. It will be duller than lead free when cooled, and should be easily spotted by a trained eye. Lead solder can be added to lead free with no problem.

What is the composition of solder?

The solder composition, being free of lead and other known toxic metals, has a composition range of 0.5-4.0% antimony, 0.5-4.0% zinc, 0.1-3.0% silver, 0.1-2.0% copper and 86.8-98.8% tin, is especially adaptable for plumbing applications where solder joints are exposed to potable water.