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Piping Air With Copper

Keyblazer

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
1,471
Location
Irvine, CA
What I never understood about this is you have to put up the drywall first then space off for your copper air lines..but taking a torch to each fitting and getting it hotenought to sodier...well lets just way the drywall will catch on fire..pretty quick..so are you sopose to mesure, cut, and sodier everthing on the ground then install?? Did not do mine yet just for this reason...still trying to figure a way around all of this..


I did my copper pipe in place and used an Omat.
Its a Hi-temp Plumbers soldering mat, best on the market.
Great piece of kit to save the walls, concentrate the heat, etc.
I now have a couple of them around and they are usefull for so many jobs, even used it to redo some copper pipes in the Motorhome.

Main site.
http://www.omatusa.com/
Ebay page.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OMAT-Solder...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c25982fd3
 
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rlitman

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2010
Messages
24,596
Location
Long Island
Dont use asbestos ,you will die!!! and then your survivors will have to pay a hazmat cleanup company to sweep and certify your shop before it can be auctioned off!!!:willy_nil

Funny.
But seriously, asbestos shingles release less asbestos into the air than brake linings.
Personally though, a friend bought a black all carbon soldering pad at Home Depot a few years back, and that thing is the best solution I've ever found for this.
Not that I have anything against using an asbestos shingle for this, but having a flexible mat can be better in a lot of cases. Especially near a corner.
 
Last edited:

Ironhorse

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2012
Messages
800
I did my copper pipe in place and used an Omat.
Its a Hi-temp Plumbers soldering mat, best on the market.
Great piece of kit to save the walls, concentrate the heat, etc.
I now have a couple of them around and they are usefull for so many jobs, even used it to redo some copper pipes in the Motorhome.

Main site.
http://www.omatusa.com/
Ebay page.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OMAT-Solder...995?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c25982fd3

Sweet...I will try this...and for eveyone out there..yes a turbo torch will lite drywall on fire in less then 30sec...been there and done that about 5 months ago while moving the water softner during the garage remodel...lol
 

DonnyT

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 15, 2012
Messages
236
Location
Upstate
Probably mentioned already but copper has (3) three thicknesses. M,L,and K.
M is light
L is medium (NO typo either)
K is heavy
I can't tell you why they rated M copper as light, and L copper as Medium. Go figure.
 

c39er

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
1,663
Location
Seattle, Washington
Too late, why the hell didn't you tell me that sooner? It's ok though, the asbestos that I used only flaked off a small pile of dust that I had my kids sweep up and toss in the garbage, which my wife took out. Also, my dog took care of (licked up) what my kids missed. That stuff must taste good because he was licking his chops afterwards.

Got the copper at Home Depot...http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...eyword=copper+pipe&storeId=10051#.UM9dpK6AjjQ

Love it!:bounce:
 

Andy Griffith

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Sep 2, 2009
Messages
1,367
Location
Western WA
What I never understood about this is you have to put up the drywall first then space off for your copper air lines..but taking a torch to each fitting and getting it hotenought to sodier...well lets just way the drywall will catch on fire..pretty quick..so are you sopose to mesure, cut, and sodier everthing on the ground then install?? Did not do mine yet just for this reason...still trying to figure a way around all of this..
I did mine in sections on the floor, then soldered the sections together on the wall (stand off the wall a bit with super strut). I just put some tinfoil between the finished (painted) drywall and the joint being soldered. There was just enough room between the drywall and the joint to get the solder to flow around the joint to the backside of the joint.
 
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Monkey Milk

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 18, 2012
Messages
450
Location
Hawaii
Too late, why the hell didn't you tell me that sooner? It's ok though, the asbestos that I used only flaked off a small pile of dust that I had my kids sweep up and toss in the garbage, which my wife took out. Also, my dog took care of (licked up) what my kids missed. That stuff must taste good because he was licking his chops afterwards.

:willy_nil
 

ctfjr

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Messages
167
Location
Basketball Capitol of the World
I have been in the plumbing / heating distribution business for over 40 years and we sell all of the products that have been mentioned here. Its really not a big deal to solder without burning down the house. The fireproof pad a previous poster mentioned works & most of our plumber customers use it. They also use just a soaking wet rag.

We also sell Shark Bite (I would never put one of those fittings behind a wall, just sayin'). The Viega Propress is a pretty great way to join copper. My company 'loans' a tool to our customers for their 1st time use. Its like casting in a barrel :) Almost everyone buys a tool after that. Downside - tool is VERY expensive for a casual user (over $1500)

All that said when I piped my air compressor I used type L tubing and soldered it (it was before Propress). In my next house it will be Propress.
 
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