Not everyone has a soldering iron for PP (polypropylene) pipes, and buying one to make minor pipeline repairs is not always wise. If you need to solder a line where the water will be under low pressure, for example, for an irrigation system or watering animals, then you can get by with a gas burner. The technique of soldering without a soldering iron is easy to master, you just need to know some subtleties.
What you will need:
- Scissors for cutting PP pipes or a hacksaw for metal;
- gas-burner - http://alii.pub/5lnp8a
The process of soldering pipes with a torch
It is necessary to prepare a smooth end of the pipe to be soldered by cutting it with scissors or a hacksaw.
Then the burner is ignited and the minimum torch power is set. The fitting underneath is heated from the inside. You cannot keep the flame at one point, you need to rotate it.
Then a pipe is brought to the flame from the side, and its edge is heated by 15-20 mm. It should be rotated to ensure a uniform temperature rise.You need to heat it until its edge begins to melt, but until the polypropylene blackens and ignites.
Behind the pipe, the fitting is heated again for a few seconds, and the parts are joined, as usual when working with a soldering iron. This method can be used to connect both a standard pipe with a diameter of 20 mm and 25 mm or more.
If you practice on a couple of fittings and unnecessary trimming, the soldering turns out to be very high quality without a choke, which can be difficult to achieve even when working with a soldering iron.
When cutting such a connection, it is clearly visible that the parts become monolithic. Of course, soldering this way is not always convenient, since the already mounted part of the pipe cannot be rotated in front of the burner, but sometimes this method helps.
