Broken Purge Valve

[Giant Ninja Robot]

So my purge valve loosened to the point where it's completely loose and wobbly at the base. I superglued it but that was a temp fix as the glue eventually got really brittle and broke off. So I have a blowtorch that came with a soldering kit and I'm wondering if that would work?

Anyone soldered on a hookah before? I've never done any at all so how easy/hard is it? It's a stainless steel rotator if that matters.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!

- Ninja

edit - BROKEN purge valve was the topic. Mod fix? It'z cule I'm jist a speling & graimmer freeck

edit #2 - thanks Scoop! Edited July 13, 2008 by giant ninja robot

[SuburbanSmoker]

depends on how strong it has to be but if its not a "durable" part i.e needs to take alot of abuse, sodder does work, and its simple to do. most guns come just a heating element and then the sodder wire. some already have the wire run through the gun and it does it auto. very simple. very doable.

[Codename067]

my dad could do it. a jeweler i work with can as well.

[peterjmag]

edit - BROKEN purge valve was the topic. Mod fix? It's cool I'm just a spelling & grammer freak

Not enough of a spelling freak, apparently.

[Giant Ninja Robot]

depends on how strong it has to be but if its not a "durable" part i.e needs to take alot of abuse, sodder does work, and its simple to do. most guns come just a heating element and then the sodder wire. some already have the wire run through the gun and it does it auto. very simple. very doable.

coolness thanks. The tool I'll be using is a blow torch so that is the concern i have. It comes with the wire and some sort of compound seperate. I guess it would work just the same but blowtorch+hookah freaks me out. I'ma try it tomorrow and I'll let everyone know how it went.

[hookah hippie]

I don't know if I would smoke through solder it doesn't sound safe

[ryno]

I don't know if I would smoke through solder it doesn't sound safe

Isn't that how alot of hose ports are put on?

[ilikemyusername]

i say melt the rotator down!

[AmunRa]

I have soldered some of my pipes back together in the past. I was a fabricator/welder Journeyman for several years, so I have a lot of experience with this. As a word of caution though, this can be dangerous. You can burn yourself pretty badly if you aren't careful, so it is best to have someone who has experience do it, or at least have a hospital on speed dial.

Since the pipes are typically very thin wall metal, you should not use a torch (i.e. open flame) to do this. An open flame will generate too much heat, and will discolor the stainless steel very quickly. You will need an electric soldering iron like what is used to assemble circuit boards. You can pick one up from Home Depot or Lowes for around $12. The other thing you will need is acid core solder (NOT tin core solder) and a liquid flux. Sometimes the solder and flux are sold together. If you read the package, it will say that it is to be used with acid-core solder.

Once you have all of these items, you're good to go. Usually, the soldering iron will come with several tips (a sharp pointy one, one that looks like a flat head screwdriver, etc). You will want a large one that is shaped somewhat like a flat head screwdriver. Plug it in and let it get hot. While it heats up, clean the joint on your pipe where you intend to solder. Clean it as well as you can. Any dirt will rise to the surface of the solder and look nasty. Put the pieces together where you want them, and hold them in place with a pair of plires or prop them up on something non-flammable. If the parts are small, this will be tricky. Don't hold them with you hand because they will get very hot very quickly when you go to solder them. Once everything is somewhat together, take the iron and touch the tip to the joint in all places to preheat it. If it starts to discolor, then back off, wait a few seconds, and keep moving around the joint until it is all preheated. Then take your acid core flux, and squirt it on the joint. It may boil and splatter,so watch your eyes.

Now the tricky part. Hold the iron to the joint to get it hot, and then take the solder and touch it to the joint. Be careful NOT to touch it to the tip of the iron. The idea is to get the joint hot enough to melt the solder on contact. A small bead should roll off onto the joint. Allow it to harden (less than a second), and then just keep moving around the joint. If the solder starts to not stick and just runs all over every where, you need to heat the joint more with the iron, squirt some more flux on it, and then try again. If you get any blobs or sharp points, you can use the iron to smooth it back out at any time. The iron will melt the solder on contact.

It sounds really difficult, and it is if you have no experience whatsoever. I will try to attach picturesof some joints I have done to show you what it should look like when you finish. If you have questions, PM me. Good luck!

[Giant Ninja Robot]

wow man thank you for the expert advice. I didn't expect anyone to know so intricately about this. Guess thats why it never hurts to ask! I'll paste this into a word file and let you know how it goes when I'm able to get to it or with any questions.

Again thank you very much for taking the time to type all this out so concisely!