A standard household propane or butane torch can suffice, but one of the new MAPP gas-burning torches is preferable. They’re available at most hardware stores. They burn far hotter than regular torches, allowing for faster and easier silver soldering.
Is MAPP gas suitable for soldering?
Lead-free solder melts at a greater temperature than lead-based solder, which is now prohibited. MAPP gas torches are hotter than propane and are therefore a better choice for contemporary solder. Most 1/2- to 3/4-in. pipes and fittings only require five to ten seconds of heating with a MAPP gas torch before solder can be fed into them. But proceed with caution. MAPP gas makes it easier to overheat a joint. The joint is overheated if the flux turns black and the solder refuses to flow into the fitting.
Is MAPP gas sufficiently hot to braze?
Because of its high flame temperature of 2925 C (5300 F) in oxygen, genuine MAPP gas can be used in conjunction with oxygen for heating, soldering, brazing, and even welding. Although acetylene has a higher flame temperature (3160 C, 5720 F), MAPP has the advantage of requiring no dilution or special container fillers during transportation, allowing a larger amount of fuel gas to be transported at the same weight, and it is considerably safer in use.
Due to the high concentration of hydrogen in the flame higher than acetylene but lower than any of the other petroleum fuel gases a MAPP/oxygen flame is not totally suitable for welding steel. The hydrogen corrodes the welds by infusing itself into the molten steel. This is not a severe concern for small-scale MAPP welding because the hydrogen escapes rapidly, and MAPP/oxygen can be utilized to weld small steel pieces in practice.
Underwater cutting, which necessitates high gas pressures, MAPP/oxygen was shown to be beneficial (under such pressures acetylene can decompose explosively, making it dangerous to use). Underwater oxy/fuel gas cutting of any kind, on the other hand, has mostly been supplanted by exothermic cutting, which is faster and safer.
MAPP gas is also utilized in air combustion for brazing and soldering, where its higher combustion temperature of 2,020 C (3,670 F) in air gives it a modest edge over rival propane fuel.
The most significant disadvantage of MAPP gas is its high cost, which is typically one-and-a-half times that of propane at the refinery and up to four times that of propane at the consumer level. It is no longer widely utilized in any large-scale business; for bigger users, acetylene/oxygen is more cost-effective than MAPP/oxygen when high flame temperatures are required, and propane/air is more cost-effective when significant amounts of overall heating are required.
A MAPP/oxygen flame, on the other hand, is still extremely desired for small-scale users, as it has higher flame temperatures and energy densities than any other flame other than acetylene/oxygen, but without the hazards and hassles of acetylene/oxygen. It comes in handy for jewelers, glass bead makers, and a variety of other craftspeople. The high heat capacity of the MAPP/air flame is particularly valued by plumbers, refrigeration and HVAC experts, and other craftsmen; MAPP was frequently utilized until recently, and was provided in small to medium size containers.
Blowtorches are used to brown and sear food cooked sous-vide at low temperatures. MAPP gases should be used instead of cheaper butane or propane, according to Myhrvold’s Modernist cuisine: the art and science of cooking, since they create greater temperatures with less chance of giving the dish a gas flavor, which can occur with incompletely combusted gas.
Is silver solder more resistant to corrosion than brazing?
Many people ask us what the difference is between soldering and brazing.
They are fairly comparable joining procedures in that they both involve melting a filler metal to join two or more components without melting the component’s base material.
Brazing is defined by the American Welding Society (AWS) as a method that uses a filler metal with a liquidus temperature of more than 450C (842F).
Soldering, on the other hand, necessitates the use of filler metals with a liquidus of 450C or less.
The issue is made much more complicated by the usage of phrases like “I used silver solder.”
This is a misnomer because all silver-based alloys melt well over 450C, indicating that they are brazing filler metals. The correct name for all brazing alloys, including silver-based alloys, is “filler metals for brazing.” For unique compositions of brazing filler metals, the AWS has devised a designation system that uses the principal element(s) plus a number. All identifiers begin with the letter “B,” which stands for “brazing.” BAg-x is the designation for silver-based alloys, where x is a number that corresponds to a certain alloy composition. BAg-1 is 45 percent Ag, 15 percent Cu, 16 percent Zn, and 24 percent Cd by weight. BAg-34 has a nominal composition of 38 percent Ag, 32 percent Cu, 28 percent Zn, and 2% Sn. Aluminum-silicon filler metals (BAlSi-x), magnesium filler metals (BMg-x), copper, copper-zinc, and copper-phosphorus filler metals (BCu-x, RBCuZn-x, and BCuP-x, respectively), nickel and cobalt-based filler metals (BNi-x and BCo-x, respectively), and gold-based filler metals are some of the other brazing filler metal families (BAu-x). Brazing filler metals include titanium, palladium, platinum, and other metals. Brazing can be found in a variety of places, including automobiles, jet engines, cookware and cutlery, and HVAC systems, to mention a few.
In addition to having a lower processing temperature, soldering often produces a weaker joint than brazing.
This is suitable and even desirable for many applications.
Brazed junctions often outperform soldered ones by a factor of five in shear strength.
Sensitive electronics or small components can be harmed by excessive heat.
Soldering and brazing heat can be applied in a variety of ways, including flames, resistive heating, inductive heating, laser use, combustion and subsequent radiant heating, and so on. Soldering and brazing can be done in open air or in protective atmospheres (typically with a flux to remove surface oxides and permit wetting and flow of the solder or braze filler metal) (e.g. inert, vacuum, or active atmosphere). Many metals and metallic alloys, ceramics, and composite materials, as well as like and dissimilar materials, can be joined using both processes.
The answer is dependent on a number of parameters, including the service load and the temperature, to name a couple.
The high temperatures required for brazing harm many substrates.
Another important factor to consider when choosing the right procedure is the wettability of the substrate by the solder or brazing filler metal.
Closed loop systems that cannot be easily cleaned after joining must often be brazed or soldered in vacuum or under a protective atmosphere, or a self-fluxing filler metal such as copper-phosphorus alloys (BCuP-x) must be employed in copper-based assemblies. Certain ‘no-clean fluxes’ leave little residue after joining, however hardened residues can cause abrasive wear in moving components with narrow clearances, or they can hydrolyze and cause corrosive conditions.
What is the best soldering gas?
MAPP gas is often regarded as the finest choice for soldering. A quick 5- 10 seconds of MAPP gas heating can quickly complete the task.
What is the finest soldering gas for copper?
A propane or MAPP gas torch can be used to solder copper (methylacetylene-propadiene propane). A yellow tank holds MAPP gas, while a blue tank has propane. MAPP gas is normally a little more expensive than propane, but it heats the pipe considerably faster. Propane works OK, but it takes longerwhich could be advantageous if you’re new to soldering copper and working with 3/4-inch or 1/2-inch piping. The torch you choose is entirely up to you.
Is it possible to solder copper pipe with MAPP gas?
We’ve been asked if we use propane or MAP gas while sweating or soldering copper tubing. In reality, both sorts of fuel will suffice.
Which torch is best for melting silver?
If it’s something like this – http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/POWERGAS-B…-/151983535003 – I’d advise against it.
For the money, the runtime on those O2 cylinders is abysmal; if you get even 15 minutes out of one, you should be happy.
Working with a larger O2 cylinder or an oxygen concentrator becomes a reasonable choice due to rising consumable expenses.
A propane torch, like as a Sievert, can generate a lot of heat, which is sufficient for casting ingots, though it’s best to use it in a brazing hearth to keep the heat contained.
