Asked by Exit117Plumber · Aug 11
Vo-tech senior, helping my uncle on weekends. Sweated a 3/4 tee on Saturday, cleaned it, fluxed it, looked perfect. Turned the water on and it dripped. Redid it and it dripped again. Uncle says just buy a press tool and stop wasting solder lol. Is sweating even worth learning anymore?
Learn to sweat, kid. Press is great and I own the tools, but you'll be on jobs where you can't press, and you need to know why joints fail. Nine out of ten times a joint that looks perfect and drips has water in the line. Water in the pipe pulls the heat away and the solder never flows all the way in. Was there a valve or a low spot near that tee?
Agree with Ziggy. And heat the fitting, not the solder. When the solder gets pulled in on its own, you're there.
There's your water. Fix the valve or get the water out first, then sweat it. You'll never forget this one.
There was a valve about a foot away that was weeping a little. So yeah, probably water.