:-) It takes practice. I was in the plumbing department and found the screw end (not compression) ball valve. I second shark bite. No health food here! Did you drain enough water out of the line so any water/air that turns to steam and expands has a place to go? Whole grain wheat etc, will clog. I also had a sink that was a few feet away opened as well. Personally, I would be going for compression or a Sharkbite. I think I'm going to try the sharkbites. Robert, Do you install the fitting w the female thread facing down? I can't figure out how the screw fittings work and of course no one at Menards knew anything. I was thinking I was going to sweat in two male copper screw fittings on each copper pipe side but I don't think it will work. I have also blown the lines out, open all faucets on that side and blow from the one you are trying to work on.. It will dissolve in water. It is really worth giving it a try, no way to beat it for time invested. Shut off water to home..open faucets and hose bibs (leave them open)..Disassemble the ball valve (remove internal parts).. Prep fittings and pipe by sanding down to shiny copper.use an excessive amount of flux (The non water soluble (paste?) You are trying to solder in the ball valve on a closed system. In the past I have stuffed bread up in the pipe to stop the water flow. As a plumber, when soldering on a large size diameter pipe, such as installing a 2" shut-off valve at a water heater, I add a "Tee" to the line next to the valve. Thanks. I know you say no pex, but honestly this sounds like an easy pex fitting. You may need to remove the aerators, to clean out sink lines, but this should be done anyway. This is why some plumbers purchase a "press system" and crimp in a ball valve in seconds or go to shark bit fittings. I don't mean to be a broken record, but since I switched to map gas, this has been less of a problem. If problems w steam "blowout" continuedo as others have sugested w blowing out or shop-vacing line. Also consider, disconnecting other parts of the system, and blowing out all water with compressed air. type works best in wet situations)on both, pipe and inside of fitting.Prepare solder wire by bending into a hook shape .. Use Map gas (burns hotter).apply heat to pipes (just a bit) and then around the new valveThen focus heat on bottom of fitting.. touch solder wire to top of pipe (opposite of flame) if it begins to run smoothly, rub the tip of bent solder wire around fitting/pipe connection..Immediately repeat on other side. Awesome tip Robert J (CA)!! Maybe one of our member contractors would offer. Congrats to all you guys who can handle these things. If so, you must include your valid email address here. When the water is turned on, the bread will dissolve. You could also use a male adapter to which you solder a piece of copper pipe B/4 you thread it onto a ball valve Then use a copper coupling to attach it to the water line. The valve doesn't have a reverse thread on one side so when I screw it in both sides won't tighten. A shop vac can be used to suck out residual water. Another thought Jac (OH)If it was close to the H water heater (3/4"pipe?) WoW- Interesting. I'm trying to put in a shut off valve in a couple of lines. Use copious amounts of paste flux(my plumber friend gives me a lot of grief for thisso be it. Keep life simple. What am I missing here? An old time plumber convinced me to try the shark bite fittings. This would help keep the heat away from the ball valve. All water was off and any water above the pipe I was working on was completely drained from the system. If the water problem is particularly stuborn.Take the non crust part of a piece of white bread and roll into an over sized doe ball.cram into pipesolder fitting quickly. Would you like to be notified via email when somebody replies to this thread? No! Plumbing Ninjas need your help. (I also try to move the ball valve as far away from the fittings as possible.). I don't want to use compression fittings or PEX. The volume of steam is 1700 times the volume of water. There is an expansion tool that stops the water while you solder. For years I have messed with sweating in copper fitting and after a whole bunch of practice I still have problems with it. :-). A couple of things I noticed after rereading my post. Just had a wild thought. Gotta appreciate my plumber. Thanks. :). Make sure you open the valve while soldering & you could even use a wet rag wrapped around the ball valve to further help keep the heat away. Therefore you couldn't complete the solder joint. Good question 1gr81. Ball valves cant be "disassembled" (unlike traditional shutoff valves) but they can be unscrewed and opened, to aid in the release of pressure/steam. Good Luck. Avoid like the plague. I'm not sure I quite understand the nuances yet, but you've given me something to think about. All Greek to me. Took me about 15 minutes to replace a 10 foot run of pipe that had frozen and burst. It would be nice to have a demo at our landlord meeting. Some valve have a small cap/drain on them to allow air to escape when open. I like to heat the bottom, when it's hot enough the solder will flow into the joint and you're done! I think Robert's suggestion of adding a cap-able Tee before the shut off is brilliant. I like to install the tee sort of sideways to allow the slow accumulation of water to continue to drain but leave an area for an air pocket to allow me to solder the pipes and allow for steam release. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out. There must by some water in your lines. Where I can I use male nipples and threaded unions so I can easily change valves in the future. Always buy the "metal type' of ball valves. The "Tee" is a sweet x sweet x threaded side that after sweating in the Ball Valve and Tee, I can then screw in a "plug" to close the system and make things water tight. Whole new technical, confusing info.
The bottom would not get hot enough to pull in the solder and I burnt out the internals because it would not seal when using the valve after turning the water back on (yes it was also leaking from the bottom). I think the op is just a lousy solderer. Some have plastic "balls". This was an inlet to a water heater and I opened the drain valve on that heater to help with expansion and also on the water heater next to it. and possibly a "cluster" of fittings (elbows and couplings)it takes far more heat to solder the pipe. I use a regular BBQ propane tank with a hose and modified tip so I can get hot fast and don't have to worry about tank position or running out of gas. I don't mean to hijack your post but I do have a couple of "nuance" questions for Robert J (ca). I want to try again but I'm thinking screw fittings. Also..Make sure the valve is open, during soldering. I bought the Nibco sweat ball valve and tried to sweat it in but two problems. I will be using that one. Any moisture in your pipe will blow out the solder when the water turns to steam. Also, you should use Wonder Bread to plug pipes. So if your pipe system is completely sealed , this won't work. They come in 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch. (for drainage) or is there some reason that installing it "right side up" would make more sense?
The bottom would not get hot enough to pull in the solder and I burnt out the internals because it would not seal when using the valve after turning the water back on (yes it was also leaking from the bottom). I think the op is just a lousy solderer. Some have plastic "balls". This was an inlet to a water heater and I opened the drain valve on that heater to help with expansion and also on the water heater next to it. and possibly a "cluster" of fittings (elbows and couplings)it takes far more heat to solder the pipe. I use a regular BBQ propane tank with a hose and modified tip so I can get hot fast and don't have to worry about tank position or running out of gas. I don't mean to hijack your post but I do have a couple of "nuance" questions for Robert J (ca). I want to try again but I'm thinking screw fittings. Also..Make sure the valve is open, during soldering. I bought the Nibco sweat ball valve and tried to sweat it in but two problems. I will be using that one. Any moisture in your pipe will blow out the solder when the water turns to steam. Also, you should use Wonder Bread to plug pipes. So if your pipe system is completely sealed , this won't work. They come in 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch. (for drainage) or is there some reason that installing it "right side up" would make more sense?