how to use metal tubing

7/30/2019 How to Use Metal Tubing

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\;cHEN REPLACING WATER LINES,extending old ones or adding neuones in you home. the job may be simpli-fied by using soft copper or aluminumtubing. It can be run around corners, overor under obstructions and snakedthrough partitions with ease. Besides be-ing rustproof. soft tubing expands if aa!e~freezes in it and therefore can resist sev-era1 successive freezings before rupturing.Available in 60 and Ii%-ft. coils, tubingeliminates many pipe-cutting and thread-ing operations and requires fewer fittingsthan does rigid pipe when used in con-tinuous runs. The tubing generally usedranges from !& to 2 in. in diameter, andcomes in hard as well as soft varieties. Theformer ,is made in straight lengths, whilethe latter is pbtainable in coils.Two assembly methods: There are twoxi&.hocLs of tubing assembly which diff er inthe kids of fittings used, as shown in Fig.1. Compression fittings are used with softtubing, and solder fittings with both softand hard~tubing. The fittings include prac-tically all the k,inds used in reg&r pipework plus adapters that connect tubing tothreaded pipe. Copper, tinned-steel andbrass tubing can be soldered readily. Alu-minum tubing is assembled with compres-sion fittings.

Straightening coiled tubing: To straight-en coiled tubing, set the coil on edge on aflat surface and unroll it slowly whileholding, @e straightened portion down asiti Fig. 2;JANUARY 1956.


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How to cut tubing: For either methodof assembly, the ends of the tubing mustbe cut off absolutely square. Cutting isbest done by means of a regular tube cut-ter. Fig. 3. Cotting also can be done witha fine-tooth hacksax\:- teeth per in. Toassure square cuts whgg saring the tubingit is held in a V-block which has a crossslot to guide the saw as in detail A. Fig. 4,or in a regular tube-cutting fixture as indetail B.A cutter forms a burr on the inside ofthe tube and it is necessary to remove itby reaming lightly as in Fig. 5. Hacksawingproduces buxs on .both inside and outside.To remove them, use a reamer on the in-side and a file on the outside. When uxm-ing or filing, always hold the open end ofthe tubing downward so that the chips fallaway from, rather than into, the tube.Compression fittings: Fis. 8 shows Lreetypes of compreSsion fittings. The kindshown in detail A requires flaring the endsof the tubing. Those shown in details Band C require merely pushing the tubeinto a fitting, then tightening the latter.This compresses a wedge-shaped ferruleor sleeve firmly on the tubing wall.Flaring the ends of tubing: Flaring isdone with a special tool as shown in Fig; 6.After slipping the compression nut of thefitting over the tubing, insert it in theblock of the flaring tool so the end will pro-230

,p2 im;:1 1,: to 8 in. above the block.;lgC:~n the ;lock to grip the tubing se-iui &.,, then I;CT~W dolvn the tmeadedpxch. ?Zo& Earing tools accommodate:~~~~n~f~;:rn ?: to sic in. in diameter. butlsYgw+ ones ax available. ,4Iso, for largetubing, a h,-s:nel~-driven flaring punch ofproper size often is used, as shown ip Fig. 9.Gouble &ring. Fig. IO, is recommended:^OL steel tubing. which is espe&aUy likelyto xack when only a single.flaring is used.Double flaring a!so is advised for copperand aluminLim tiJbing when extra-strongjoints at~e desired. or xvhere they must befrequentiv ad is made by using an adapt-er on the flare block as in detail A, Fig.10, after .> ;hich the flaring proceeds as indetail B. A little oii on the end of a flaringtool ?:tduces friction and helps to preventsco!~mg the metal. Avoid using excessivep!-essu~ .-\~hen flaring tubing. since pres-su~c hardens it and makes it more likelyto crzc2 from strain or vibration. Afterflarir. assemble the fitting as in Fig. i.Soider fittings: With solder fittings youmerely insert the tubing in 2 fitting andswat-rolder tie two together. If thereis any disto:,tion caused by soldering Lrat,the tubing must be shaped to perfectroundness by means of a sizing tool, Fig.li. Tbe surfaces to be soldered together(the outside of the tubing and the inside

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of the fitting) must be cleaned thorqughlyaith fine steel ~-001 or emery cloth, rubbingthe metal as in Fig. 11 until it is bright.Wipe the tilbing clean. then apply a thinfilm of soldering flus. Fig. 12. Push thetubing into the fitting as far as it will go,then rotate it a fav times to assure evendistribution of the thx.Preheating and soldering: Preheatingthe joint comes next. using any suitablekind of torch. Play the flame over the fit-, .ting. not concentrating it too long at anyone point. As most torches produce a flamethat has a temperature considerably high-er than the melting point of copper (1900dea. F.). care must be taken to wreventb&ing a hole.While heating. touch the end of a pieceof wire solder to the edge of the fittingoccasionally-outside the flame-to checkfor correct soldering temperature. This isreached. when the solder liquefies imme-diately when touched to the fitting. Do notheat the metal above this temperature.Next, feed the solder along the edge ofthe fitting, Fig. 13, Trhile keeping the fit-ting hot. The solder is d&am between the

contacting surfaces by capillary attractionno matter at what an& the fitting is held.Gerzrally. the correct amount of ?&in.wire solder to use per joint is a lengthe~$ual to the diameter of the tubing.Avoid getting solder all over the work.YOU can wipe off excess-solder while it isstill liquid with a m&stened cloth but donot remove the bead from the chamferedends of the fitting. Avoid mavement of thetube or fitting until after the solder hasset or hardened. since any disturbancebefore this time weakens the joint. To pro-tect wood or other combustible material inthe vicinity of the flame when soldering ajoint, use a sheet o f asbestos board or as-bestos paper.Whenever soldering tubing into 3 fit-tiig which has other outlets aGeadysoldered into it,~ prevent the latter frommelting !oose by wrapping wet &tbsaround the joints to be protected as inFig. 14.Solder to use: Ordinary soft solder is

JANUARY 19.56 231


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satisfactory where joints are not subje.lto much Strain or vibration and are nr~.heated to tempel.ature$above250 deg. E-For producing stronger joints, use hardor brazing solder which Hows at tempera-tures of 1300 and 14OJ deg. F.How to bend tubtng: You can bend softcopper tubing by hand as in Fig. 15 , usingspring-steel bending ,coils. Bending coilscome in various sizes. for either inside oroutside application. For accurate, small-mdii bends. use a bendi1.g fixture, Fig. 16.When copper tubing is bent or other-wise worked. it becomes hard and brittle.Therefore, before rebending copper tubing,anneal it by heating to a dull cherry-rrdcolor, then quench it in wat.x. A luminum *is annealed in the same manner.Swedged joints: Lengths of tubing canbe spliced together by wedging, thus elim-inating the need fo r a coupling. A sw?dg-ing tool of the proper size, Fig. 18, in-creases the diameter of tubing a shortdistance from its end so it can be fittedover the end of another length. The jointis fitished and soldered in the manner al-ready described.Snaking tubing ithrough partitions:Copper.tubing usually can be snakedthrough partitions as shown in Figs. 19and 20. +JO workers are required for thisjob. Holes are bored though the top andsole plates of the partition, a length ofchain is lowered from the upper to thelower opening and it is pulled through thelower opening by means of a piece of wirewith a hook bent in the end. This arrange-&ntZpermits. the worker below to pullthe tfibing throtigh the partition by pullingon the chaih while the worker above feedsthe tubing into the partition. .If any cross-pieces or fire stops are encoimtered, it isnecessary to open the wall at this pointand notch the obstruction.Horizontal lengths o f tubing must besupported adequately with suitable hang-ers to prevent sagging at any point. Thehard variety of tubing generally is usedfor long horizontal. lengths. ,Buried copper tubing: Copper tubingburied underground should never be runthrough cinder fill, especially where theground is wet. The sulphur in the cinde%sattacks copper. Where such a conditionexists, damage to the tubing can be pre-vented by wrapping it with canvas liberal-ly coated with an asphalt compound suchas roofing cement or roofing paint. Thecovered pipe then is surrotimled for a dis-tance of 1 ft. with a layer of sand mixedwith lime or broken plaster in equal pro-portions. Compression fittings are pre-Fend for underground wbrk and shouldbe tack-WIdered for added security aitgaF%loosening.

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rYPlCAL PRESSURE FITTINGS

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COMP&NIONLANGENO. *5ST*INDARD CROSS

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ends to join it, comes in raying diameters.mall thicknesses and degmes of hardness.and is suitable for both hot and cold-watersystems. To join copper piping, there aremany types of fittings to cover every partof the plumbing layout. h n~imber of com-moo fittings are shown at the left.Copper pipe can be joined using eithers~,ldered (also called capillary or sweatjoints) or screwed (compression fitting Ijoints. Compression joints are of two types.Kith the first. called a bead fittinp, thetubing is pushed into the fitting. a bead ofjnintiq paste is applied around the tubingm front of a compression nut. and the com-pression nut is tightened onto the fitting.The result is a watertight fit. The secondtype is called a flare fitting because theend of the tubing is funnel-shaped with aspecial faring tool (below). This shapedend receives the male end of the fitting; thecompression nut is then tightened to finishthe connection.


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Typee of copper pipingme TanpSK Hard (rigid) or scft (flexible)L Hard OT o*M Hard only

;;, To be sure the type of cc+x~er piping that Youwe fa r a specific application complies with IO-cc4 plumbing code. always check w ith your local,:, ,building department. In general, Type L can be;, ;,,Sed below ground, Type M above graund. For~~, superior installation. use TypeK below ground: ,~~~nd Type I. above grsmd.

Equipmenf neededPropane torch Tubing cutterHacksaw with reamerSmooth rife Sandpaper or fineTubing bender Steel WOOI .(also known as Solder

a hickey) FIUX

Cutting and cleaning

,Capillary or sweat joints

,Properly prepared. a sweated joint will providemany years of troub!ei:ee (nonleaking) sevice. Al-though your joint may leak the first couple of~times you atiemp? to sweat pipe. youll soon besweating copper pipe just Iike a pro by getting a!i!ti+ prictice under your belt and by followingthe rules outlined on these pages.To understand the principles of sweating pipe,you should understand how capillary action works.When the end of a caDper pipe is inserted as faras possible into a fitting. a small amwnt of spacewill remain be?ween the inside wall of the fittingand the outside wall of the pipe. When the fittingis heated with a propane torch and solder is ap-plied around the pipe at the outer .edgeS Of thefitting, the solder will be drawn into this Spa% bycapillary acticz. bonding tile pipe and fitting to-gether securely. Such aciion. v/i!! be the resultregardless of whether ihe piping will be runninghorizontal!y or vertically.If youre repairing or adding to an existing cop-per piping system. remember that all parts- to bejoined first must be completely dry. After the sol-dering is done and ttze joint coo led to room tem-perature, test the work for possible leaks.

Cut pipe to length using a tubing-cutter (1) Or afine hacksaw blade, Make sure the cut Is Squareand the pipe remains round and true. Cutting witha hacksaw blade leaves rough edges on the insideand outside of the pipe, while a tubing Cutterleaves rougn edges on the inside of the pipe.Remove burrs on the outside of the pipe Witi?asmooth file or sandpaper and en inside with areamer (2) or rattail file. Clean the end of pipe withsteel woo l oi a stQp of sandpafler (3).FEEFjUARY ,974 77

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ssembling copper systemEteryou have :rcr.cu.~hly cleaned the inside ofe I!!!:&! Socket isreL? Iei::~ appiy a thin coat!!ux io !?E end zi iw pi05 (S tzp 21 and tne ln~de of t-i ii:..;,: tstip 31 i:ifh a *mai, c lew.Sh. T?f: zip y-e t-b:>,- !1.$!1\, nto me fl!tl::s;teD 4; x3 k.~iSt x C:eCES i:.&Il!y !a order tcstr;bu!e the :!a ivwiy Wipe 0:i any excess1x ,hZl i2mains and asp;>csz: with a pmpane,iCh to lh:e iiit;ng (SW0 5).Ir; Ihe same m3:7nZi.aGcv f!UX o me second,ngtn of tubing (StEo 6i, :zsert I? tile tlt!:no s:ep, ans apply a [email protected] brll me tuimg isteo 8)?d :~::izg :Step 91~ Meit the soider from a spool/ solderino wire a:cu^d ih.? !iib,ro-llt!ia ioini;iep 10. aboYe1. _F!w :or soldering is mild!*y cc:ros!c. !! containsnc and amn.on:um c!xc::es iTi a petroleum base.?d is used as a Pro!eci~ve costrng on the metal16 as an agmit to heto :he soidei iiow Always,r flux before yiu SE !!.The cardlna! xie I choos,ng a solder is to buyquality solder Mos: sciders for householaiumbing jots are? Cr,mcOiEd of 50 Percent tinrid 50 percent ieuj ii me ioi: requires a soide:f greater strengtn. use sns comp~isiq 95 pe,centn and 5 pelcent ant:3onyDo not ciean~ !a a~3 asstmbie more copperiping then you can soicer in about two hours .iotdering tipsemembarto align ioin:s v~ith adequa:e supper! be-m solderizg, and to place no sfra,n on themhn soldering. use torch --i!h sweeping motion-rblng and fitting should be at same temperature)I best flow o ! soider mto joint. If so!der forms:mps. join t is not hot enough. If t~here is nouestion that the joint is hot enough but soldertill does not fiow freely. overheating resulhng inurned flux is likely. and the joint must be startedgain from Step 1. As soon,as sblder has set. usewet brush or rag to crack and remove flux (re-love it horn inside oi pioes by flushing with water)?move ail flux before pressure-test,ng the joint-necessary use a v,ir% brtim Ii you have to iedojcint. re:lux the enti:e joint area before applyingeat to unso!der.

Toolbox additionsIf you plzn on doing most o f your own plumbingjobs. the four tools show above can be valuableaddi!ions to your tooibox~ The two pictured a! thetot are availaole at most hardware stores, whileVGU ma have to vlsii a olumbers supply house !miind thelower two.vise-gr~c atiers, with serrated jaws and lockingnut, a:ew&p&ially useful when working with smal!~diameter Pipes. A basin wrench. whose grlpplnchead is adjustable. will save you many bumps andknocks on head and hands when you are installinga basin where there is little room for swlnglngordinary wrenches.

A pipe cutter. which is faster and more accuratethan a hacksaw when cutting iron or galva?lzedpipe. is operated simply by starting the cutier overthe pipe, and . as it is revolved, tightening thehandle gradually to deelen the wt. Thread-cul-ting o il should be applied to both the cu!tei andthe pipe.A self-locking pipe vise has V-shaped iav&that grip the pipe from both top&nd bottom. I!eliminates the need for a helper to hold the PIPEwhile you do Me cutting. , ***. FEBRUARY 1974 79

how to use metal tubing

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