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First of all, a
good thing is to buy
the HOME
IMPROVMENT book
from the Home
Depot.
The
first thing to do is
to get ride of the old
one, of course :-)
In
my case, I wanted to
change the water valve
from the one that you
turn many times,
to one that turns only
1/4 which is easier
I
think. So once the main
was shut off, we just
purged the water heater
tank, closed the gaz,
and cut the coppers.
You can see on the
two following pictures
the spot where my water
heater was, and the
gaz copper with a piece
of tissue inside to
avoid any leak. The
second
shot is a picture of
the water heater I bought.
I replaced a 40Gal (TALL)
with a 40Gal (SHORT).
If you do that , REMEMBER
THAT THE COPPERS
WILL HAVE TO BE REDO A LOT!
Ok,
the 2nd thing to do
is to put my replacement
valve on the cold water
copper (water that goes
to the water heater).
Take an emery cloth
or some equivalent to
polish the end of the
external piece, and
use a round wire brush
to polish the inside
of the fitting. Before
you start soldering,
assemble your pieces
to make sure everything
is cut correctly. Make
sure all joints fit
together without "torquing"
or twisting. If straight
pipes do not slide easily
into fittings, make
sure they are not squashed
into an oval shape.
Recut any pipes that
don't fit well. Disassemble
the pipes and use the
flux brush to put a
thin coat of flux on
all surfaces that will
be soldered. This includes
the ends of straight
pipes and inside of
fittings. Assemble the
pipes and fittings again.
Get ready to solder.
First make sure that
you protect all flammable
materials near each
joint. This includes
wood framing, wiring
and insulation. Cover
the flammable materials
with a piece of sheet
metal. Next, take your
roll of solder and unwind
about 10 inches. Bend
the last 2 inches into
a 90-degree angle. Light
your torch and adjust
to a 1-1/2" flame.
Heat the area on the
fitting where the straight
pipe slides into it.
You want use the inner
flame tip and move it
around slightly so that
it heats the whole overlapping
area. After heating
for about 8 to 10 seconds,
touch the solder to
the joint at its highest
point. If it is adequately
heated, capillary action
should pull solder into
the joint. If solder
does not pull into the
joint, apply more heat
and try again. When
solder drips out of
the bottom, the joint
is filled with solder.
For a clean, professional finish, quickly brush off any excess solder from around the joint. Be careful - the joint is still hot.
Once all joints are soldered and cooled, turn on the water to your new copper pipes. Open faucets to bleed any air from the system. Check your work for leaks. If you encounter leaks, you will need to re-solder those joints. It is important that you completely drain the water from the area. Otherwise the water will prevent the joint for heating up enough to melt the solder. First try reheating and applying new solder. If the leak persists, you will need to disassemble that joint and possibly replace a defective joint or pipe.
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