Air lines? Stainless tubing is best for air lines. With a drip leg and an in line drier.

Stunt101,

The video you posted is a bad example of how to solder a copper pipe. There are many videos on YouTube showing the proper technique including the step this video leaves out.

I am no expert in soldering, but I think the solder material is more critical than the flux paste.

"I am no expert in soldering, but I think the solder material is more critical than the flux paste."

Without the flux, the solder won't flow.

Without the flux, the solder won't flow.

Without the solder, the joint will leak. :)

I don't think he was saying not to use flux, just that he's overthinking what flux to use. Just go to Home Depot and get some.

I'm curious about the step that Mike mentioned was left out of the video. Was it the removal of the burrs?

Yes, the guy in the video has horrible technique:

1. He shouldn't be holding the pipe in his hand. If a joint is not supported and being soldered in its final location, it should be held stationary on a brick or in a vise so you can have the torch in one hand and the solder in the other.

2. He should use the hottest point of the flame (the tip).

3. He should be moving the flame around the circumference of the joint rather than focusing on one spot.

4. He has put on more flux than necessary and then heated the joint repeatedly and scorched the flux, damaging its effectiveness.

5. He removes the flame before applying the solder (it should still be heating the fitting although not directly melting the solder). And you can tell it's a bad joint when he finally gets it to pull in some solder because it doesn't flow nicely.

Once you have a little experience, you can judge whether the joint is at or near the right temp by looking for a color change of the joint exterior as the heat drives off old oxidation. When the temp is right, the joint will very fluidly pull in the solder. I suggest you get several fittings and just practice doing a couple of joints before you actually tackle something that is part of your plumbing. It's much better to make a mistake on pieces that you can toss rather than a joint that is part of your actual plumbing. Desoldering a bad joint and redoing it is something I have had to do a couple of times, and it's a pain in the butt. Best to avoid that if you can.

Use Shark Bites, please. More expensive, but foolproof.

Personally, I would only use Shark Bites where I could see them, and not concealed in my walls. I've seen enough references to an occasional leaky Shark Bite fitting that I'm not willing to trust them completely. While sweat soldering takes a little practice, the advantage is you know immediately when the water is turned on whether the joint is good. In 30+ years of sweat soldering I have never had a soldered joint that started to leak months or years afterwards.

In HVAC, its different. Brazing, not soldering.

I found this flux and solder selection guide. There are choices for flux and solder. It also mentions brazing at the bottom.

The last step should be to wipe the joints with a wet rag. The solder is acidic. Any excess flux on the exterior of the pipe should be removed.

Stunt101, this video has several technique flaws in it. Look for videos that are more than a day old and have several comments from reviewers both good and bad. The reviewers will point out whether they think the technique is good or not.

That youtube video was only a day old?

The cynic in me is starting to think that the OP is actually the person who posted that video on youtube and is now trying to drive traffic to it with a fake 'help me' post here.

I'll match an amatuer installed Shark Bite against an amatuer sweated joint inside a wall any day.