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How To Pull Apart A Soldered Plumbing Fitting

  
  
  

plumbing torchTo remove a soldered plumbing fitting, you need heat. That isn't to say you can't cut the fitting out with a pipe cutting tool...that will work, but you won't be able to just replace the fitting. Rather, you will have to re-work the area to compensate for the parts you removed.

When you unsweat a fitting, you should be able to replace that fitting with an identical one.

You will need to drain the copper piping so that the pipes and fittings can get hot enough so that the solder turns molten and the piping can be pulled apart.

Fire up the torch and apply the tip of the blue cone to the fitting. Move the tip back and forth to distribute the heat. You will probably have to do this to each side of the fitting, heating it up and then pulling one side out at a time.

Be very careful as the fitting and piping will be extremely hot. Use large channel locks or water pump pliers and touch the fitting/piping quickly. Heat travels up metal tools quickly and you will learn fast if you leave the tool on the hot fitting for too long. So grab, pull, and let go quickly. If the fitting won't come apart, keep the heat on until the solder turns to liquid. The other possibility is that there is still some water left in the pipe. You may see steam coming from the pipe if this is the case.

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