How to solder brass at home. Soldering brass with a gas torch and a soldering iron

Soldering brass has its own characteristics due to the evaporation of hot zinc, as well as the formation of an oxide film on the metal surface. Brass containing up to 15% zinc in the composition is oxidized by a film, which consists of linked particles of CuO and ZnO. In copper alloys containing a sufficiently large amount of zinc, the oxide film consists mainly of ZnO, which are much more difficult to remove than in the case of a copper oxide film.

The following tools and materials are useful for soldering:

asbestos base;
Gas-burner;
graphite crucible;
Copper, silver, borax, boric acid.

Cooking solder

First you need to make tinol at home, which will consist of both silver and copper in a 2: 1 ratio, respectively. To do this, you need to alloy silver and copper using a gas burner. Next, you need to weigh the required amount of silver and copper, after which they must be placed in a crucible and heated with a gas burner.

A graphite crucible can be made from graphite coals (trolleybus contact elements), which are not difficult to find at the final stops of electric transport. Regarding the size of the crucible, it should be approximately 20x20 millimeters.

Then we select a groove 5x40 millimeters of a semicircular shape in order to make it easier to remove the solder bead (the hot crucible is lowered into the water). As soon as copper and silver are melted, you can start mixing the tinol components with a wire.

Cooking flux

Thus, the solder is ready to work, but it still needs to be cooled, rolled out in rollers, and also cut into small pieces. Now you need to start preparing the flux. To do this, take 20 grams of borax (powder), as well as in an equal proportion of boric acid (powder), then mix the ingredients thoroughly and pour a glass of water. Next, boil and cool the finished flux.

We work as follows:

You need to solder on some heat-resistant material. If you solder radiators, do the work fully. For this purpose, we stocked up with an asbestos plate. Thus, we place it on non-solderable parts, after which we wet it with flux, sprinkle it with solder. Next, we start to warm up a little.
First, we heat a little so that the solder adheres to the details, after which we bring the procedure to the appearance of a red tint.
The solder simply flows into the gap between the parts, soldering them together very tightly. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the difference between the melting point of brass and solder is about 50 g. C, and therefore do not overheat the material.
The resulting seam has one pronounced color with the part to be soldered.
This is followed by washing the product from the flux: we wash the product in hot sulfuric acid (3%).

So, we get an excellent grip of brass products that will last for many years.

In our practice, we often have to deal with brass parts. They are well processed, soldered and then blackened. Most solder brass with a soldering iron with ordinary tin solder. This method, along with its simplicity, has three serious drawbacks: the seam turns out to be white, noticeable and few people manage to immediately make this seam thin; the seam is relatively weak; when bent, it can easily disperse; when blackened, tin may behave differently than brass and the seam will turn out to be a completely different color or shade. This article will tell you about the method of soldering brass using a gas burner with special solder and flux. The resulting seam is practically indistinguishable in color from the main parts, very durable and chemically much closer to brass than tin.

For soldering you need:
- gas-burner;
- asbestos base;
- graphite crucible (bath);
- silver;
- copper;
- borax;
- boric acid.

First you need to make solder. It will consist of 2 parts silver and 1 part copper. It is necessary to alloy silver and copper (where to get silver? - do you know silver spoons? ideal). This can be done using the same gas burner. We weigh out the amount of silver and copper we need, place them in a graphite crucible and heat it with a burner. The crucible can be made from trolleybus contacts, there are a lot of them lying around at the final stops. The size of the crucible is approximately 20x50mm. A 5x40mm semicircular groove is selected to make it easier to remove the resulting solder bead; for this, lower the hot crucible into water. When both metals are melted, mix them with a steel wire - a hook. In principle, you can first melt copper (as a more refractory metal), and then add silver to the melt. Or vice versa - as you like.

The arrow shows the graphite bath. She is in a brick "blast furnace".

Everything, the solder is ready. We cool it, roll it in rollers or flatten it on an anvil, then cut it into small pieces. You can simply grind the casting with a coarse file into chips.

Now flux. We take about 20 grams of borax (powder), the same amount of boric acid (powder), mix and pour a glass of water. Boil (for better dissolution of the ingredients). Everything, the flux is ready. This amount of flux is enough for the rest of your life. Don't worry about it being chemically hazardous. Boric acid is quite passive and does not threaten your fingers and tools. In principle, you can evaporate the water, ignite the already solid flux, crush it into powder and mix it with solder. Get a dry mixture of solder with flux. But this is an amateur.

soldering process. You need to solder on something heat-resistant. The best for this are plates from the skin of the "Buran". But if the Buran does not fly over you, then you can get by with an asbestos plate. We place our parts to be soldered on it, moisten it with flux, sprinkle with solder shavings (it needs quite a bit) and begin to slowly warm up. First, a little, so that the solder grabs the soldered parts a little, then until red (about 700 degrees for this type of solder). Solder easily flows into the gaps between the parts and solders them tightly. At this stage, there are the following dangers: since the difference in the melting temperature of the solder and brass parts is only about 50 degrees, care must be taken not to overheat them. Otherwise, you will just get one big ingot. It must be remembered that small parts (for example, brass wire) heat up much faster than massive ones. Therefore, be careful. In this case, it is necessary to heat the entire structure slowly so that the large part has time to warm up.

Details warmed up to red.

The resulting seam has almost the same color as the soldered parts. This is due to the diffusion of the base metal into the solder as a result of soldering. Therefore, the same solder can be used when soldering silver - the seam will be white.

The last stage is washing the product from the flux residues, which remain on the product in the form of vitreous drops and sagging. To get rid of them, you need to wash the finished product in hot 3% sulfuric acid (or 15% when soldering gold). You can do this on a gas stove by placing a quartz glass tube with dilute acid on it. The product is simply lowered into it for a short time (it must first be tied to something that does not interact with acid) and then washed with running water.

I foresee the question: "Why can't you use a soldering iron?" The answer is very simple: the melting temperature of the solder is about 700 degrees, and the soldering iron can give only 200-250 degrees.
Those who have not used a gas burner before may ask how long does a gas bottle last? In normal use, the consumption can be calculated at the rate of 1 liter per year.

When repairing them, the owners have to resort to soldering technology. Since this method of joining metals has specific features, beginners may experience difficulties in the course of work. Therefore, they are interested in how to solder brass. If you know the technology and follow the recommendations of specialists, everyone can handle this procedure. You will find information on how to solder brass at home in this article.

About the composition of alloys

In everyday life there are many different parts containing brass and bronze. Despite the outward similarity of these copper alloys, they have different compositions. Brass is in which tin, aluminum and other metals are added during production. Bronze is a combination of tin, aluminum, lead and other substances with copper. The composition of brass with the addition of tin is close to bronze, but zinc predominates in the base of the metal.

What are the features of using copper alloys

Many beginners ask the question of how to solder bronze and brass. Interest is due to the fact that soldering is associated with some difficulties. During thermal exposure, active evaporation from the zinc alloy occurs, resulting in the formation of a dense film of zinc and copper oxides. It's pretty hard to destroy it. According to experts, rosin will not cope with this task either.

The master will have to use special fluxes. If tin-lead solder is used, there is a risk that the joint will have low mechanical strength. Unlike copper soldering, in this case, the strength indicator will be one and a half times lower. The reason for this is evaporating zinc. The choice of method for soldering bronze parts will depend on its composition. Bronze with a high content of tin and nickel should be soldered using tin-lead solders. Bronze containing aluminum and beryllium is best joined with special solders and fluxes.

About fluxes

Their task is to remove the formed film from the surface of the joined metals and prevent its further appearance. According to experts, rosin is suitable for soldering copper products. The situation is different with brass. How to solder this alloy? What flux to choose? These questions are often asked by beginners. Experienced craftsmen advise using a more "aggressive" flux than rosin. Since metals are used as additives in the production of brass, fluxes with different compositions should be taken for soldering. Flux containing zinc chloride and boric acid is designed to work with the most common brands of brass L63 and LS59. For LKS80 with lead and silicon, the best option would be a borax-based flux containing boron, potassium and fluorine. On the shelves of specialized stores there are ready-made compositions. Experts recommend paying attention to fluxes PV-209, PV-209X and Bura. Anyone who wants to save money can prepare the flux at home.

About artisanal flux

According to numerous consumer reviews, this composition can work with different brands of brass. Cooking a flux is not very difficult. You need to take 20 g of borax powder and mix with boric acid, which will also require no more than 20 g. The dry composition of the substance is thoroughly mixed. Then the mixture must be filled with water (200 ml). Before use, the mixture should be boiled and cooled.

About solder

With the help of this molten metal soldering is carried out. In a liquid state, it penetrates into the soldered metals, and then cools down, as a result of which the connection occurs. The melting point of the solder must necessarily be lower than the melting point of the metals themselves. For those who are interested in whether it is possible to solder brass with tin, experienced craftsmen recommend using solder with good adhesion. Conventional alloys containing tin and lead are best used in cases where high mechanical strength is not required. Also, solder is suitable when the appearance of the junction is not important.

About solder compositions

The choice of solder depends on the brand of brass. PSR12-PSr72, brass PMTs36-PMTs54 and copper-phosphorus are recommended for brass with a predominance of copper in its composition. If there is more zinc in the metal, then you need to work with silver solders from PSr40 not lower. With phosphorus compounds, fragile phosphorus zinc compounds are formed, which reduces the mechanical strength of the solder joint. For parts that are not subjected to shock and vibration during their operation, MOC brass solders are suitable. Note that brass can easily dissolve, so crafters using silver and phosphorous solders should reduce the heating and soldering time.

To work with permanently fixed parts (radiators and pipes), experienced craftsmen recommend using special hard solders with complex compositions. According to numerous consumer reviews, L-CuP6, which melts at a temperature of 730 degrees, is very popular. You can also prepare solder at home.

How to do it

For soldering brass, it is best to use silver solder. It is desirable that the place of melting be a special crucible adapted for significant thermal effects. As a material for crucibles, contact carbon elements for a trolleybus can be used. In a heated state, they are of no value, and a home craftsman can adapt them for making solder. In this product, a recess of 20 x 20 mm should be made. Next, a groove should be made to it. It will be easier to remove the solder if its width is 0.5 cm.

Solder is made from silver and copper (2:1). After taking the required amount of metals, they should be placed in a crucible. Their heat treatment is carried out by a gas burner. Some craftsmen pre-crush consumables. In this case, the melting procedure is much simpler. Next, a steel or ceramic (porcelain) rod is added to the composition. Brass can be soldered when the handicraft solder has completely hardened.

How to solder with a gas torch

How to solder brass? The procedure is as follows:

Before starting the process, you need to heat the metals. This work is carried out on heat-resistant materials. Experts advise using an asbestos plate.
The parts to be soldered must be aligned with each other.
Thoroughly wipe the surfaces at the place of soldering with flux.
Make a cut of silver solder. Ultimately, it should be a shaving, which should be poured into the junction of the metals.
Adjust the flame on the gas burner. To seize the solder with metal surfaces, the junction is first warmed up with a weak fire.
Set the gas burner to 750 degrees for the main heating. A red tint should form on the brass surface. Solder fills all the gaps, then it spreads over the entire junction.
Turn off the burner and allow the product to cool down. The procedure is considered to be performed correctly if a seam is obtained that differs little from metal.
Rinse the joint to remove residual flux.

How to solder brass with a soldering iron

This method is the most common because it is the easiest to perform. For those who do not know how to solder brass with a soldering iron at home, experts recommend adhering to the following algorithm of actions:

At the very beginning, you need to clean the connected parts. On metal surfaces there should be no various extraneous layers and contamination.
Place the parts on a special refractory stand. You can make it at home from improvised means.
To remove all defects in the brass surface, treat the joint with flux.
Sprinkle crumbs on top.
Perform heating with a soldering iron.

Very often, beginners ask the question of how to solder copper with brass with hard solder. Experts advise using low-temperature soldering, which is able to provide a high-quality connection. For this purpose, you will need a soldering iron, the power of which is not more than 100 W, and phosphoric acid. Before work, the surface of the product is thoroughly degreased, the oxide film is removed from it. It is better to join metals using POS60 tin-lead solder. To start soldering brass, the tool should be warmed up well.

To work with silver solders, you will need a soldering iron, the power of which varies from 0.5 to 1 kW. Degreasing is carried out by flux - concentrated phosphoric acid. Borax-based flux is also considered quite effective. In the soldering zone, a temperature of at least 500 degrees is formed.

Works with stainless steel

According to numerous reviews, home craftsmen often have to solder stainless steel with brass. Since the presence of nickel and chromium in the compositions of steel alloys does not exceed 25%, working with such materials is less laborious. In addition, this composition provides a reliable connection of stainless steel parts with other metals.

The exceptions are magnesium and aluminum. If a stainless steel with a significant nickel content, then as a result of its heating to 700 degrees, the formation of carbide compounds occurs. The longer the heating, the more intense they are formed. For this reason, soldering should be done as quickly as possible. The risk of formation of these compounds will be minimal if titanium is added to the alloy during soldering. According to experienced craftsmen, you should be especially careful with riveted stainless steel. This is due to the fact that cracks may appear on the surface of the metal. To prevent their formation, soldering is performed after preliminary annealing of the parts.

Progress

Soldering stainless steel is performed as follows:

First, the surface is carefully cleaned with sandpaper or a file.
Next, the place of soldering is treated with a flux, namely soldering acid.
Then the surfaces need to be tinned - apply a thin layer of solder containing tin and lead on them. It happens that it is not possible to apply solder the first time. In this case, you will have to use a brush containing metal veins. They will be much more convenient to remove the oxide film that prevents tinning.
Using a soldering iron and solder, solder the parts.

Finally

The soldering process may seem complicated only at first glance. There will be no problems if you master the technology and work with well-chosen consumables.

Soldering is one of the ways to connect two parts, in which only the connecting material is melted, and the surfaces of the elements themselves are completely preserved. Using this method, you can connect dissimilar materials, rather small elements, fragile microcircuits, connect or grow wires, fasten hard alloy plates, and carry out anti-corrosion treatment.

Most often, alloying is done on brass, which is an alloy of zinc and copper. Therefore, before starting work with a soldering iron, you should study the features of the use of this material.

Soldering brass - some features

Most often, brass is soldered with a gas burner, and borax, tin, or other similar materials are used as solder. At home, for such work, you can use a soldering iron or a special graphite electrode.

In principle, soldering brass resembles the processing of cast iron, copper, and steel. However, it has its own subtleties and features that must be taken into account.

Brass brazing process

For maximum efficiency of work, it is necessary to prepare the following materials and tools:

In some cases bronze may be needed.

Solder preparation

First of all, it is necessary to prepare tenol, which will include two parts of silver and one part of copper. For this using a gas burner copper and silver it will be necessary to melt and weigh the right amount of material. Further, the alloys are placed in a crucible and heated by the same gas burner.

Molten copper and silver are mixed with a wire, and the crucible is placed in cold water. The hardened solder is flattened and cut. Then, with a large file, chips are rubbed from it.

The dimensions of the graphite crucible should be approximately 20x20 millimeters. It can be made from graphite coals (contact trolleybus elements).

Flux preparation

To do this, take 20 grams of borax powder and 20 grams of boric acid powder. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed and filled with 250 milliliters of water. The resulting mixture is then boiled and cooled.

Ready-made compositions can also be used to connect brass parts. Fluxes have proven themselves well among domestic ones:

PV-209X;
PV-209;
Bura.

Of the imported flux pastes of the German manufacturer Chemet can be noted.

Solder and flux are ready, now you can proceed directly to soldering. To do this, the prepared parts must be carefully placed on the asbestos base and the soldering process should begin.

If we compare this soldering method with connecting elements using tin, then it does not differ in simplicity. But the time will not be spent in vain, as the connection will have increased reliability and strength.

Brass - soldering with a soldering iron

Brass and copper, or brass and materials containing copper, can be soldered using a 100W soldering iron.

Solder must be used tin-lead alloy POS60 or higher. The flux can be phosphoric or soldering acid.

Before working with brass, remove the oxide film and degrease the surface. Soldering should be done with a good heating of the soldering iron.

In addition, before soldering, it is necessary to pay careful attention to the surface treatment with flux, which is carried out immediately before bringing the heated soldering iron with solder.

Using a soldering iron, you can join brass using silver solders (PSr40 and above). However, the power of the soldering iron should be from 0.5 to 1 kW, and the heating temperature should be from 500C. It is recommended to use a flux based on borax or you can use concentrated phosphoric acid.

In this way, it is possible to fill in various defects formed in brass massive products (radiators).

Brass soldering

Brass alloys as solder are quite often used in construction when working with most metals. With their help, you can connect parts made of copper, steel and even cast iron.

So, for example, cast-iron elements are quite difficult to weld, since for this requires a special electrode, flux and serious heating. At the same time, they can be quite easily connected using brass solder.

A very common method of soldering with brass is when connecting pipes end-to-end, where it is very important that their internal section remains constant. After applying this method, the external dimensions remain practically unchanged, the internal section is preserved, and the joint is reliably sealed.

Using brass solder, you can connect various parts of cooling systems in electronic devices, copper tubes of a liquid cooling system in powerful servers.

However, it should be borne in mind that brass seams are inferior in strength to a welded joint, so they should be treated with care.

In some cases, tinning or brass brazing of steel is used. It is used for applying on the surface of parts made of steel anti-corrosion coating. Tinning is most often suitable for the processing of small single items, it is practically not used on an industrial scale.

When joining parts made of low-alloy and carbon steels, hard soldering is sometimes used, where brass solder must have a melting point above 450 degrees.

In the process of soldering brass alloys, it should be borne in mind that zinc vapors that are poisonous to humans can be released. Therefore, in the room where the work will be carried out, there must be good ventilation.

If you have all the necessary materials and tools and strictly follow the recommendations, the results of brass soldering will be the most positive. All the work can be done independently, without resorting to the help of specialists, which is very expensive.

Brass is widespread in everyday life, and the question of how to solder brass is very important for some. The repair of many home appliances depends on how to solder the metal. This process differs markedly from the joining of other metals. It has a number of specific features and causes certain difficulties. However, if certain conditions are met, then soldering will be on the shoulder of any person.

Brass is widely used in everyday life, and if brass products break, the question arises of how to solder it.

Features of soldering copper alloys

In everyday life, various parts are often used in which brass and bronze are used. These copper alloys are very similar in appearance, but have a different composition and their own characteristics. Brass is a copper-zinc alloy with the addition of tin, aluminum and other metals. Bronze is an alloy of copper with tin, aluminum, lead and other substances. Brass, to which tin is added, approaches the composition of bronze, but still its basis is zinc.

Materials and tools for soldering brass products.

It has its own specific difficulties. Under thermal action, zinc actively evaporates from the alloy, forming a dense film of zinc oxide and copper. The zinc oxide film is destroyed with great difficulty, and its formation at a zinc content in brass of more than 15% occurs quite quickly. Rosin, even in combination with alcohol, cannot cope with such a film, which requires the use of special fluxes.

If you use tin-lead solder when soldering brass, then the connection has low mechanical strength. So, the place of brass soldering with tin-lead solder has a strength 1.6 times less than copper soldering. This is due to the appearance of pores in the soldered seam due to the evaporation of zinc.

Methods for soldering bronze depend on its composition. Tin and nickel bronzes are easily soldered with tin-lead solders. When soldering aluminum and beryllium bronzes, hardly soluble films appear, which necessitates the use of special solders and fluxes.

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Fluxes for soldering metals

For soldering brass, you need a drill - a special flux.

Fluxes are designed to remove the film from the surface of the soldered metals and protect against the formation of new films in the soldering zone. If rosin is enough to connect copper, then another, much more aggressive flux is needed for brass. The composition of the flux for different brasses needs different, which is caused by the introduction of certain metals into the composition of brass. For common brasses such as LS59 and L63, the use of zinc chloride with a small content of boric acid is sufficient. When soldering brass with additives of lead and silicon, for example, brass of the LKS80 type, a flux based on a potassium compound with fluorine and boron or based on borax is recommended.

At home, you can make the following flux, which will work for most brasses. It is necessary to prepare 20 g of borax in powder and 20 g of boric acid in powder. Powders in dry form are well mixed and poured into 200 ml of water. The mixture is then boiled and cooled.

From ready-made compositions as fluxes for brass, we can recommend: domestic - flux "Bura"; fluxes PV-209 and PV-209X. Of the imported fluxes, German-made fluxes should be noted: flux paste Chemet FLISIL-NS-Pulver and Chemet FLISIL-NS-Paste.

It is possible to solder bronzes under flux from chloride salts (for example, zinc) with the addition of hydrochloric acid. If soldering is carried out at high temperatures, then it is better to use boric acid in combination with chlorates and fluorides. To connect aluminum and manganese bronzes, you will have to use active fluxes from phosphoric or hydrofluoric acid. Of the sufficiently available means, phosphoric acid is usually used.

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Solder for brass should be copper-phosphorous. solders

Solder is a metal that, in a molten state, is introduced into the soldered metals and, after cooling, connects them. Therefore, it must have a melting point well below the melting point of brass and still have good adhesion to it when in the form of a melt. Conventional tin-lead alloys should be used in brass only when connecting non-critical parts where there are no requirements for mechanical strength and appearance.

The composition of the solder used depends on the type of brass. If the copper component predominates in brass, then you can use silver solders from PSr12 to PSr72, solders with a brass content from PMC36 to PMC54 and copper-phosphorus solders. In the case of a predominance of zinc content, silver solder should be used not lower than PSr40. The use of phosphorus compounds leads to a noticeable decrease in the mechanical strength of the joint due to the formation of unstable phosphorus zinc compounds. Cheaper brass-based solders such as PMC can only be used in parts that do not feel vibration and shock. When connecting with silver and phosphorous solders, brass dissolves quite strongly, which should be taken into account and reduce the time of soldering and heating metals.

For the repair and connection of permanently fixed parts (for example, radiators or pipes), special hard solders with a complex composition are often used. Good results show solder type L-CuP6, having a melting point of about 730°C.

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Do-it-yourself solder preparation

Silver solder is also suitable for paki brass.

In order to solve the problem of soldering brass, you should prepare the necessary solder with your own hands. Most suitable for all brass is silver solder; it should be prepared. The melting of metals must be carried out in a crucible that can withstand significant thermal effects. Most simply, such a crucible is made from contact carbon elements for trolleybuses. Burnt elements are quite accessible and may be useful for the crucible. In such a graphite element, a recess about 2x2 cm in size is made, and a groove about 5 mm wide is machined to the recess (to facilitate solder removal).

Solder requires silver and copper in a 2:1 ratio. The required amount of metals is measured and lowered into the crucible. With the help of a gas burner, metals are melted in a crucible. To simplify the melting process, the metals should first be crushed as much as possible. The melt is stirred with a steel or ceramic (porcelain) rod. After cooling, such an alloy can be used as a solder.

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Soldering with a soldering iron

A soldering iron for soldering brass must be at least 100 watts.

Sufficiently high quality joints by low-temperature soldering are achieved when soldering brass and copper or when soldering brass with a predominance of copper content. In this case, the use of a 100 W soldering iron is sufficient. Soldering or phosphoric acid can be used as a flux. Before soldering, it is necessary to carefully treat the brass surface to remove the oxide film and degrease the surface. Tin-lead solder not lower than POS60 is used as solder. Soldering is carried out with good heating of the metal soldering zone with a soldering iron.

You can solder brass with a soldering iron and use silver solders not lower than PSr40. To do this, you will have to arm yourself with a powerful soldering iron (0.5-1 kW). As a flux, it is necessary to use concentrated phosphoric acid or a flux based on borax. The heating temperature of the soldering zone should be at least 500ºС. Before soldering, special attention should be paid to the thoroughness of the surface treatment with flux. Processing should be carried out immediately before bringing a heated soldering iron with solder. In this way, defects in massive brass products (for example, radiators) can be melted.