The one with a trigger has a pizzo crystal that makes a spark to ignite the fuel. Propane is the gas to stay with for plumbing. There is map gas but it's hotter and getting the heat right with solder and not melting it instantly is tougher with map gas.
I have a couple different torches that have accumulated over the years. I have one of the igniting kind, you pop the trigger until the flame starts and then leave it alone. Sometimes I think it's more bother than it's worth. I have a simple torch that you screw into the top of a "bottle" of propane too. On that one you open the valve and as the gas comes out just light it. You can use a match or lighter, but I have a sparker that I use. It keeps my hands far enough from the flame that I don't worry. The sparker is available anywhere that would sell a torch. There is what looks like bolt threads inside a small cup. On one side of the handle is a spring loaded lever that has a flint on the end. You squeeze the handle and it moves the fling back and forth across the threads and causes a spark. A couple of those and the torch will fire up. Torches run anywhere from around $10 on up to around $30. Both come with a bottle of propane, it just depends on what your local stores are selling them for. I've found them in Lowes and they had a different price depending on the department they were in. Couldn't figure that one out, so I just bought the less expensive one. I've never tried melting solder with a heat gun. I doubt it gets hot enough to melt the solder and let it run going back together. The fan would probably keep it too cool. It might however get hot enough to sweat it apart. I've used mine to take golf clubs apart so it gets hot enough to melt epoxy. But I think that's around 400 degrees and solder from what I remember takes about 600 or so. I'm sure someone will have the exact temp to melt with... ----- Original Message ----- From: Scott Howell To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 8:14 AM Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Bathroom Shut-off valves Yeah, that would be more my concern is burning myself or the damned house down. grin Actually I probably would do ok, but I need to get a torch first. Actually and I'm sure someone has covered this at some point, but what is a good torch that would get the job done? I know they have some that fire by trigger, but can't recall if you hold that trigger or what and the type of gas I should be using. Also, On Mar 7, 2009, at 7:22 AM, Bob Kennedy wrote: > It's a bit harder putting it back in with solder, but getting it out > is nothing. You do have to be careful if you're using a torch > because there is a flame that can start fires. I have a cookie > sheet, an aluminum baking pan that I use to deflect heat and flames. > Haven't lost a house yet due to a torch. Wood stoves are another > area I don't want to talk about... > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Scott Howell > To: [email protected] > Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 5:34 AM > Subject: Re: [BlindHandyMan] Bathroom Shut-off valves > > Well I have to agree and first how can anyone say there is a > difference. If you think about it, most valves under a sink (at least > in my experience) have been of the compression type. WHen I lived in > my townhouse, I had to replace a number of valves. I could not really > cut these back because there would have been nearly no pipe to put a > new valve on. So, I just simply kept the nut on the backside and just > slapped a new valve on. I have never had one leak that was not > directly do to me not tightening it up enough. I guess it just seems > tricky to heat a pipe enough to loosen the solder, that seems tricky. > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
