Someone to resolder a fitting on my SS back pan

[PerryW]

There is a brass fitting on my back pan that needs to be removed and resoldered. (where the sap exits the pan).

It's a 1989 3' x 7' Waterloo Stainless Steel Raised Flue


Does anyone know someone that will come to my sugarhouse and do the repair it?

I am located in the Littleton NH area .

[maplecrest]

for what it is going to cost to fix it look around for another pan. or take it to a radiator shop they may be able to fix it. or put it in your truck and take it to leader in swanton vt.that brass to stainless is tricky to resolder

[PerryW]

Maplecrest,

But a new pan??? You are kidding right?

I'm guessing even a used SS. 3x7 raised flue Pan would be a couple thousand dollars minimum.

I used the pan as is, all last season but it was dripping a drip every couple seconds.

[Amber Gold]

Bill Mason does some soldering work and he's in Porter, ME which is just over the border from Wakefield, NH. There's also Bob LaPointe in New Boston, NH. If you're interested I can get you there information.

[KenWP]

you thought of useing JB weld. You got months for it to cure. If its that small of a hole you could maybe solder it yourself and if that don't work take it for a ride. The cost of a fellow driving out there would be cost prohibitive to say the least.

[maplecrest]

where is it leaking on the far sides? you have had no luck with them sugaring over? you can roll up a piece of felt and stuff it in the flue where the leak is and that will make it sugar over and stop dripping but you have to fish it out to get the pans to drain after washing. a good used welded pan will be cheeper than fixing that one.

[Fred Henderson]

What!!!!! JB weld, Take the dang fitting off and resolder it. If the job is worth doing, then do it right. Do it right and do it once is my motto.

[KenWP]

What!!!!! JB weld, Take the dang fitting off and resolder it. If the job is worth doing, then do it right. Do it right and do it once is my motto.

Your no fun Fred. I would solder it myself but then I am so cheap my shoes squeak. has to be fixable and can't be that much money to do it.

[3% Solution]

PerryW,
Load it in your pick-up truck or your buddy's and take it to a sheetmetal shop and have them fix it.
Total amount $50.00, can't buy a junk pan for that.
As someone else said, a radiator shop, just make sure they use no lead solder.

Dave

[3rdgen.maple]

Maplecrest you trying to get a good deal on his pan or what? He is just trying to resolder a fitting. Perry do a little search on the net how to solder then get some scrap practice a little bit and do it yourself it is not that hard at all.

[vermaple]

Perry,

Give Richard Stevenson, in West Barnet a call. You probably could take it to him and have him fix it while you wait. If you can't find his phone # let me know and I'll PM it to you.

[Lyle]

I bought a pan with a fitting nearly torn out from over tightening. Turned the pan so that the fitting was facing upwards, wire brushed to clean it, applied a neat coating of paste flux and heated the fitting untill the solder liquified. No need to add solder as it all flowed back together. After cooling- good as new and you can't tell it was ever fixed.

[Fred Henderson]

you thought of useing JB weld. You got months for it to cure. If its that small of a hole you could maybe solder it yourself and if that don't work take it for a ride. The cost of a fellow driving out there would be cost prohibitive to say the least.

Don't know why lead should be of such a concern to anyone. If JB weld is OK.

[vermaple]

Don't know why lead should be of such a concern to anyone. If JB weld is OK.

I don't think lead is a concern on this pan, in 1989 all solder on pans was lead solder.

[Fred Henderson]

I don't think lead is a concern on this pan, in 1989 all solder on pans was lead solder.

In post #9 it is suggested to use no lead solder.That is the only reason I mentioned it.

[maplecrest]

perry, you can fix that pan. with silver bright flux solder lead free. clean the area 'as stated' real well. dremel tool works real well. acid flux cleaned area real well. heat lightly with torch. enough to get the metal hot enough to melt the solder. like you are sweating copper pipe. work solder lightly until melting point and go around fitting. make sure that you even "heat" not flame! all around the brass fitting the brass will draw the heat to do the work. do not over heat.sorry for my up front about different pan. but in past experiances, 'sometimes' a different pan is the answer. and with the number of pans around, say if a 50 dollar solder job turned into 1000 dollar repair.you decide.for me i hope my soldering days are over with my first set of welded pans this season

[3% Solution]

Ok let's look at what we have here; no lead solder, solder with lead...... old pan repaired, buy a new pan.

Decisions, decisions!!!!!

All good ideas here.

Just got to decide which fits the wallet.

That's what makes this sight so great!!!! :)

Dave

[3rdgen.maple]

3% you forgot the JB weld option. Sorry Fred had to say it.
Please do not jbweld it 3%. Get a torch and solder that thing already will ya.

[Fred Henderson]

I could care less what he uses but just remember guys we are making food for people to eat including our family members. I have stated a good way to do it. If you ask for ideas you had better be perpared for the answers, like them or not. We hear so much about lead solder but If all we ate was maple syrup it might have an effect on us. If the truth were known about a lot of other cans and cooking methods that the food industry uses we would be shocked. This maple industry does not have a lot of regulations yet. However I suspect that some day soon we will be in the same boat as the dairy farmers, with strict inspection once a month.

[PerryW]

I have done a fair amount of soldering, but I will probably hire someone to do it since I don't want to have problems with my back pan during the season. I have repaired it a couple times already, but I never completely removed and cleaned the fitting so it started leaking again.

Looks like there's a few people who can help me (one I already know).

Thanks guys

[Fred Henderson]

I have solder so much that I don't even think about it anymore. The big secert is clean metal. Even liquid acid can not reach back in far enough to get everything clean. Take the fiitng off and get the fitting and base metal clean, get solder to stick to both of them then reassemble and solder. That is the way I would do it.

[Russell Lampron]

Clean, clean, shiney, shiney, bright makes the solder job come out right! Thats what my electrical instructor in college always used to say. Every time I need to solder something I think of that and always get good results.

[WF MASON]

Don't listen to all that chatter Perry about how easy it is to solder, it an't, you need to contract a compent 'master solder' for a job such as that. The next time I go to St.Jay I can stop and do it.
I'd charge $100. bucks, That breaks down to 30 minutes of cleaning , 30 minutes of heating , 5 minutes of soldering , expensive solder and flux. Travel time , Dunkin Donuts, and knowing how to do it right(or at least trying).
If you want me to do it , let me know.

[Fred Henderson]

Don't listen to all that chatter Perry about how easy it is to solder, it an't, you need to contract a component 'master solder' for a job such as that. The next time I go to St.Jay I can stop and do it.
I'd charge $100. bucks, That breaks down to 30 minutes of cleaning , 30 minutes of heating , 5 minutes of soldering , expensive solder and flux. Travel time , Dunkin Donuts, and knowing how to do it right(or at least trying).
If you want me to do it , let me know.

Bill,
I am sure that you do not consider it a difficult job to do because you have done it so much, but to the novice it can be a difficult task. I have taken similar jobs that I thought would be easy and turn out difficult and vice versus.

[maple flats]

If you are unsure you might want to consider WF Mason's price.
However, I have soldered my pans 2 different times. One was to add an second thermometer fitting for when I had my 2x6 and the second was the fix a damaged front edge on my current rig rear pan. On that it seams the first owner didn't care if he thru wood in and hit the rear pan. On both soldering jobs I used Sta bright silver solder, a SS flux and cleaned everything extremely well. I then used a soldering iron rather than a torch, much easier and safer, no chance to overheat and warp the metal.
@ irons is even better, use one while the other reheats and switch as needed. If you go with the irons get heavy ones. I borrowed mine from an old tin worker and used 2 that were likely 24-32 oz each.

[KenWP]

I paid a fellow a Toonie today for two of those irons. He had no idea what they actually were as they were his father in laws.

[Fred Henderson]

I have just 2 coppers anymore BUT I use to have some real heavy ones for doing raised metal roofing seams. Mon them bears were heavy.

[PerryW]

Thanks to W.F. (Bill) Mason who just showed up at my sugarhouse and fixed my back pan (and a couple of other S.S. leaks.)

Now I can breath easier about the upcoming season.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Bills the man, if he can't do it, no one can!