Tumbleweed
Well-Known Member
Good day everyone. Have a question about cleaning up the Flux residue on the outside of the pipe following the soldering process. Founds many helpful presentations on YouTube about soldering and cleanup. Also found some questionable one, too. All of the presentations on YouTube mention to wipe down the cooled solder work with a wet towel or rag to clean off the flux residue. I do not find running a wet towel or rag over the soldered pipe & fitting removes all of the residue. Touching the item hours later, I find there is still a tackiness to the surfaces. FYI, I am very frugal with the application of the Oatey lead-free solder paste, sufficient to very thinly coat the surfaces but not like someone laying down pizza sauce where more-is-better (as shown on many YouTube videos).
I will go out on a limb here and generalize I suspect most municipal water sources around the country should have pretty much the same properties - within reason and eliminating exceptions and outliers. So I don't expect it's simply 'the water'. I found many good examples of the deterioration and damage caused from leaving leave the flux on the pipe. So what about the slightly tacky residue following a simple water wipe-down. Can anyone shed more clarity on more appropriate steps to remove the flux residue, or is leaving the slightly tacky residue acceptable ? Am I over-thinking this ?
Thank you for your time and considerations.
I will go out on a limb here and generalize I suspect most municipal water sources around the country should have pretty much the same properties - within reason and eliminating exceptions and outliers. So I don't expect it's simply 'the water'. I found many good examples of the deterioration and damage caused from leaving leave the flux on the pipe. So what about the slightly tacky residue following a simple water wipe-down. Can anyone shed more clarity on more appropriate steps to remove the flux residue, or is leaving the slightly tacky residue acceptable ? Am I over-thinking this ?
Thank you for your time and considerations.