Old Copper Piste Repair

[mutantmoose]

Okay, I can't find my answer here, so I'll post my question. If it turns out that this question has been answered over 10,000 times, I apologize for wasting folks time.

We have some older copper strips that we are using for two of our pistes, and some holes have started appearing.

My question is - how the heck did people solder these holes to repair them? I can't seem to get anything but big globs of solder!! Did they use a soldering iron or a torch?

Thanks again,

Mark

[brtech]

Ho boy are you in for fun!. I'm not sure we can adequately explain how to do this with a posting. You really need someone who knows how to do this well to come teach you.

You need a REALLY BIG soldering IRON. Not a gun, not a torch. The kind plumbers use. Several hundred watts.

You need acid core solder.

You need solder flux and a brush for it. You also need a big rubber mallet, tin snips or really hefty scissors, a wire brush with a wooden handle, a paint scraper, a needle nose plier and a piece of 1/4" ply.

Generally, you need to mechanically fill the hole, and then solder, but a really small hole can be done with solder only. You fill the hole with a piece of mesh (cut from a worn out strip, or swiped from the end of one).

Start by putting the ply under the strip at the hole. This protects the floor. Use the mallet to make the tear/hole flat. Use the wire brush to clean the surface around the hole so the copper is shiny. Cut a piece of mesh about 1/4" bigger than the hole. Curl it up a little and use the pliers to push it into the hole, flatten it out, and center it on the hole. The mesh should overlap 1/4" all the way around.

Get the iron really hot. Clean the tip and tin it. Brush flux on the overlap. If it's a large hole, tack the corners by heating the mesh, applying a little solder and letting it cool. The wire brush usually has a metal flange on it that you can use to hold the patch in place. Then, solder all the way around. Bang the mallet on the joint to make it flat.

You can fill a small hole with just solder. Flux, heat the hole and add enough solder to get surface tension to fill the hole. It's tricky to get the soldering iron off the fill without losing surface tension. You can use the paint scraper to cool the fill really fast. You pull the iron off and slap the scraper down fast. Mallet it smooth.

[fencerbill]

I use a 60 watt iron.

[DHCJr]

The size of the iron depends on the piste. For some of the older piste a 60 watt would do nothing you need at least 250. On some of the pistes that the USFA got before their current piste a 60 watt would do fine. The problem is these were so flimsy that if you did solder them they cracked at the point where the solid solder met the flimsy mesh. For these metalic tape is the best solution.

An addition to what brtech said a good heat-sink is very helpful. After heating up the solder and using the heat-sink immediately will leave a clean flat surface.

[mutantmoose]

This all looks good - I just needs to locate a big enough soldering iron - I think the used tool shop nearby will have one.

Thanks very much everybody!

[fencerbill]

Originally Posted by mutantmoose

This all looks good - I just needs to locate a big enough soldering iron - I think the used tool shop nearby will have one.

Thanks very much everybody!

Don't go spending a lot of money before you have to. I have used a soldering
gun as well as a iron. There is a flat tip that is useful for working on a strip. While a heavy iron may be necessary for the older really heavy copper strips, I have had a lot of success with a 60 watt iron and my 100 watt soldering gun with the flat tip.

The scrubbing with a metal brush and use of flux is necessary. Mine is bigger than yours is not always necessary for fixing strips.