[71gtx]

i attempted to use galvanized pipe but had quite a bit of leaks, even with using pipe sealant. the problem being that i would tighten each fitting but they had to be positioned a certain way so there was a certain amount it could be tightened and anymore and it would be out of place.

so, any suggestions and if not, what does it take to sweat the copper? i have experience with welding and soldering, just never have done copper. other option would be to weld all galvanized fittings in place.

[Rambo_The_Dog]

I'm no pro at sweating copper but cleaning both mating surfaces is paramount - they make nice tools that do this...

Clean it swab it with flux and solder the joint by pointing the flame in the direction you want the solder to go. When it is done perfectly the joint will acutally pull the solder into the seam. If you practice with just a few extra pieces you'll get the hang of it.

I would wonder if welding the galvanized would compromse the metal? Welding is a lot more heat than solder...

[oldred]

Now you know why plumbers are paid so much! I would not attempt to weld the pipe, especially the galvanized. Sweating Copper pipe is easy and like Rambo said cleaning is the key to it because any oxidation left on the joint surface will most likely result in a leak, this however is no big deal and is only a matter of paying attention since cleaning it is easy. You can probably get the brushes where you get the pipe or at most any hardware store.

[SteveU]

Make sure your connections are doped with pipe dope & tighten them up with at least 18" pipe wrenches, I used 24" on mine & haven't had any problems. If you used pliers or something other than pipe wrenches to tighten it up the problem may be that they aren't tight enough.

[oldred]

Another problem may be the fittings that's why I said earlier to use a good quality fitting (such as Ward) which is not always easy to find. The pipe and fittings should be bought from a plumbing supply and not the local McHome store because of the cheap import fittings that all too often have very rough poorly cut threads that are hard to seal, same goes for the pipe make sure the threads are cut clean.

[CDJr]

Ditto what oldred said, and also, dont use pipe sealant...use teflon tape and dont be stingy with it

[71gtx]

well, i finally got it all leak proof and i ended up going the copper route. it wasn't too bad sweating the pieces together, i used the fittings with the solder already built in so it just required flux and heat. so thanks guys for all your help. i built it pretty similar to rambo's setup. lastly, what psi's should i run before the piping and after the piping for best water filtration and paint work?

[71gtx]

I put a coat of paint on and i had some problems. Maybe you guys can help some. I figured out after I painted that I added too much hardener, it called for 8:2:1 paint:reducer:hardener and i put in 8:2:2. But, what happened is I painted the enamel and there are tons of "craters" in the paint. Could this be caused by too much hardener, or is it perhaps another story? I had the piping set up but caught no water. I had two back to back filters at the gun so i doubt there was any water. Might I also add that I put a heavy coat of paint on since it was on a flat surface so no running was an issue. Otherwise, it looks shiny and good but the craters don't work for me.

[Rambo_The_Dog]

Are you painting parts for the car or a test panel?

If its parts for the car you will want to take the paint off. Too much hardner will make the paint brittle and that's no good to paint over again.

The symptom you describe sounds like fish eyes - mostly caused by contamination on the surface. What did you wipe it down with before applying paint and what method did you use?

[CDJr]

Sounds more like solvent pop, probably from the heavy coats

[mitmaks]

general rule is to have at least 50 ft of line before air dryer

[71gtx]

The reason I don't think that it is too heavy of a coat is this: The first light pass I had showed the "fish eyes" and adding more paint never improved them. As far as contamination this is what I did:

I wet sanded a previous water problem, cleaned with soap and water, cleaned heavily with metal prep, and finally went over the surface with a tack cloth.

Could too much hardener cause this? And would fish eye killer actually solve this problem. But if fish eye kiiller would solve it, what am I doing wrong in the first place?

[projectjohn]

I saw your problem and couldn't find the post from before but here is a set up that works well from my experience. And a prety simple set up.

Dirt cheap DIY shop air dryer set up.

They also show this set up.

http://www.dune-buggy.com/webs/Off-R...ompressor.html

Hope it can help some one


John

[Rambo_The_Dog]

Originally Posted by 71gtx

The reason I don't think that it is too heavy of a coat is this: The first light pass I had showed the "fish eyes" and adding more paint never improved them. As far as contamination this is what I did:

I wet sanded a previous water problem, cleaned with soap and water, cleaned heavily with metal prep, and finally went over the surface with a tack cloth.

Could too much hardener cause this? And would fish eye killer actually solve this problem. But if fish eye kiiller would solve it, what am I doing wrong in the first place?

Too much hardner would not cause this. If you get it in the first coat and its bad enough - better off to stop and clean it off or let it dry and wetsand and clean again before painting.

Metal Prep - is that a suface wash or an etch for bare metal (don't recall the product name...)

If its a wash did you let it evaporate or dry it off with a clean dry cloth?

Many, many people make the mistake of letting the cleaner evaporate or doing too large of an area before cleaning - what you have to do is immediately wipe off the material before it dries ~ think Karate Kid "Wax On, Wax Off"

Sometimes the rags or towels you use can leech contaminants onto the surface during the cleaning process as well.

Using soap and water is ok during some phases - but here again if any soap residue dried onto the surface that could compound problems as well.

ONLY use fisheye inhibitor as a last resort - basically you're adding silicon to the paint!

Personally I have only had to use fisheye inhibitor on a very few fiberglass cars where there was an issue.

Also -sometime when you notice light fisheyes in the first coat let it tack up really well and mist coat the next basecoat sometimes you can get it to cover.

But usually its better to stop and fix it because the fisheyes or other imperfections compound with more layers and clear.

[oldred]

This is quite apparently a case of surface contamination from improper prep. Did you wipe the surface with a prep solution before spraying? And if so did you follow the instructions to the letter? Did you use CLEAN wiping rags? This is probably the most common cause of paint failure but it is easily remedied by proper cleaning however there is no saving what you have already sprayed, it will have to be removed in order to remove the cause of the problem. Please don't ask how I learned about this