Soldering Stainless Steel To Copper

A copper pipe is one of the most common materials used to distribute water throughout the home and copper pipes are typically joined to one another using flux and solder.

Soldering stainless steel to copper. For stainless steel an acid flux removes oxides from the steel surface and helps the metals stick together. After all there are certainly fluxes for soldering stainless steel. Stainless is usually a tricky metal to work with but for soft. Soldering steel iron to steel iron is a little trickier but works pretty well the same just takes practice.

If you choose to solder your components together a common plumbing solder containing 95 tin 5 antimony will do the job just fine. Both solders will have a melting point of 230 c 450 f. So you have a flux no. The key to making solder bind to stainless steel is treating it with flux before soldering.

The same technique will solder brass to brass or copper or any copper alloy or nickel or steel or iron. For instance our no. You can use any silver solder but you will need an acid based flux. You can silver solder stainless to itself or to brass or copper to make easier connections without risk of corrosion problems.

This video shows how to soft solder brass to stainless. You can also use lincon electric solder stay bright kit with flux that is 95 tin and 5 silver for better results. 71 link is excellent for soldering stainless steel exhibiting great results with even the simple eutectic solders such as sn96 5 ag3 5 tin silver or sn63 pb37 tin lead. How to solder stainless steel to copper.

Generally welding holds stainless steel parts together best. In the soldering process heat is applied to the copper joint where the pipe and fitting meet and the gap between the joint is filled with molten metal.