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would this brazing wire effectively connect copper to stainless steel?

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jonogt:
http://tinyurl.com/cqlmtj

A friend bought some for a project but only needed a tiny bit, so he gave me the rest... i have the wire and the flux, both seem to be just like new (flux isnt dried up or any nonsense like that).

My vision for my boiler for my model steam engine is coming together:  3" dia. copper pipe which will be capped with red brass on each end.  I have an old cheap coleman liquor flask which is apparently stainless steel, and I'd really like to cut off the neck of it and use it with the cap as the place where I fill the boiler with water.  With my current setup in mind, it would be attached on the copper pipe...  Do you guys think that this wire would be effective in joining the copper and stainless if I did a quality job brazing it?


thanks,
-Jon

bogstandard:
Honestly Jon, you are sailing very close to the wind.

It seems you have very little regard for yours and others around you concerning safety.

You just can't go around sticking together materials of maybe dubious quality in the hope that you will end up with a useable boiler.
The way you are doing things is like the old moonshine brewing boys, who used what they could find.


You just can't do that sort of thing nowadays. Well you can, but project or no project, it is one not to get involved with.

John

sbwhart:
Hi Jon

At some time in the future I'm going to put together a boiler for my Loco just to give you some apreciation of whats involed I've set out some of the steps.

1:- The boiler design must follow a set of recognised design criteria in regards to material, thickness, spacing of stays etc, you can get copies of the regulations in this regard, I'm following a published recognised design if I was designing my own boiler I'd have to get the design aproved by a boiler inspector.

2:- The material used must be from a known supply I'd have problems getting a boiler certificate if I used material from the scrap yard.

3:- Manufacture, as some of the joints would be inacessable after assembly I must have these joints examined by a boiler inspector during the build.

4:- The completed boiler then has to be inspected this involes a visual inspection of the joints, followed by a pressure test at twice working pressure, this is then followed by a steaming test that checks that the safety valve blows off at the correct working pressure only after all this will the boiler be issued with a certificate for use in a public place.

5:- The certificate then has to be renewed on a periodic basis

This is just a snap shot of whots involved in the UK, and I may well have missed somthing out, different countries will have different requirements

When you make a pressurised boiler you're effectivly making a bomb so you have to be shure what your dealing with, the best thing is to get in touch with someone close to your area who can advice you on regulation procedures etc.

This is why most people run small model engines on air pressure, the only time they resort to live steam is in a working model such as a locomotives or steam boats as part of a proper organised club activity.

Hope this helps

Take care out their

Stew

jonogt:
yaa it sounds like I might have overlooked some important steps in the process... I'll investigate the things you guys mentioned and adjust my plans accordingly.

however, for the sake of knowledge, can anyone comment on whether brazing wire like that is suitable for brass-SS and/or copper-SS joints?

jonogt:
OK I looked at some charts online and figured out the piece of pipe is 3 inch "L" copper tube.  I got it from a scrap yard but there is nothing wrong with it... I knew it was there because the manager at a plumbing contractor store half a block away told me that they had cut off the ends on a few of their 40 foot lengths of large pipe and taken it to this place just 2 days prior. 

as far as safe construction goes, what if I just use standard copper pipe caps?  Like the ones sold in stores that are meant to be under pressure...  given I braze/solder them on correctly, is there any way I can go wrong here (not considering the safety blowoff valve or anything right now... just the structure of the boiler)

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