Fifth Valve lever weld?

[dderatz]

So, short story short . . .

Bb Schiller 1291 copy. The mount for the rotary valve lever came off (clean separation). I took a shot at soldering it back on, but the "solder" seems impervious to flame. Are these actually welded?

David

[Michael Bush]

So, short story short . . .

Bb Schiller 1291 copy. The mount for the rotary valve lever came off (clean separation). I took a shot at soldering it back on, but the "solder" seems impervious to flame. Are these actually welded?

David

They're soldered, but just reheating the old solder very rarely works. (It only works when you don't want it to...) You need to clean it up, use plenty of flux, and use new solder. If you've never done this before I suggest getting some scrap first and work on getting the hang of it.

This is about a two minute job for your repair tech, though.

[roweenie]

Are you referring to the bond between the thumb "spatula" and rod? If so, the flat piece of metal is usually "hard soldered" (also called "silver soldered") into place.

The actual saddle that the lever pivots on is "soft soldered" (using lead solder) in place.

Any soldering job depends on good preparation, ie. cleanliness, good fit, etc., as stated above. Clamping the work in place is also advisable, as the heat and force of the flame from the torch will tend to make the part "dance" as it gets hot.