Thread: One for the fridgies

Originally Posted by 4bee

That is great news RL, an Aussie Co doing well. Congratulations BTW, not Chinese owned are they? Just reading all these Posts again & have come to the conclusion that we were very fortunate that our Halos never slipped or if they did we didn't let anyone see that imperfection show.



I reckon some of the Lads in Correctional would make short work of those if they weren't Dynamite, Jemmy Bar & Bolt Cutter proof & that is only the Guards.

Hahaha, yep.
I tell the boys we all make mistakes daily, its how we deal with them that makes the difference.

I really don't think I'm anything special as a tech but some of the stuff i see on a daily basis has me shrugging my shoulders and rolling my eyes, too.

The blokes I work with are good, I think because they all care.
The same goes for management above me.
They want to do the right thing, do it properly and give the client value for money.

Originally Posted by rick130

Hahaha, yep.
I tell the boys we all make mistakes daily, its how we deal with them that makes the difference.

I really don't think I'm anything special as a tech but some of the stuff i see on a daily basis has me shrugging my shoulders and rolling my eyes, too.

The blokes I work with are good, I think because they all care.
The same goes for management above me.
They want to do the right thing, do it properly and give the client value for money.

Plus Rick, "Don't **** up a second time" helps.

The blokes I work with are good, I think because they all care.
The same goes for management above me.
They want to do the right thing, do it properly and give the client value for money.

JEEEEZUZ! They won't last long with that attitude.

Originally Posted by rick130

I started using crimp fittings in Canberra for the experience, but interestingly no one uses them on supermarket systems.
It might actually help, one new store has every EXV blocking and jamming as well as the oil filters needing four changes of elements so far (250-300mm tall filters) as the systems are full of copper oxide.

All because some ***** was too lazy/inept/mean to give the system 30 Mins of bleeding Nitro while he/she worked. No not bleeding as in swearing either.

Originally Posted by scarry

Yellow tip?

That looks like a nice blue tip weld.
There was an older supermarket guy when i was an apprentice,he used to do them absolutely perfectly,even upside down.
He was also a bloody good fridgie,did his time at Peters ice cream,back in the day.Taught me a few tricks.
Used to spend a lot of time at the Ferny Grove tavern,and subsequently his license vanished a couple of times so i was the allocated 'driver'
The only thing was he was an absolute perfectionist,so i had to drive 'sensibly',and the van had to be perfectly clean
His van was always the tidiest and cleanest in the fleet,he used to polish the bloody thing.I used to have to brush off my work boots before getting into it.He used to take it to Bathurst every year,with a few mates,clean out the back,sleep in it up on the hill
The thing that did **** him was,because his van was so well looked after,when the lease ran out they would often keep it,so at times he had the oldest van in the fleet

There was always room for the golf clubs in the back as well.We used to do work on milk vats in the Gold coast hinterland,often staying overnight somewhere,it had to be near a driving range.Beaudesert on the way back was the favourite.

Those were the days.

FWIW, I found the best way to flow Blue tip onto brass,copper,steel etc was in the preparation. Bright copper with a fine emery cloth, wipe away the remaining coat of Emery, Flux paste applied with a clean Brush (not an olde crappy one that had been used a million times) (We used to make our own with a short piece of 3/8" copper pipe & bristles from a newish Banister Brush & Crimped on the end.) The correct temperature on all parts to be joined moving the torch around for even heating When hot enough just touch the Blue tip on just one spot . The good preparation should see it flow evenly all around the fittings even inverted.

Using a Dental Pocket 2 sided Magnifying Mirror (essential) inspect around the joint for any blemishes.

If you need a slower Flowing Silver Solder use Browntip. Never used Yellow tip so can't comment. ?????

Wash any surplus Flux away.
I have seen people with a welding torch going at it like a Reheat Afterburner on a Jet. Not necessary.


Should be job done.


Clean Preparation is paramount.

My apologies if this seems like Preaching to the Converted. It ain't. Well maybe only a little bit.-ish.

The correct temperature on all parts to be joined moving the torch around for even heating When hot enough just touch the Blue tip on just one spot .

This is the crux of the matter in my experience. I have seen experienced "welders" attempting to melt the filler with the flame, rather than the having the base material melting it.

Yellow tip is only 2% silver.

Yep,done thousands,cleanliness is absolutely critical with Blue tip.
In another life i used to fix heaps of domestics,every compresser had oil coolers,so 4 welds,then the drier,all blue tip,steel stubs on compresser and bundy tube condensers and oil coolers.
Often did two or three compressors a day,in the hot weather,i think the record from memory was 6 in one long day,so one got pretty good at using blue tip
The pipes were often 3/16 so easy to block them with the solder.
Bloody good cash jobs in those days....

Heat is critical as well,too hot,steel or Brass turns red,its all over☹️

If you do have trouble,run over the blue with Brown,works well.

Yellow tip is very low silver content,plumbers use it,cheaper than Brown or Blue.

Some fridges use yellow tip,you know,the ones that have all the gear,but no f'n idea.

Originally Posted by rick130

Our apprentices say that all the other young fellas at tech run pipes for splities and ducted's and that's it.

They just don't get exposed to the wider industry.

And no one seems able to braze anymore.
Even install blokes going by the amount of rod used on joints I see in new installations.

It isn’t taught in the Electrical trade anymore either - we used to have a whole module in our second year on soldering, silver soldering and brazing and had to complete and pass at welding school as part of the schooling. Brazing exam was checked with a hydraulic press and had to be above a certain strength for the items but can’t recall exactly what that was.

I love oxy welding, brazing and silver soldering to this day - extremely versatile, but I use TIG more now for steel and not the oxy so much now. Haven’t tried TIG brazing yet but it will come up at some point I’m sure.

I also remember getting a valuable lesson on how hot an oxy flame is too - accidentally dragging the flame across the back of my thumb - got a ride in an Ambulance though for my troubles.

Originally Posted by Homestar

It isn’t taught in the Electrical trade anymore either - we used to have a whole module in our second year on soldering, silver soldering and brazing and had to complete and pass at welding school as part of the schooling. Brazing exam was checked with a hydraulic press and had to be above a certain strength for the items but can’t recall exactly what that was.

I love oxy welding, brazing and silver soldering to this day - extremely versatile, but I use TIG more now for steel and not the oxy so much now. Haven’t tried TIG brazing yet but it will come up at some point I’m sure.

I also remember getting a valuable lesson on how hot an oxy flame is too - accidentally dragging the flame across the back of my thumb - got a ride in an Ambulance though for my troubles.

Gav, you'd be just the bloke to confirm or deny this story.


It was "believed" that an Oxy Acet flame Burn would never heal, I suppose because of the depth & damage of the burn.


True/False?

I really don't think I'm anything special as a tech

Rick, you will always be special to me.