Brass Valves and Fittings Manufacturer

Back in 1986 on a crisp spring Saturday afternoon on San Diego Bay,  I was racing my quarter ton racer (a completely reworked and raced-out Venture 21.  “Havilah” had just rounded the downwind mark and was clawing toward the weather mark with a single reef in the mainsail and a 120 genoa.  She balanced perfectly in the fresh breeze and she was leading the race.  I was on starboard tack concentrating on the genny’s  tell-tales trying to keep her in the groove when abruptly….Bang!  Slam!  There was a horrific onboard explosion. My mind raced.   Could I smell black powder from a cannon fired nearby?  Was San Diego under siege?   No, the lower shroud turnbuckle had violently and suddenly given way.  The mast groaned and bent over 50 degrees and was barely held by the starboard upper shroud.  The mast step was badly bent and the mast itself bowed in unrepairable condition.

 Preservation of the propulsion system is of utmost concern for every sailor. The standing rigging is often the most overlooked component of the cruising equation.  The condition of the rigging must fill the skipper with confidence.  There can be no question as to it’s  integrity.   The small craft must be able to survive the gale with storm sails or bare poles, putting up with the violent whipping action generated by large waves, then regroup and sail on to the destination. 

The small boat solo sailors of the turn of the century had a strategy of lowering and lashing their masts on the deck of their small craft during gales.  This was especially true with the small  yawl rigged cruising conoes.   I don’t know about you, but I can barely take down and set up my mast in protected water let alone getting the deed done while traipsing around 10 foot wind waves.

When cruising,  my twenty foot Vivacity carries ten stays.  Everything is doubled up.  The headstay is attached to a beautifully cast bronze deck fitting.  I wanted to see the  tension  stress the hull as well as the deck.  The tension of the headstay must get to the hull somehow.  To achieve this I took off the bronze fitting and applied many layers (8-10) of 6 oz.  fiberglass cloth under where the fitting is attachted to the deck glassing the deck to the hull and made it as strong as I could then redrilled the holes for the fitting and set it all in 3M 501 sealant and bolted the bronze stem fitting home.   I also drilled a new hole right under the roller so the headstay could not lever it’s self up and out.  I believe this has made the deck fitting much stronger.  Also I set a storm jib on a stay just aft of the sampson post which is attached to a bridle up by the spreaders on the mast.  Two forestays are better than one.  My staysail is not used in light and coastal sailing.

The Vivacity comes with twin backstays which also serve as a second uppershroud.  For those of you that have twin backstays..check out the tension on the windward backstay while sailing on a beam reach and you will be amazed at how much help the  backstay is providing in lateral support.  In my opinion,  all off-shore vessels should have twin-backstays.

The Vivacity comes stock with  U-bolts attached to special reinforsed area of the deck next to the toe rail serving as attachments for the shrouds and turnbuckles.  Once again, the thought of an overstressed shroud pulling up the deck drove me to, at least a percieved, need for true chainplates that spread the stress of the shroud tension down to the hull.  I cut my chainplates out of 1/4” stainless stock plate (that used to be a drop-keel for an Islander 23).  I used an abrasion wheel in a Skill saw and shapping the radius with and a grinder.  For and limited skill kind of guy, they turn out fine.  I used backing plates which were glassed to the inside of the hull to further spead out the pressure.  I made eight chainplates.  Four for the lower shrouds, two for the upper shrounds and two for the twin backstays.  I used 3/8s bolts and selflocking nuts.  Two important items:  1)  Be very careful cutting out a slot in the beautiful 1/2 round hardwood sheer for the chainplate.  2)  Only drill through the hull for the lowest chainplate hole.  You should have at least 3 wholes.  Don’t drill the upper two holes until you have the mast up and the turnbuckle tightened so the chainplate is in perfect allignment.  I have seen professionally built boats with chainplates that are not lined up with the shroud and it DRIVES ME NUTS.   (sorry for the outburst)

The spreaders on an off-shore sailboat must be as strong as possible.  Check your spreaders and see if they are merely rivetted individually to the sides of the mast or if they also connected  to each other through a compression post so that the lateral pressure is transferred to both sides of the mast. Don’t be tempted to use aluminium rivets.  They are easy to work with but you need the extra strength of stainless rivets.  One of the easy ways to get spreader strength is to have the spreaders made of heavy gauge tubes and have a rod that just fits the inside diameter and connects to both the port and starboard spreader.  You have just increased strength and provided the needed effect of a compression post.

What was the cause of the turnbuckle failure which bought me a DNF and forced me to buy a new mast for my quarter-ton racer?  Even though the turnbuckle was the exact size needed for the exersion of the lower shroud, the aftermarket replacements for the threaded pistons in the turnbuckles were made of brass rather than bronze.  The brass, of course, way too soft for the job.  I assumed the machinest would know which metal to use.  Oops!

If you want to repair, add-on to or create a water system using copper pipe, it will be of great benefit for you to learn how to sweat copper pipe. To sweat copper pipe means to solder fittings or fixtures directly onto copper pipe. When you sweat copper pipe to fittings or fixtures, the joints are solid, leaf proof and will last virtually forever.

To sweat copper pipe to copper fittings is not really very difficult at all. It is slightly harder to sweat copper pipe to bronze fittings, but this is done much less often than sweating copper fittings. Bronze fittings are usually on the inlets of fixtures such as spigots and drains.

If you are new to sweating copper pipes, it’s good to know that you can plumb an entire water system in a new house and never be required to sweat a bronze fitting to copper pipe. Simply use fixtures designed with threads, and sweat threaded copper fittings onto the copper pipes.

To sweat copper pipe, here are the things you’ll need:

1) Flux – be sure it’s safe for drinking water use.

2) Solder – be sure it’s safe for drinking water use.

3) Some 220-grit emery cloth.

4) A flux brush.

5) A dry rag.

6) A rag and a small pan or bucket of fresh water.

7) A small, hand held, self igniting torch. This can be butane, propane or MAPP gas. A propane torch is highly recommended for beginners and the occasional do-it-yourselfer. These propane torches can be purchased at hardware stores for anywhere from $10 – $200.

Other items you will likely want to have on hand for your project(s) are: a small pipe cutter • a fine metal file • a measuring tape • a fine point marker • a small fire extinguisher – especially if you are going to sweat existing copper pipes in a wall or ceiling.

The most common copper pipe fittings that you’ll use when you sweat copper pipes are: 90° elbows; ‘T’s; connectors and caps. Copper pipe comes in both rigid and flexible. Using flexible will allow you to easily bend pipe around many angles. Flexible copper pipe is also much more forgiving for the novice plumber as small adjustments can be made to ensure a perfect final fit. You sweat copper pipe the same way, regardless of whether or not it is rigid or flexible.

Let the sweating begin…

Step 1 – If you are working on an existing water pipe, you must first completely drain all water from the line. If there is any water at all in the line you won’t be able to sweat the copper pipe. Shut off the water main and open all faucets and leave them open. Allow the lines time to dry inside before starting.

Step 2 – Prepare the copper pipe and the fitting for sweating by wiping off any dirt with your dry rag. Then use your emery cloth to lightly sand the end of the pipe and the inside of the fitting where the pipe will go.

Step 3 – Use the flux brush to apply flux to the end of the copper pipe and the inside of the fitting. Be generous – you can’t use too much, but you do not want to miss any spots.

Step 4 – install the copper fitting onto the copper pipe. Make sure it is completely seated. Twist and push as necessary. Make sure the copper fitting is properly aligned for use – this is especially important with 90° elbows.

Step 5 – Take your water line safe solder and unroll 8″ – 10″. Leave the solder attached to the roll and stick the piece you’ll be using straight out. This will make it easier to use and also keep your hands away from the heat of the torch.

Step 6 – It is recommended at this point that you put on your safety equipment: gloves and eye protection.

Step 7 – Fire up your torch and start to heat the copper fitting and copper pipe at the joint area. Always start on the fitting as it will require more heat to get to the proper temperature. Keep the flame about 2″ – 4″ away from the copper. Constantly move the torch flame – remembering to move around and down the fitting and copper pipe to about ½” from the joint.

Step 8 – After a few seconds, remove the torch flame from the joint and touch the end of the solder to the joint where the copper pipe goes inside the copper fitting. If the solder does not melt into the joint, continue to heat it. Repeat this process until the solder melts and disappears into the joint. Capillary action, the flux and the heat will pull the solder inside the joint, even if it’s upside down. When a droplet of solder forms outside the joint, pull the solder away.

Step 9 – Take one of your rags and get it wet in your fresh water. Leave it pretty wet, but not dripping. You do NOT want to cool your work too quickly as this will make the copper brittle. Start about 8″ away from the joint on the copper pipe and wipe it with the wet rag. Slowly move towards the joint until you hear a ‘sizzle.’ When the sizzle stops, move closer to the new joint. Continue this process until you are finally on the joint. Now wipe it clean.

Step 10 – turn your water system back on and then start closing the faucets. Close faucets from the lowest to the highest to help remove trapped air from the lines.

Some other tips

• Practice how to sweat copper pipe on some scrap copper pipe with a few fittings before you start working on your final projects. You’ll get the hang of it quickly, and you can reuse the fittings for your practice – just heat them until the solder is liquid and slide them off with a pliers.

• Never try to cut copper pipe with a hacksaw. This will create heat and ruin the perfectly round end of the pipe. Use a small pipe cutter.

• If you are going to sweat copper pipes often, it is definitely worth spending a few dollars and buying a tool that is designed for cleaning the inside and outside of copper pipes and fittings.

• If you want to sweat copper pipe to a bronze fitting end, be sure to focus on heating the bronze much more than the copper pipe. It will be thicker and require more heat. If you sweat copper pipe to a bronze spigot fitting, be sure to fully open the spigot before you start to heat the bronze.

• After you sweat the copper pipes in a water system, be sure to flush the system out by running the water for several minutes before you start to use it again. This will remove any remnant flux or debris.