Stay Silv black flux

[johnnyo]

Hello
I have a jar of stay silv black flux I want to use but noticed it is dried out. I use the white version of this product most of the time and have added water to it at times to rejuvenate it. But can I do this with the black version also, it doesn't say on the jar. If I can thin it out again I might try it on my boiler. So far Ive only used it to braze carbide inserts to steel shanks.
Thanks
Johnny O

 

[kvom]

Just add a bit of water.

 

[rkepler]

Yup, water. Here's the spec:

http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/...ets/Brazing/Fluxes/StaySilvBlackFluxSpec.ashx

I'd add a few drops at a time and let it sit overnight to hydrate, repeat until it can be stirred up. It wouldn't hurt to use distilled water but I wouldn't make a trip to the store if you didn't have some.

 

[johnnyo]

thanks guys, I'll try that out. I guess it's just like the white version then.
johnny O

 

[SilverSanJuan]

I'd add a few drops at a time and let it sit overnight to hydrate, repeat until it can be stirred up. It wouldn't hurt to use distilled water but I wouldn't make a trip to the store if you didn't have some.

This brings a question to mind. I have very hard water here at my house. I get water from a well. Will the calcium cause my solder joints to be weakened?

Todd

 

[rkepler]

This brings a question to mind. I have very hard water here at my house. I get water from a well. Will the calcium cause my solder joints to be weakened?

I don't know, but distilled water is cheap at the grocery store for about a buck a gallon. If you're really cheap you could likely hang a few ice cubes in a baggie over a glass and let a teapot blow steam to condense on the cold baggie surface, take a couple of minutes to get the distilled water you need for this.

 

[SilverSanJuan]

Yeah, probably best just to use distilled water. I'm going to be building a steam locomotive and I don't want to put this hard water in it anyway. I probably should have been collecting the water from my de-humidifyer instead of dumping it. DOH!

 

[rkepler]

Yeah, probably best just to use distilled water. I'm going to be building a steam locomotive and I don't want to put this hard water in it anyway. I probably should have been collecting the water from my de-humidifyer instead of dumping it. DOH!

That's still a lot of water - I use something like 15-20 gallons a day in my 1.5" scale Shay in casual use. If I bought distilled water I'd be paying more for water than propane. For large live steam you're better off using tap water and treating it with Terlyn or the like, it needs to be high pH anyway.

But if you're talking G scale - sure, a gallon of distilled will go a long way.

 

[SilverSanJuan]

I'm building the Kozo A3 in 3/4" scale. So, it does have a pretty small boiler. But, I'll look in to the water treatments and pH control. I've got plenty of time to learn about that. I won't be steaming for over a year at least.