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Old 02-17-2004, 12:24 PM
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Tomguy Tomguy is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: near Scranton, PA
Posts: 5,407
I did mine myself...
The drawback of this is that I went through my own trial-and-error. I didn't know at the time, but you need to do the WHOLE top at one time - not just the leaking part (because it will be strongest where you repaired it, forcing a leak elsewhere).

I am going to redo mine but where I soldered it myself, it leaks not one bit! The cost? A few hours of labor (to drain and remove, then to remove old solder, then apply new solder, then leak-test in a sink, then reinstall), and about $30 assuming you don't have any equipment (I had a torch and a few fuel tanks already, it cost me maybe $5 for flux and solder).

I never did it before in my life and thought it'd be hard - it wasn't! All you do is:
1) Remove old solder by any means you desire, I melted it then blew it out, then cleaned the area to be resoldered with a screwdriver and (when cool) an alcohol rinse.
2) Apply a generous amount of flux all around the seam
3) Heat it (in a small area) until the flux bubbles and then apply the solder along it until it melts and completely fills the seam (you need to unwind about 6" at LEAST if you want to work smoothly).
4) Continue along, applying solder slowly and smoothly along the seam. Make sure to leave no holes! If you have a pinhole, go back, melt the solder in that area and add more until it's completely filled.
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