We have old equipment for our inground pool and the pipes are a tangled mess..We bought new (used) equipment and want to just install it ourselves to save cost. How hard can it be?
if you cut it with the tubing cutter ,you should have used the reamer on the cutter to clean the end of the pipe. this will take the crimp off the end and make for a better fit. thats the little piece of metal on the side of the cutter that is arrow shaped.
My bet is that, after you cut the pipe you did not dress the ends. 1) Use the reamer, some steel wool, or some light grade sandpaper on the pipe and the fitting. 2) Apply flux to BOTH pieces of pipe 3) Slip them together - it should be snug but easy to fit 4) Heat the pipe and apply the solder.. its not a rocket science job.
Don't know about where you live, but if there is a mortgage, fire insurance is not optional. Lending institutions are not always as full of faith as you might think, haha! Flood insurance is sometimes required. Andpart of being a good steward is being prepared. SoI should think the trustees might want to prepare for these possible problems. After all, we are not promised a life without problems. I for one am preparing for my future with a retirement plan. I do have faith that if I somehow lost it all, my needs would still be met.
It is probably the quality of the pipe or the fittings. I have experienced loads of copper piping that is difficult to fit and then the next load is fine. I have soldered copper pipe from 1/8 to 8 and always get some bad stuff. The quality of materials has gone downhill the last 20 years. It could be crap made in another country and imported and/or the tolerances are bad. Make sure you have a good quality cutter and don't tighten the cutter too hard when cutting. This will keep the pipe from having an edge on the outside of it. You rarely have to ream the outside edge unless it is larger pipe like 4.
Clean outside of pipe and inside of fitting to a shine using steel wool. Apply flux to fitting and pipe. If they don't slide together easily try twisting back and forth slightly while pushing together.
