after removing a virus, my active x control is disabled on my computer.
A thin layer of flux inside the fitting and on the pipe is all that is needed. Any excess will merely melt and run off.
Tough to describe. Coat the 2 pipes with flux and don't worry about if you put too much on. The excess will get thin with heat and drip away. It can make a mess of what's under it so be ready. Solder is another story.
Because it concentrates the connection point for the lightning. The single point closest to the sky will be the most likely spot to overcome the potential difference required to complete the connection between sky and ground. It takes a great deal of electrical potential to overcome an open air gap and the potential increases with distance; it is much easier to jump a gap of 1 inch, or one foot, than 1 mile. The point simply helps to decrease the gap at one point so as to control the point at which the lightning strike will occur.
Enough so that when you use a flux brush and paint it on the fittings there is a uniform coating all over before you apply the heat. And that is not much - maybe a couple of blobs about the size of a green pea.
The flux should flow up the pipe. It is more an art than a science.
