Copper Pricing - Tees

[karrotbear]

Hello All,

I'm just shooting the question out there, what do you guys pay for your 4" copper tees?

I just went down to Reece, and then my local plumbing store and made friendly with the dude there, Reece wanted $69 for one tee, whilst my local plumbing store was happy enough to give it to me for $40 each. Is the second price good? Can you get it cheaper elsewhere?

Also got a price for a sheet of copper 1800x900x1.2mm @ $308 for the sheet (looking at maybe making a thumper, maybe) Good price? Another plumbing store was going to ask $500/m for 6" so I'd hate to think what 8" tube would cost!

Cheers

[Dominator]

At $69 for a tee, I would very seriously consider contacting Mac. Stainless ones don't cost much more and already have flanges and a sight glass port.


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[punchy21]

I got mine for just under $40 I think it was... :handgestures-thumbupleft:

[dogbreath vodka]

Sounds like you need to get friendly with a scrap yard dealer or two.
:D :D

You never know what might crop up.... I gone mine for scrap metal price... but it was a once off.
I got all of them and there ain't no more. :sad: :sad:

Other wise maybe a mix of stainless and copper T's ? Call it "Post-Modern" or "Modern-Post" :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

DBV

[karrotbear]

Haha DBV,

I don't mind paying for it, and I'm kinda liking the idea of a mix of stainless and copper. But at the same time, I kind of like the silver to copper ratio (due to triclamps) already. I think I'll stick with the copper :P

The whole scrap yard thing, kinda annoys me. For me to get to any scrappy that has anything I need, I end up driving for an hour and a bit to get there, and an hour and a bit back. Sucks living in a 'regional' centre! Esp considering all these fittings are generally associated with high rise construction!

And fair enough I can probably get all I need from Mac, (I vaguely remember somewhere he showed a prototype for a copper tee with the ferrules already put in from his supplier but I cant remember where) but at the same time this build needs to keep me busy ( I mean if I buy the already made tees from mac, why not just buy a 4" bubbler straight up)!

I figured out last night that I can't anneal the 4" evenly or correctly which ends up with fucked up looking expansions. So I'm steering away from making my own tee's.

A little off topic, but how do you guys clean your copper (when it has a SS ferrule soldered to it), can you still soak it in vinegar to remove the oxides? How do you guys do it

[dogbreath vodka]

Hey KB
There are different thicknesses of copper T's depending on what they are used for so there will be a few different prices.
As always it's horses for courses and using what's available without too much stress.
Makes for some interesting builds and variations.

As for cleaning copper
Some use citric acid.. a tablespoon per litre.

I have some nitric acid left over from experimenting with other things and use a veeeeerrrrryy weak solution of that.

Brings the copper up a treat within about an hour. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

DBV

[5 o'clock]

My local plumbing supplies shop sold me my first two 4 inch copper tees for about $37 each and the next two for about $32 I think, didn't pay much attention once I realised that it was less than two weeks earlier and didn't want to double check in case he price went up.

Went to Reece to try to get the second two and was quoted almost $70 each. When I told them I got some for $37 he said they couldn't buy them for that. That is when I decided to wait for the second two.

I think people have mentioned in other threads what they think about Reece prices. To be fair to them though my local reece branch are very approachable for me to raid their off cut bin.

If it is going to cost you $70 for a tee I :text-+1: the idea of just buying a stainless tee from mac.

Cheers