How To Solder Galvanized Sheet Metal

Soldering and adhesive joining.

How to solder galvanized sheet metal.

For homeowners the simplest solution is an epoxy or other adhesive that is made for joining. Tradesmen often use brazing or welding instead to create stronger joins between the metals. Soldering glues the pieces of metal together by melting a softer metal to act as an adhesive. Because the galvanized metal is designed to be resistant to outside harm soldering pieces of steel that have been galvanized can pose a problem if done improperly.

However there are many objects in your home made of galvanized steel such as gutters panels or water tanks that can be improved by soldering. Low temperature soldering and adhesive joining are processes for joining galvanized steel that do not damage the zinc protection. Rolled steel sheets are galvanized by a continuous electrolytic plating process. I recently learned the hard way to obtain a sample of the metal and try soldering before fabricating.

I think it depends on the alloys used in the galvanizing. Scott wuebber bozeman montana. Beware look alike products like zap or zincalume these cannot be soldered either. While soldering is useful for many purposes it has limitations.

This process permits control of a uniform plating as a thin layer. However some galvanized sheet metal is impossible to solder.