Product Review: Cool - pre-soldered copper pipe joints

Found something very cool at Home Depot - presoldered copper pipe fittings! Elbows and connectors and caps - everything - with a ring of solder inside so all you need to do is clean the contact points, put on a bit of flux, and heat until the solder flows! No more trying to juggle the solder and the torch and never quite getting it right. I like this product a lot!

I didn't have any problems with the installation that I did. My Dad tried one of the elbows at his place, but was in a dark location and he didn't see the solder start to flow, so he just kept heating - until there was no solder left in the joint! Needless to say that he had to do it all over again. For someone who is new to soldering copper pipe, this is much easier but without a background in soldering you might not know what to expect. For those who have experience - you will see the benefits immediately!

I checked a couple of forums on plumbing and found that the "pros" don't really care for this product - but I like it for the occasional do-it-yourselfer...