Use Of Copper Tubing For Custom Coolant Circuit

[Anton green 12 1 Cars]

I shall be using a couple of copper T-pieces in my custom coolant circuit to mate up various hoses. Many pieces of copper hardware come with solder pre-packed in them to mate them up to other pieces of copper tubing, SO..

 

Q1. Will soldered joints hold up to the vibrations experienced inside a cars engine bay, long term?

 

Q2. Is there a tool available which I can use to flare a 22mm diameter copper tube or larger, as my current tool allows the use of tubing up to around 16mm to put in a good flare?

 

Cheers ta

[omega 82]

you might have a proplem of the rubber hose gripping the smooth copper[sounds like a fetish] but im sure you get what i mean.

Edited May 12, 2010 by omega

[M@tt 77]

you can buy short pre soldered sections for joining 22mm copper pipe which have a flared ring around either end already (i think b&Q or toolstation do bags of them). Infact i had a load left over from when i did my GTI6 conversion but i think they are buried in the bottom of my shed at present other wise you could have some for free

 

Anyway have a look through my gti6 conversion and you'll see what i did

 

HTH

Edited May 12, 2010 by M@tt

[Goliath 94]

I use/have used joint like this in 22mm size.

 

They have been fine for me and the rubber hoses don't slip off due to the raised lip thingy, as long as the hose clip is screwed on the correct side of the raised lip.

[Anton green 12 1 Cars]

I can flare in the end of the pipe by forceing something conical and hard down the shaft, but this makes getting the silicone hose over the end tricky as it isn't a smooth hump, if you see what I mean -so the joiners as pictured may be a good option. Good to see that none of you have had issues with the solder quality deteriorating over time.

[KRISKARRERA 2 1 Cars]

They're very useful for making repairs to hoses that are either no longer available or hoses that pug want £60 for.

[notamondayfan 44]

If I were you, I would apply some extra solder around the joins, as I wouldn't trust the pre-soldered ones too much, and for the whole 2 minutes it takes, it's gotta be worth it.

I would have thought that vibrations in the engine bay wouldnt cause too much problem, so long as you have them securely tied down, and if you are connecting them to rubber hoses, then the rubber hoses will take the majority of the flex anyway.

 

But don't goto B&Q, try screwfix, they are cheeper, and better quality. B&Q over charge, are a pain in the arse, and can sometimes sell poor quality parts.

 

Oh and don't forget to clean with wire wool first and use flux to get a good fix.

 

Deano.

[harryskid 193]

Better still braze them !

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

Hairspray is good for keeping hoses in place (obviously using hose clips as well) as it acts as a lubricant when wet and an adhesive when dry