Brazing aluminium - aircon pipes

[micken]

Thought I'd put this here rather than in the project thread.

What I thought was a leak from the washer bottle turns out to be a leak from the fluid regriferant line to the aircon that runs along the near side wheel arch below said washer bottle. The leak is near a bend in the pipe so I'm thinking that the first approach to repair might be brazing reather than using a splicing kit.

So, question is does anyone have experience of using brazing rods on ally?

Seems to me there's two options. The more heavy duty one that needs a higher temperature and brushing with a stainless steel brush or the lower temperature one that doesn't need brushing. The first is more expensive but I'm guessing it will be the better option. :nenau

Over to you guys

 

[zippy656]

Rick !!

 

[solarman216]

Thought I'd put this here rather than in the project thread.

What I thought was a leak from the washer bottle turns out to be a leak from the fluid regriferant line to the aircon that runs along the near side wheel arch below said washer bottle. The leak is near a bend in the pipe so I'm thinking that the first approach to repair might be brazing reather than using a splicing kit.

So, question is does anyone have experience of using brazing rods on ally?

Seems to me there's two options. The more heavy duty one that needs a higher temperature and brushing with a stainless steel brush or the lower temperature one that doesn't need brushing. The first is more expensive but I'm guessing it will be the better option. :nenau

Over to you guys

Take the pipe off and get it TIG welded at your local welding shop/fabricator, it is not the easiest item to weld as it has oil contamination, and needs to be degreased inside and out, if it was mine I would cut out the bad section back to good pipe and weld in a pipe larger that slides over the existing, the pressures are too high for any other type of jointing, Rick

 

[micken]

Thanks Rick, that looks like very sound advice. I'll see who I can find locally.

Cheers,

Mick

 

[zippy656]

see rick knows

 

[Banshee]

Stripping all mine off the Terrano

 

[Barrbeast]

Stripping all mine off the Terrano

Bugger that, I've got working aircon in a 27 year Trol, I'm keeping mine as long as I can :lol

 

[Banshee]

Bugger that, I've got working aircon in a 27 year Trol, I'm keeping mine as long as I can :lol

Mine hasn't worked since I've had the truck, Grandads does in the 3.0 that I'm driving at the minute :thumb2

 

[Monaro Pete]

Whilst we're on the topic of A/C. My repair of Chemical Metal & Q Bond is holding up & we're approaching a year after the repair.
I've ran the A/C once about every couple of weeks to keep the system oiled up.
I figure that if I had a leak, it wouldn't ice cold anymore.

My repair isn't pretty, but who sees it :lol

 

[Daveluck]

Stripping all mine off the Terrano

Ooohhhhh...Does that mean you'll have a spare pulley? I wonder what you could do with that?

Could you fit another alternator?

 

[Banshee]

Ooohhhhh...Does that mean you'll have a spare pulley? I wonder what you could do with that?

Could you fit another alternator?

:sly

 

[micken]

Have not found anyone to quote for TIG welding this pipe yet but one place offered to use Vulkan Lokring connectors to repair it.

I got a quote from the main dealer for a new pipe for £100, although the picture of the parts was a joke with the feed and return pipes to the evaporator upside down in relation to mine. Did a bit more research and found some old info on here about using 8mm compression fittings, which I might just try for the time being just to stop any more leakage and until I'm happy with the way the engine is running. I don't use the aircon often enough to justify much outlay on this right now.

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

Whilst we're on the topic of A/C. My repair of Chemical Metal & Q Bond is holding up & we're approaching a year after the repair.
I've ran the A/C once about every couple of weeks to keep the system oiled up.
I figure that if I had a leak, it wouldn't ice cold anymore.

My repair isn't pretty, but who sees it :lol

I'm with Pete, use chemical metal it's the....er.... nuts? :lol seriously though it's whats holding blocky's rear diff together too, it's not a bodge you're just utilising modern chemical technology :thumbs

 

[micken]

I'm with Pete, use chemical metal it's the....er.... nuts? :lol seriously though it's whats holding blocky's rear diff together too, it's not a bodge you're just utilising modern chemical technology :thumbs

OK, I'll give that a go. Any recommendations for brands, never used it.

Cheers

 

[solarman216]

OK, I'll give that a go. Any recommendations for brands, never used it.

Cheers

Re air con use if it is a low pressure pipe that has failed then yes it may work but high pressure no way, Rick

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

OK, I'll give that a go. Any recommendations for brands, never used it.

Cheers

I'll have a look for the packaging from the one I used, when it sets if says you can drill and tap it!! It's a two part one I had to mix.

 

[rustic]

I'll have a look for the packaging from the one I used, when it sets if says you can drill and tap it!! It's a two part one I had to mix.

Plastic Padding do a "Chemical Metal", I use this a lol but not for the Mav.

Halfords sell a big tin of it, or you can buy it by the tube.

I use it on the boat to bed reinforcement pads in when fitting deck fittings etc.
Used it to bond two L aluminium angle to make a U channel from which I made a stem head roller for the boat, it has taken a few knocks but the bond is secure, so really bonds well with aluminium.

If it works... you are sorted, if it fails you have lost the cost of a recharge, but Quickfit used to offer a free recharge if it doesn't work.:thumb2

On the chemical metal instructions, It says you can drill and tap it, but I've never tried it, but I will use it soon to fill some obsolete screw holes in the hull when I reposition some corner fenders, no doubt the new screws will go into the chemical metal anyway.

Every tool box should have some. Don't overbuy more than you can use before the best before date, but I am still using mine months past that... :augie

There is also another product called JB Weld, two part, available as Kwik or normal.
Kwik is if you need it fixed this morning, normal if you can wait a day.
I think normal performs better.
Some boat chandlers sell JB weld, but, you get two small tubes, and it's not cheap.

There are of course many similar products, but I find standard araldite is sub standard, and after time if immersed in water, goes opaque and soft, and looses the bond, so there is no place for it on my boat lol.:doh Formulation may have changed since I last used it over 10 years ago.

Good luck.
Rustic

 

[micken]

Hi Rustic, thanks for taking the time to add all that good advice and info.

I can get the J B Weld delivered for about £5 so I'm now thinking hybrid repair which might become more permanent than temporary. I'll probably have a go with a couple of 8mm bog standard compression fittings to splice in a piece of ally or copper pipe and use the J B Weld as a sealant inside the fittings once I've set it all up dry. I've also got good plumbing sealant somewhere in the garage that I used between stainless steel and brass in an espresso coffee machine but the J B Weld might just be a bit more suitable for aircon.

Cheers :thumb2

Mick

 

[Monaro Pete]

Re air con use if it is a low pressure pipe that has failed then yes it may work but high pressure no way, Rick

Rick I guess these pipes are on the low pressure side?




This is what mine look like & it works well :thumb2

 

[terranosaurusdoug]

This is what I have used in the past, it's quite runny and you sort of paste it on. It's about £2 more expensive than all the JB Weld stuff they had though.