I'm getting ready to run some fuel lines to a couple of dual carbs and I dont really like the bulky look of compression or inverted flare tees. Has anyone ever tried either soft solder or silver solder on Nicopp and what were the results? I've sweated a lot of pipe and tubing in my day, and was planning on just using c-flux and some soft solder. I'm not in the shop at the moment but I think I have a couple of different solders I could use. I may even have some 45% silver or silphos available. Pics of the results would be great. Thanks in advance.
Never done this, but why not silver solder ? The type jeweler's use. The lower temp silver solder has copper in it, so it should work well. Probably look good polished too.
While the lines you speak of will be low pressure there's a constant vibration in play when the engine's running. I'd highly recommend silver solder if you go for it. Regular solder will likely crack over a relatively short time. Silver solders hold up well to the extremes of A/C and other refrigeration units. Oh yeah, pic when you get it done plz...
What about brazing it? Would that work with nicopp? The AC guys where I used to work did that on the industrial AC units we had. Should make for a strong joint.
I am an old freon jockey myself, and used to use 45% solver solder when making steel to copper connections when replacing small compressors on refrigeration equipment. I am more than familiar with that process. I will probably go with 45% silver solder if I can find some 5/16" copper tees around town somewhere. 5/16" is sort of a bastard size and none of the normal big box stores/hardware stores carry them in my experience. I was out running errands today and stopped by a couple of local hardware stores and the guys there had a "deer in the headlights" look when I said 5/16", which I expected. I looked around online and even on Amazon the cost of 1 tee was $12! In a city as big as Dallas, I imagine it is just a matter of finding the right supplier. I am about an hour out of Dallas but drive to Dallas every day. I'll make some phone calls on Monday. Thanks for the replies!
This place isn't quite that bad on pricing. Don't know how many fittings you need so shipping could drive the price up a bit. https://www.zoro.com/search?q=&cate...+Fittings&variants.attributes.Tube_Size=5/16"
Thanks Sporty. $5 for shipping on 1 tee. I would imagine it would be the same amount for several of them. I will look around in Dallas on Monday and see what the HVAC/R supply houses have. I need to pick up some 45% and flux anyway, and you can't buy that at your normal hardware/big box stores around here. If nothing else I will bit the bullet as bad as I hate it. I totally understand the $5 for shipping, but those little buggers are pricey everywhere it seems.
The Jalopy Journal
