fix leak in radator

bison

Well-known Member
I'm trying to solder a leak in a tube in a copper radiator.
I can't seem to get it clean enough to make the solder stick.
The cleaning/acid paste i have/use does not do the trick.
What kind of flux/cleaning agent would be the best to use on these things?.
I used to have a liquid flux called "S39" that worked fine but i'm out and it is no longer available.

PS: don't tell me to just go to a rad shop cause i can think of that myself :wink:
 
Hi
How bad is the leak and where on the tube?. I know you want to solder but I
had a rad in my tractor puller get damaged while
working on it and never had time to remove and solder it, due to a competition the next day . It sliced 4 or 5 tubes open across the rad face. coolant was poring out pretty good.
i tipped a can of liquid copper type stuff in
and it fixed it pretty quick. That was over 14
years ago. Might be worth trying something like
that. seems to be a product made by bars leak that
has good reviews, but not sure if that was the
brand I used.
Regards Robert
 
I use "Ruby Fluid" but any flux with zinc chloride will work. I
also use 50/50 solid solder and have never had any trouble.
Flush with plain water first, it"s the only thing that will remove
the antifreeze.
 
I got it fixed...i hope!
This is an old radiator and one of the tubes had cracked length wise for 3/4" right beside the seam.I initially tried to solder it with the rad in place but that didn't work.

I took the rad out and flushed it with water. Then i cut the bad piece out of the tube,i shined the copper up and folded the ends over , applied the flux and soldered them shut. This time it worked.
It also helps when one can position the rad so gravity helps the solder to run into a seam instead of away from it.
 
One time I had a branch go into my skidsteer. Wanted it fixed asap. Mixed up some JB weld and packed it into the broken tubes as a hail mary fix. That was over ten years ago. But, I still prefer to solder radiators.
 
Your local welding supplier should have liquid solder flux. Mine
carries it, kid behind the counter has no clue what it is when you
ask, but there are bottles sitting on the shelf.
 
(quoted from post at 03:45:41 06/13/14) [b:6f86692afb]Your local welding supplier should have liquid solder flux[/b:6f86692afb]. Mine
carries it, kid behind the counter has no clue what it is when you
ask, but there are bottles sitting on the shelf.
I never thought of that!, but regardless, my local welding supplier or Rad shop is a 50 ml round trip i wasn't planning to make.
 

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