[Shop-talk] Soldering a radiator

[Randall]

---- Pat Horne <pat at hornesystemstx.com> wrote: 

> Mist necks that I've seen installed have a flange formed from the tank to
> give some physical support for the neck, rather than just cutting a hold and
> soldering to the cut edge of the tank.

One way to add some physical support is to form some soft 1/8" copper tubing to lay in the joint, then solder it to both tank and neck.

Not the best photo, but you can almost see what my radiator shop did for me in this shot:
http://goo.gl/EGekFi

In the past, that joint has always cracked within a few years, but the reinforcement has been holding up fine since 2009.

I don't have a photo, but on that "old school" radiator, the inlet and outlet fittings actually go all the way through the tank and are soldered on the other side.  (Obviously there is a big hole in the side of the tube to allow for water flow.)

Randall