PA120.3 repairs

[gojirasan]

My new PA120.3 had a little "accident". One of the flat tubes is smashed in about 1/8" and has crinkles on the edges of where the tube is punched in. Is there a way to repair pinhole leaks in these tubes? By sealing it somehow? Or brazing it maybe? Would the heat from brazing mess up anything else?

[voigts]

JBweld is going to be your friend here. It is incredible stuff and will seal something like that in a heartbeat.

[[XC] NetburstXE]

My new PA120.3 had a little "accident". One of the flat tubes is smashed in about 1/8" and has crinkles on the edges of where the tube is punched in. Is there a way to repair pinhole leaks in these tubes? By sealing it somehow? Or brazing it maybe? Would the heat from brazing mess up anything else?

How did it get damaged? JB Weld would be the perfect thing to fix it, as voigts said.

[Martinm210]

Yes,
I did that on my MCR320 with a fan bolt. If you can get at it with a soldering iron pencil, you can permanently fix it. Just pick up a small cylinder of flux and first use the pence iron tip to rub the hole with flux really well until a little solder wants to bond all the way around the hole, then just add a dab of solder and it'll form a perfect bead to cover the hole.

Mine has been running fine for several months now, solder is a good permanent fix. The only problem with my repair was that I had to peel back the sheetmetl covering the corner to access the hole, then bend it back in place.

[Linus@ncix]

I was able to use JB Weld on my radiator while it was full of water. It's like a miracle cure-all.

[gojirasan]

How did it get damaged?
I dropped it. I don't know what the fins landed on though to cause the dent.

@Martinm210: You mean the kind of acid flux that plumbers use for soldering copper joints with a torch? I thought the problem with using solder on brass is that it doesn't bond to it? I've seen DIY brazing kits (with rods and mapp/oxy gas) at home depot, but they were kind of pricy iirc. Are you saying that the flux will allow the solder to bond? Could I use a torch instead of a soldering iron? I do have torches and soldering irons from 15 to 40 watts and as well as the "gun" type if I need more heat. A soldering iron tip will fit in there I think. Is there a danger of overheating the radiator, as in melting anything I don't want melted? Would silver solder be best for bonding to the brass?

Thanks for all the replies. I'm really grateful for the help. It was heartbreaking to see my shiny new radiator with a hole punched in its brand new fins. The damage is about the size of a nickel. Luckily it only affected one tube. I wonder if I should post a pic just to make everyone cringe. I will definitely consider the JB Weld or Martin's soldering technique. The JB Weld is basically metal filled epoxy, no?

Edit: After googling I see that brass can be soldered. An old wives tale then? Time to break out my trusty old propane torch, some flux, and some silver solder.

[teko]

I guess your not living anywhere near UK? Cause last time I checked, TC was still reapiring old TC rads, fairly cheap, but of cause not as cheap as doing it yourself :p

[gojirasan]

I'm in the US. So the shipping would probably be prohibitive.

[voigts]

Let's not mistake something here. JBweld IS a permanent fix. Once you clean the area and put it on, it will be there forever. JBweld is used to repair engine blocks, radiators, you name it under very high stress and temp conditions. The problem with soldering is that if you have an uneven surface, it can be hard to get it to stick. Also, you can easily unsolder other things nearby if you aren't careful.

[Waterlogged]

I dropped it. I don't know what the fins landed on though to cause the dent.

@Martinm210: You mean the kind of acid flux that plumbers use for soldering copper joints with a torch? I thought the problem with using solder on brass is that it doesn't bond to it? I've seen DIY brazing kits (with rods and mapp/oxy gas) at home depot, but they were kind of pricy iirc. Are you saying that the flux will allow the solder to bond? Could I use a torch instead of a soldering iron? I do have torches and soldering irons from 15 to 40 watts and as well as the "gun" type if I need more heat. A soldering iron tip will fit in there I think. Is there a danger of overheating the radiator, as in melting anything I don't want melted? Would silver solder be best for bonding to the brass?

Thanks for all the replies. I'm really grateful for the help. It was heartbreaking to see my shiny new radiator with a hole punched in its brand new fins. The damage is about the size of a nickel. Luckily it only affected one tube. I wonder if I should post a pic just to make everyone cringe. I will definitely consider the JB Weld or Martin's soldering technique. The JB Weld is basically metal filled epoxy, no?

Edit: After googling I see that brass can be soldered. An old wives tale then? Time to break out my trusty old propane torch, some flux, and some silver solder.

With a hole that size, I'd find a local rad repair shop and have them do the work, they can also pressure test it when they're done repairing it to make sure it's a good repair.