In any industry one of the most useful and robust ways of joining two pipes has been the Flare, it is serviceable and reliable, but doing it right has all ways been sort of an art requiring a thorough and well-developed technique!
This Guide is to help you form a rudimentary technique that you can build upon to form your own effective method of flaring.
What IS a Flare?
A Flare is when you widen the end of the pipe to form a 45-degree cup, this fits over a mirrored fitting (It is basically an inverted 45degree cup) made of brass that a Nut is then tightened over it, sealing the two pieces together. The better the fit, the better the seal (Well duh).
So what does one need to make a good flare? Well obviously you need a flaring tool! In refrigeration all flares are commonly of the 45-degree SAE type.
Needed Tools:
- Oil (I personally use POE oil, as it both cleans and lubricates at the same time)
- De-Burring tool (I use a centre punch and a metal file to help achieve a perfectly clean pipe head)
- Flaring Tool (Take a guess at that one!)
- An assortment of SAE Wrenches for the sizes of Nuts you'll be using
Refer to the photo.
Steps to a perfect flare
1- Cut your pipe to the desired length and make any needed bends.
2- slide on the flare Nut and push it back out of the way.
3- Use the metal file to file down the pipe head till it is clean and level.
4- Use the centre punch or other de-burring tool to make sure you have a clean flat inside diameter, and make sure the out side diameter is also free of nicks or irregularities.
5- Set the pipe into the locking part of the flaring tool leaving about 5mm or so above (I don't have a ruler to measure exactly). By this point it should be smooth on all parts of the head, and parallel to the tool block.
6- Apply a small even amount of oil on the pipe head and the flaring tools head, Lock the flaring unit to the locking base and centre the tool and tighten it (BUT don't start the flaring process) Make sure you are properly aligned with the pipe! Tighten more, check again to make sure you are centred!
7- Once you are sure you are completely aligned down the pipe and tools axis start the flaring by slowly tightening the tool to form the flare, once you can't turn any further torque it once then loosen off.
8- remove the locking unit from the pipe and check to see if it fits inside the Nut snugly, there should be less then a 1mm gap between the new flare and the bolt walls, if there is not, repeat steps 6 to 8 till it fits perfectly.
9- Now that you have the female part of your flare made set it aside and grab the oil! Care fully oil the male flare on the head and threads (Do this with the nut on the pipe as well) Now you can start bolting them together, first do it by hand and make sure every thing is well aligned and tightened, after hand tightening it and every thing is nicely aligned torque it hard as you can with two small crescent wrenches.
10- You're ready to test it now! Give it a good wiggle, the bolt flare assembly should move as one solid unit with no slip going on at the nut to pipe interface
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