Mother of all elbows...:)

[Martinm210]

With my mill being down, I decided to finally put my lathe to doing a little work.



You may recall the old pressure drop testing I did way back and found the copper elbow being about 1/9th as restrictive as a standard nylon elbow.

Only problem was the worry that the tubing might slip off. Well I fixed that with 7 sharp barbs...



I'm going to make a few while I wait for my mill repair parts...

Updated Pics:

Elbows and Tees:


Note that these are OVERSIZED, actually more like a 5/8" fitting made from 1/2" copper materials.


This oversized barb requires prestreatching with plyers or other means:


Example of 7/16"ID x 5/8" OD Masterkleer on the 5/8" fittings:

[Darth_Penguin]

looks very nice... out of curiosity, how do you use a lathe on the elbows?

[Cupcake]

yes I would like to know too ?

They look great though


Wait now that im looking closer did you use the lathe on the straight copper bit then put it onto the elbow ?

[Fujimitsu]

looks very nice... out of curiosity, how do you use a lathe on the elbows?

Sorry to threadjack but best avatar ever?

Looks nice martin, much cleaner looking than the other alternatives.

[nikhsub1]

Umm, i would buy a few of those off you

[Martinm210]

Thanks!

I machine the barb ends first, then I solder the ends in. Rather than making a big mess with solder, I pretin the inside of the elbow all the way around, then I can just slip the barbed end in there.

Works pretty well, just takes a little time.

I'll make a small batch so I can save some setup time and then see if anyone wants some.

[Darth_Penguin]

Sorry to threadjack but best avatar ever?

[weescott]

They look fantastic. Another plus being that Silver solder can act as a biocide.

Any risk of galvanic corrosion with Tin/Solder or is that just Aluminium?

[Martinm210]

They look fantastic. Another plus being that Silver solder can act as a biocide.

Any risk of galvanic corrosion with Tin/Solder or is that just Aluminium?

I've ran my Y fitting for a while now without any issues.

I think most radiators have some form of tin or silver solder..

[Martinm210]

FYI
I found this chart regarding galvanic corrosion, looks like just about every metal has some differences.

http://www.engineersedge.com/galvanic_capatability.htm

You could technically get galvanic corrosion between copper and a brass, but the difference is so small.

The difference between copper and aluminum though is about .60 so they are very dissimilar metals.

Copper vs Tin/Lead or Chrome (note almost all barbs are chrome plated) is about .3.

So, I would conclude if you havn't seen galvanic corrosion between copper and your chrome plated barbs, you won't see it with tin/lead. That's probably why it hasn't been an issue with radiators/heater cores that use different soldering methods.

[bill_d]

they make a longer ridius copper elbows that i use on a/c work for freon that may be even better it's about 2x as long

[rogueagent6]

I wouldn't mind buying a few either.

[Ad1tya]

Nice!

Id want to buy a few from you ...

If you make some, keep 4 reserved for me .

[Xilikon]

I guess you used a copper 1/2" pipe, carved the channels on 1/2", cut it long enough to fit the elbow (with about 3/8" - 1/2" flat) then redo for each barb till you run out of pipe ?

[EnJoY]

I would buy a few as well sir.

[Martinm210]

I guess you used a copper 1/2" pipe, carved the channels on 1/2", cut it long enough to fit the elbow (with about 3/8" - 1/2" flat) then redo for each barb till you run out of pipe ?

Yep,

I have a 10' section of copper, so I can make quite a few.

Might as well make a few T fittings while I'm at it..

Thanks guys, I'm adding up the numbers, I'll try to make a bunch.

I also have some brass bar coming, so for those that insist on a smaller barb, I'll probably make a few of those, but that brass bar is expensive and won't flow nearly as well.

[serial099]

I would definetly like to buy some of them as well, they look pretty good and function better than other things out there today it appears. Martinm210, do you have any pics of you rig posted anywhere on the forums here? I have the same case and by your thumbnail it's looks pretty cool.

[LinusTech]

I'll take 50.

But seriously I'll take however many you want to make for me. At least 4-6 for me personally, and I could easily resell these. I'm a big admirer of your work.

[rogueagent6]

4-6 for me as well please, I won't sell them though.

[SiGfever]

they make a longer ridius copper elbows that i use on a/c work for freon that may be even better it's about 2x as long

My thoughts exactly.

"Long Radius" elbows (90's) are much less restrictive.

[Locke]

well it appears our friend has a new business, let us know the cost and im sure you'll have plenty of customers

[Martinm210]

Thanks guys.

As far as pressure drop goes, they are extremely free flowing.

If I figured this out correctly, one elbow is only as restrictive as about 6" of 7/16" ID tubing.

If you want less restriction, you may as well just use tubing with smartcoils.

I just bought another 20 elbows and I may not have enough...

I better get in that garage and start turning the barbs...

I also need to take some newer pics of my system, I just never feel like it's finished so I wait...

[Volkum]

Wow, that's impressively better than the nylon elbows. I'd definitely use 2-4 if they're that low of a hit.

[Pete]

This what i love about XS is the amount of custom fab done but that is also offered to us poor non skilled soles. I've recent gotten a varying aray of custom kit thats amazing stuff and wish i could only have but the skill to make it.

Will these bits and bobs you are making advertized in the FS section?

Get my name down for some of that

[MrToad]

Can I have a couple of those elbows with Dogbert engraved on them? ^^