VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum banner

Re-using copper nickel brake lines

624 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  R0ger007 
#1 ·
I cannot find a definitive technical answer to the following.

Once a copper nickel bubble flare has been compressed by the union fitting onto coupler or flexi pipe and tightened is it permissible to undo the union and retighten later. Eg when swapping a rubber hose for braided. Or should a copper nickel bubble flare only be compessed once like any copper washer.

Any technical/material reasoning would be very helpful.
 
#3 ·
I'm with Rich on this one.
It's a "flare", not a flat washer, so additional tightening to "new" surface should allow it to "reform" enough.
Wouldn't do it too many times though....then it would be better to cut the flare/bell off and make another (assuming enough pipe to do it.)
 
#4 ·
Copper, once crushed, will work harden making subsequent re-tightenings harder to seal fully. If you don't have any spares you can heat the washer to cherry red and let it cool to soften it up - worked for me in the past. I have no idea how nickel copper will perform though however a quick google suggest it doesn't work harden as easily as copper anyway so you'll probably be fine.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top