a/c line patch

[schvin]

so... i made a mistake and tapped a small hole (paper clip diameter) in my a/c line awhile back. obviously, with summer upon us, i'm trying to remedy.

jb weld didn't hold under pressure test.

any votes as to whether this product is bogus or not? it's the only thing i've found that sounds serious besides welding: http://durafix.com/. have had a hard time finding it at any actual stores. not to mention the dubiousness of their web site (old school key word crap at the bottom, beautiful web design, etc).

i'm also considering jb welding a small piece of aluminum over the hole, rather than across the hole, but i suspect that will not last forever.

open to ideas... thanks.

[Sabre]

How much is the replacement line? Honestly, it might be cheaper to go to a shop and have them weld it. At least you know it will hold then. There are a couple of places out here (in Springfield) that weld Al.

[schvin]

an excellent question and a good idea. i'll do more digging tomorrow... thanks for the dose of common sense!

[complacent]

Julian beat me to it. There are definitely a few shops that weld aluminium (say it with a brittish accent)

[schvin]

thanks again for the suggestions.

couldn't find a shop that was interested in welding aluminum that was that small...

oem replacement line from subaru ranged from $190-200.

got a used line on nasioc for $40. working well.

[Sabre]

[scheherazade]

(I know this is late, but...)

Go to JE rice, and pick up a tiny machine screw that has an outer diameter just about the inner diameter of the hole.

Dab the screw thread in super glue (or thick CA - cyanoacrylate - which you can get from any hobby store ).

Screw it into the hole. Voala! Hole sealed.


+

=
problem solved.


If it doesn't work, you can always unscrew it and try something else.
Or you can use epoxy instead of CA.
Either way, you can break the glue while removing the screw. So it's not permanent - or only as permanent as you want it to be.


The screw is what seals the hole, the glue is there to fill in any gaps that there might be. So it should hold pretty well.
The only worry I'd have is with thermal cycling causing the glue to crack.
Maybe you could use rubber-gasket-maker gel instead of CA or epoxy.

In any case, this is what I would try, personally.

I can't imagine this approach costing more than a couple dollars.

-scheherazade

[schvin]

that's a really interesting idea, thanks! i will definitely keep that in my back pocket for the future.