Copper Nickel Hydraulic Brake Lines

[qmdv]

Are these easier to bend and are they good enough. I have always used steel in the past.

Tim

[hotcoupe]

cunifer brake line is easy to bend, higher burst pressures than steel lines, and they will not rust. in my area [st. louis] they are available at Advance auto parts. the only possible drawback is the price.
tom

[Talkwrench]

I think there maybe varying degrees of how soft they are with different manufacturers. I just flared some for a mate an the stuff we ordered was really soft , bend it with your fingers easy, even had to be careful flaring..

[qmdv]

Originally Posted by hotcoupe

cunifer brake line is easy to bend, higher burst pressures than steel lines, and they will not rust. in my area [st. louis] they are available at Advance auto parts. the only possible drawback is the price.
tom

I think that is copper nickel

tim

[CSArno]

Just used copper nickel to put hydraulic brakes on a 35. the stuff I used is almost as soft as copper tubing. you can bend it easily with your hands if you're not bending too tight. Makes nice neat bends with the plier type bending tool. I like the copper-ish color of it also. Practice some double flares on it first and you'll be fine.
Got mine at Napa. Came in 25 or 50ft coil.

Chris

[tdlmomowers]

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Get a roll of EZ Bend at Napa.

[rockfla]

Copper Nickel commonly known as Monel.

[rick r]

Copper nickel is a great product. My son owns a Car-Quest parts store, all his repair shop customers have switched to it.

[qmdv]

Originally Posted by rockfla

Copper Nickel commonly known as Monel.

Galvanic corrosion: Metals, such as aluminum, zinc and iron
will corrode when in contact with Monel AND exposed to severe
weather conditions. Therefore, use of these metals as
fasteners for Monel should be avoided.

Where the flare mates up to the brake cylinder is exposed to severe weather conditions.

I think there are various alloys of copper nickel and the monel made around WWI may be different than what has been mixed up for brake lines.

tim

[COE Dan]

Originally Posted by qmdv

Galvanic corrosion: Metals, such as aluminum, zinc and iron
will corrode when in contact with Monel AND exposed to severe
weather conditions. Therefore, use of these metals as
fasteners for Monel should be avoided.

Where the flare mates up to the brake cylinder is exposed to severe weather conditions.

I think there are various alloys of copper nickel and the monel made around WWI may be different than what has been mixed up for brake lines.

tim

Copper-nickel brake lines are mostly copper (about 90%) with about 10% nickel and some trace iron, manganese, etc. Here's a link to some data on the alloys:

http://www.copper.org/applications/a...ube/brake.html

Monel is a trade name for a series of high nickel alloys with a minimum of 63% nickel and 20-30% copper. Monel was a popular predecessor to stainless steel prior to WWII but the war requirement for nickel contributed to its decline. It’s 5-10 times more expensive than copper. Monel has a very high corrosion resistance.

However, it work hardens which means it would get brittle where you bend it and flare it. Further vibrations may continue the work hardening and eventually cause fatigue cracking. Also, the high nickel content can cause galvanic corrosion in other metals like aluminum, zinc and iron as Tim mentions. Thus, I don't think brake lines have ever been made from Monel.

Dan

[rockfla]

There are two basic forms of Monel (Nickel Copper) NiCu400 and NiCu K500. The NiCu400 is most common and has a "little" more carbon in it than K500. K500 is a little strong with the addition of a "little" titanium, as well as a "little" aluminum as well in K500. Galvanic corrosion occurs when the two DIS-Similar metals are further apart on the galvanic scale so which ever metal/alloy is the higher material on the galvanic scale, that's the sacrificial link/weak spot of the equation. And the further the two, the higher the electrical flow thus faster galvanic reaction.

[qmdv]

Originally Posted by rockfla

There are two basic forms of Monel (Nickel Copper) NiCu400 and NiCu K500. The NiCu400 is most common and has a "little" more carbon in it than K500. K500 is a little strong with the addition of a "little" titanium, as well as a "little" aluminum as well in K500. Galvanic corrosion occurs when the two DIS-Similar metals are further apart on the galvanic scale so which ever metal/alloy is the higher material on the galvanic scale, that's the sacrificial link/weak spot of the equation. And the further the two, the higher the electrical flow thus faster galvanic reaction.

The main sea water valves on my submarine was as I remember 32". It was a ball valve hydraulically operated and it had a monel ball. Do not know the alloy but we relied on it to work properly. Outer doors on the torpedo tubes were not doors but ball valves. A 21 inch diameter torpedo had to get through it. Very old memories. Good times.

Tim

[COE Dan]

Originally Posted by qmdv

The main sea water valves on my submarine was as I remember 32". It was a ball valve hydraulically operated and it had a monel ball. Do not know the alloy but we relied on it to work properly. Outer doors on the torpedo tubes were not doors but ball valves. A 21 inch diameter torpedo had to get through it. Very old memories. Good times.

Tim

Very old memories as in S-class boat? Or am I going too far back?

Monel seems to be used in many applications where seawater exposure was likely or intentional. There is also a group of people who are working on building a clock to designed to operate for 10,000 years and plan to build it out of Monel - pretty fascinating alloy.

[fordy_nine]

Copper and Nickel are completely soluble in all ratios. Monel is a specific range of Nickel-rich alloys. As COE Dan said in his post, the brake line material is mostly copper - it is not Monel..........Bob L

[rockfla]

The Navy used monel because of the very low carbon content which was virtually NON magnetic so it was a good alloy to use for underwater mines, and very corrosive environments. We use to sell monel and Silcone Bronze to the Navy for use on wood mine sweepers years ago.

[scooder]

Kunifer brake pipe is the best stuff for brake lines. Never seen or heard of it failing, seen it plenty of times with steel lines, rust kills them. Easier to flare, bend and shape, higher burst pressure.
What's not to like?
This stuff is standard use over here (England) we use it to replace rusty steel pipes, and have done for years.
Martin.

[Charlie Stephens]

I would ask the tech rep for the manufacture if the lines are rated for brakes. If they are not and one failed you would not only have an potential accident on your hands but a potential lawsuit.

Charlie Stephens

[V8COOPMAN]

The "Kunifer" referred-to is actually Cunifer. It's a trade name.......interesting stuff, made for brake line use. Their informative and detail-packed web site below. DD

http://www.cunifer.com/

[scooder]

Your correct double d, I'm dyslexic (had to use spell check for that, why is that so hard to spell!?) I normally let spell check do its thang, trade names are a problem though.
Charlie, it is rated for brakes, higher burst rating than steel I believe.
Martin.