Heater inlet tube

[tdangle]

I'm replacing the old hoses on my heater and after cutting the hose off of the tube stubs coming out of the firewall, I see the top one is not very round. It looks my my dad may have been pretty rough on it years ago. Anyone have an idea how to make it fairly round again so I can get a good seal the the new hose?

[davepl]

It's a copper/brass unit, so the pipe is probably copper. Pliers to crush it back into shape while working the inside with something like a fat-bladed screwdriver to work the tube opening back into a circle is all I can suggest.

You might find the deburring tool from a tubing cutter to be useful in rounding out the opening again.

Some metals, like aluminum, "work harden". Bend them any they become brittle and will break next time instead of bending. Copper also suffers from this, so less is more when it comes to "working" it. You can anneal it back to softness with heat, but I have no idea what temperature is required for copper (like whether a torch would do it, I don't know).

[VetteVet]

Heat the copper tube with a small propane torch and gently drive a round punch into the end until the tube rounds out. If there's a dimple in one side then heat just that area and use a rod or bolt the size you need to make it circular.

[VetteVet]

After giving this some thought it occurred to me that the inlet tubes on these are soldered to the core, so too much heat might melt the solder and cause a leak. If the dent is out on the end of the tube you might be able to wrap a cold rag or an insulator on the pipe and prevent the heat from going back into the core. A small amount of heat for a short time should be safe.