Radiator Crack

World Plumber

WE used epoxy on truck radiators and it held for close to 20 years. Also used it to hold the wheels on the old front end loaders with the rear wheel steering. the epoxy seems to hold up. As far as the crack spreading that's something we can only speculate. It might not change for 40 years or it could split wide open tomorrow.

Big-Al_2

I finally discovered the source of a hiss I heard starting at the end of last year's heating season . . . a 1/2" long hairline crack in the crotch between two radiator tubes. It's on an end section, so I can't just remove it.

For now, I cleaned it up with coarse abrasive cloth and slathered a decent area with a 1/8" coating of J-B Weld. It's fixed for now, but I'm afraid the crack will eventually grow into a major failure . . . so the search for a used replacement radiator is on. (I'm jealous of you East Coast guys . . . not many used radiators in central Wisconsin.) Or . . . I may have to order a new one, which might take a few weeks.

If all else fails, I suppose I could make a little form to hold a block of J-B Weld, entomb the whole area, and just let the thing crack away. But that would just be too hack . . .

Opinions and guesses . . . how much time might I have to find a radiator before this thing leaks again? Would it help to tighten a hose clamp around the two adjacent tubes to try to hold the crack shut so it doesn't propagate as quickly?


Thanks in advance!

Al

Brad White_200

A thought

and little more than that, but if the radiator is on the top floor/top of the system, you could lower your pressure so that the crack is below the waterline, just barely.

Hey, in a pinch...

Al Hendrickson_3

Thanks, but I'm not sure what you mean. It's a single-pipe steam system and the radiator is on the first floor.

If anybody has experience with J-B Weld on a radiator, I'd like to hear about it.

So far my two sources for used radiators have not come through. I may wind up putting in an available old two-column radiator in its place, but that might require some re-piping involving asbestos removal, and I'm not too keen on spending the money right now. Maybe I'll just clean off a bigger area and go wild with more J-B Weld . . . One of the maintenance guys where I work put a "temporary" J-B Weld patch on the engine block of one of his farm tractors ten years ago, and it's still holding. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Brad White_200

Sorry

I mis-understood and thought it was a hot water system.

J-B Weld is highly recommended around here and I have used it twice on hot water (on the inside so pressure pushes outward). So far, a couple of years, it is holding. I do not know about J-B Weld with steam though, but if it holds up on engine blocks, that tells you something... Hey, a trial is worth it, especially if the leak seems minor.

As for getting lucky, I never thought of using J-B Weld as making one a Babe-Magnet, but if you get lucky using it, let the other guys know.

Al Hendrickson_4

Babe magnet? Hah! I think I became invisible to women about ten years ago . . . unless they need something fixed. Ain't it great gettin' older? (Oh well, at least my epoxy still gets hard.)

bob young

TRY Hercules pro-poxy. it will work.