Coper okay in coolant system?

[fields_mj]

I'm going to add a couple of heat exchangers to my fuel system so that I can run blended WVO in one of my tanks. I've seen several simple designes made from copper that would be pretty ease to make. I remember reading somewhere that our coolant is bad for alluminum, but I didn't know if it was also bad for copper. Does anyone know?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[argve]

nah you should be fine. The original heater cores were copper so I wouldn't worry about it and the upper and lower tanks on the radiators are copper.

 

[Worstenemy453]

The veggie oil system i have for sale has a copper heating set-up around the filter. So its safe.

 

[TWeatherford]

Copper is fine from a coolant standpoint, but reactive metal + vegetable oil + heat = lots of polymerization. Copper and mild steel are both very reactive with vegetable oil. I use stainless and aluminum to avoid this issue.

 

[Worstenemy453]

Copper is fine from a coolant standpoint, but reactive metal + vegetable oil + heat = lots of polymerization. Copper and mild steel are both very reactive with vegetable oil. I use stainless and aluminum to avoid this issue.

The Greasecar setup comes with copper stuff and then uses heater hose from the tanks and stuff. The only copper is the piece that wraps around the filter.

 

[fields_mj]

Yeah, I'm not really worried about polymerization. It would be different if I were building the fuel tank out of copper, but this is just a heat exchanger. Maybe 2 feet of tubing. Polymerization takes time to occure, and the bio/oil, or what ever isn't going to be in the HE long enough to be effected. I'll switch back to straight diesel before I shut her down so that I don't have the oil sitting there in the HE for a long time.

I thought about using aluminum, but I've heard that our coolant is ******* aluminum, so I figured copper was better.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Worstenemy453]

OP, you have a PM.

 

[gatorman21218]

Anything marked low silicate ,unless otherwise noted, is bad for aluminum.

 

[Compu Doc]

Anything marked low silicate ,unless otherwise noted, is bad for aluminum.

Does that mean the aluminum heater core that was just installed could take a **** and then ruin the trans computer again and having the tranny go bad?

What about the aluminum aftermarket radiators for our trucks?. I don't have one but know someone that does.

 

[gatorman21218]

Hmmm I just searched and couldnt find any good solid info on silicates. I think your best bet is to find a heavy duty coolant with SCA protection that specifically says it protects aluminum. I run FleetCharge, however the only aluminum I have in my truck are pistons and empty coke cans.