Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)
What's the deal with copper vs aluminum evaps?
pippo on 
Thu September 04, 2014 6:37 PM 
People,
Wondering why some evaps were copper and some aluminum. Was copper mostly old style/old alloy from the 70's and 80's? Or were copper more on after market? Seems like today, impossible to find copper, not that Im necessarily doing that- just seem like that whenever I run across choices for new evaps.
Comments appreciated.
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beware of the arrival
HECAT on Fri September 05, 2014 12:56 PM
Copper and brass is still the common material used in the construction of tube and fin style components used in many non-automotive applications. In general, Automotive moved away from tube and fin evaps first (approx. late 60's) and condensers (approx. early 90's) in favor of the aluminum components; probably for the cost, weight, efficiency, and many other factors.
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pippo on Fri September 05, 2014 6:19 PM
thnaks, hecat. Funny thing, you say they moved away from copper/fins in late 60's, but a sizeable shop franchise here put mine in in 1988. Anyway, not complaining much as it STILL works- no pin holes.
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beware of the arrival
HECAT on Sat September 06, 2014 8:32 AM
Those dates were from my memory and observations and may not be exactly true for all OE manufacturers. OE use of Copper/brass Trans oil coolers inside of radiators went away in the 70's, but we still see some today showing up in the "cheap" aftermarket radiators. All you have to do is think about where we send (unload) all that obsoleted automotive OE tooling.
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Cussboy on Sun September 07, 2014 7:34 PM
My replacement evaporator for my 1988 Mazda truck was brass/copper and purchased from board sponsor AMA in 2002, to replace the double-cost special order stock aluminum evaporator which developed a hole in its center after 14 years. This has held-up well, and cools well (R-12) in Phoenix weather.
AMA also had it in stock, would've been two trips to the Mazda dealer too.
pippo on Thu September 11, 2014 7:32 PM
Right, cussboy. Although, hecat offers some good history/perspective. Still, I wouldnt call brass/copper necessarily "cheap", as the really cheap alum evaps of the early 2000's on factory chryslers roted out within just 5 years! tell me about cheap, and thats not mentioning other Mfgs. . Like I said, my aftermarket is not ideal, but that copper evap has never leaked- in 26 years. Reminds me of the rabbit vs turtle metaphor......
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beware of the arrival
HECAT on Thu September 11, 2014 8:53 PM
I did not say brass/copper was bad or cheap. I said that most (general statement, means not all) automotive OE's abandoned the manufacturing this way for the aluminum components, which yield slightly better thermal transfer for a potentially lower price. Much of the abandoned OE tooling ends up in third world countries where the manufacturing of the old technology continues on the cheap (price not necessarily quality). I see quality brass/copper components manufactured and used heavily today, but mostly in other applications than automotive. We provide new product cleaning equipment for a number of aviation chiller manufacturers that still use brass/copper heat exchangers today.
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HECAT: www.hecatinc.com You support the Forum when you consider www.ackits.com for your a/c parts.
FLUSHING TECHNICAL PAPER vs2.pdfÃÂ
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