Off topic--anybody use Devcon products

S

swedishsteel

Senior Member
I know usage of Devcon products have been discussed in the past, so here goes. I have a radiator that has leakage where a tube enters the tank--repair shop says new recore $$$$$$$. It is brass. I'm wondering if anyone has tried using Devcon plastic steel for something like this. The area is somewhat accessible with small brushes so can get it reasonably clean. Thanks for any input.
 
I’ve soldered a few copper radiators in my day but have not worked with brass, is this a pressurized radiator?. Not sure how the Devcon would stand up to that, otherwise go for it.
 
I have not "personally" used any Devcon products for anything BUT for about a year or more I sold them at an Industrial Supply company I worked for. One of my customers was Tropicana and they bought the SS Devcon and used it to repair the pump shafts on the Orange Juice pumps. They could get about 2 extra machinings of the shafts and filling divots in the shafts from the citric acid and wear from constant running of the pumps. Needs a "very" clean surface. Everyone I sold it to said it's a very good product!!!
 
i used it to repair a rusted out bottom on my vintage air compressor 80 gal. tank. tank holds 175 psi. so i dont think you will have any problem. beware it does have a shelf life and will harden up in can after a few years.
 
I'm a big fan of Belzona epoxy and their 1111 & 1212 products. These two epoxies are able to be applied to surfaces that are not surgically clean. Worth a look.
 
I had what sounds like a similar situation, also with a brass tank. I got it as clean as I could and got solder to adhere in some places to lend some structural integrity. Then overlaid the damaged area with JB Weld. The result looked good and worked well. I always felt that Devcon products were more for "household" applications.
 
I've used Devcon plastic steel and their clear epoxy kits. It works well enough for what I needed at the time but use of epoxy comes with all sorts of application problems. Some epoxy resins are made to take a lot of heat but a person has to know how much it can take. Expansion due to heat cycles can be problematic. Adding a liquid like anti-freeze and water can also affect the long term stability of an epoxy resin bond. I'd say that any epoxy repair would be a temporary fix. How long it would last, I don't know. JB Weld may be as good as anything but Devcon has a lot of products to choose from in their line. JB Weld only has a few selections such as fast cure and regular cure. I don't know how much heat it can take either. In any case the surface will have to be clean and dry to get a good bond.

Most radiator tanks have a tray that is soldered to the top and bottom of the core to mount the tanks. It's best soldered on the inside of the tank which means pulling the tank to do it right. If the tubes are corroded and frail then a resolder may not last. It's always crap shoot with old copper & brass. The stuff lasts a long time but not forever.

San Antonio used to have a good radiator shop but the last time I looked it was gone. I found a shop that said it could help me and they did but it's gone now too. A person would think there would be at least one in a city this large but most of them are just peddling new plastic and aluminum radiators made off shore. They don't repair those. The days of copper and brass radiators is long gone now. Only a few remain in this niche market and they are few and far between.
 
Last edited:
I have used Devcon plastic steel on several heavy steel and cast items but not on brass. If you can get at the leak I suggest try and solder the leak after a lot of cleaning especially between the joints. Devcon has a good line of different adhesives.
 
Thanks for all the input. The radiator shop(s) have told me that to solder it will create enough heat to loosen the solder on the surrounding tubes, thus take the tanks off and gradually solder them to a new core. One estimate I got was $2100. It is out of a late 80's excavator so new not readily available. It is fairly easy to remove and install so I don't have much to loose trying something epoxy style. My first thought was JB Weld, but the tube that is leaking is in the second row of a five row core, and JB Weld is thick enough I don't think I can "flood" the area well enough, thus my look at the Devcon plastic steele. Going to have one more shop look at it. Will post results if I try to epoxy it. Thanks everyone.
 
I used jb weld on a thermostat housing outlet on a flathead; it was severely rusted and would not take brazing, I believe just too dirty. I ground to bare metal (for the brazing and the epoxy) and applied JB. Two years later I changed thermostats and the Jb was still mostly intact but it lost its bond to the cast iron. It never leaked as I assume the hose clamp was holding things together. I do not know the actual reason the bond failed.
 
we put a hole in the center of our '65 ford radiator. didn't have time to repair so mixed up some body filler, jammed it into and around the hole and it lasted for years!
 
what I've done many times to fix a leak where the tube enters the tank. drain the rad, find the leaking tube, carefully cut the fins from the tube for 1/2" or so from each side. the fins are thin so I use shears. then cut the leaking tube off close to the tank, heat remainder of the tube in the tank, with a small torch while pulling the tube out with needle nose pliers, from the slot. low flame and quick as to not heat up adjacent tubes. clean the empty slot in the tank down to clean surface. cut a short piece of solid copper wire that will lay in the empty slot. apply ample flux and solder the wire in place to fill the hole. brass rads only. have done this many times to keep our car on the road. don't use new type solder as it takes too much heat. find some 50/50 and low flame and quick. worked every time. Of course you have to do both ends of the tube, top and bottom. also just leave the remainder of the cut tube in place in the core.
 
Solder comes in many different melting points.
I soldered an Indian M/C tank years ago that had the oil tank inside the gas tank. I used a high temp solder on the oil tank and a lower temp solder on the gas tank. That’s the way the factory did it. Mcmaster Carr has a good selection of different solders.
You might try a low temperature solder and hopefully it doesn’t effect the surrounding area.
Liquid flux in spray bottle is needed to keep the temperature down and area clean.
 
Devcon make good quality products that work but at the same time they are not the magic wand that instantly cures all they have their place but will never replace a new quality well engineered part
 
Milspec Devcon is in thousands of orbiting space objects. That doesn’t mean it will perform well as a radiator repair.
 
Made solder repairs myself as fordor41 describes.

I found it useful to check for leaks by submersing the radiator under water. I bought a ridiculously cheap child's inflatable paddling pool expressly for this purpose.

The radiator in my 32 has numerous solder repairs and quite a few tubes disabled as described.
 
Devcon is good stuff -I have used their flexible castable rubber to make a mat for my hupmobile . The late Harold Sharon the guru of veteran car repairs swore by it . He tells the story in his book of rebuilding the hub of a Model T wheel with it and the wheel was still in use 20 years later -Like all epoxies cleanliness and correct mixing and application is crucial to good results-I suspect the heat cool cycles of a radiator may be an issue with epoxy however
 
Last edited:
swedishsteel said:
Thanks for all the input. The radiator shop(s) have told me that to solder it will create enough heat to loosen the solder on the surrounding tubes, thus take the tanks off and gradually solder them to a new core. One estimate I got was $2100. It is out of a late 80's excavator so new not readily available. It is fairly easy to remove and install so I don't have much to loose trying something epoxy style. My first thought was JB Weld, but the tube that is leaking is in the second row of a five row core, and JB Weld is thick enough I don't think I can "flood" the area well enough, thus my look at the Devcon plastic steele. Going to have one more shop look at it. Will post results if I try to epoxy it. Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

I have used JB-Weld in tight areas by means of a 5 or 10 ml syringe fitted with a short piece of standard bore IV tubing. The syringe will generate sufficient pressure to move the epoxy where it is needed and the tubing end can be further used to smooth it down or shape it before it hardens. Skol!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top