#worksheet

Tech Tips:

I teamed up with Ty Branaman to design an intuitive way for techs to solve some of the “what should it be?” questions in the HVAC field. The topic for this sheet is subcooling. Subcooling is a measurement of the temperature DECREASE of a liquid below its saturation (mixed liquid/vapor) temperature at a given pressure. […]

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Real training for HVAC ( Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration) Technicians. Including recorded tech training, interviews, diagnostics and general conversations about the trade.

In this short podcast episode, Bryan answers a listener-submitted question about double flares and their application in the HVAC/R industry.

Flare connections are common in certain types of equipment, and they connect the copper to the appliance. As a result, when we make a flare, our goal is to make it leak-free. A regular flare requires you to cut the copper, clean it, put the flare nut on, and make the flare with a flaring block (or a flaring tool). You can also put a little bit of oil on the flare cone to prevent galling. Modern power flaring tools are common nowadays, especially in markets where we install a lot of mini-splits. We also use torque wrenches to tighten the flare connection according to the manufacturer’s specs.

In mission-critical applications where we have toxic or flammable refrigerants under high pressure, we especially want leak-free connections. Double flares make more sense in these scenarios for extra security (though we may use different connection types). A double flare requires you to use a double-flare die that flares over the edge, though those double-flare dies are more common in older flaring kits and may not exist for power tools or spin tools.

Double flares are usually less practical than other alternatives that exist on the market. For example, some manufacturers make flare gaskets to reduce the likelihood of leaks, and these are functionally similar to a double flare.

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