Cooling system plumbing

[Rick Brown]

In my 4905 there is a space just forward of the radiator in which a Jeep Cherokee radiator will fit nicely.  That auxillary radiator with electric fans shoulld handle the additional cooling load of the turbo rebuild that is now work in process.  I want to plumb that Jeep radiator in parallel with the existing radiator, but don't have a good plan for tapping the existing  coolant lines.  How would you make a coolant line 2.5 - 1.5 - 2.5 T?

Thanks for your comments.
-Rick Brown in Reno, NV

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Rick,

What comes to mind is Copper reducers which we use when we build boiler systems. They come in all sizes!

I'm sure you can figure out what you need by bringing your hose sizes to a plumbing supply house!

Hope this helps-

Nick-

[edvanland]

On my old Kings Hwy motor home I did sort of the same thing and just used galvanized fittings to get to the size I needed.  My brother now has the MH and it still works fine, 5 years later.

[NEO/Russ]

I needed several radiator connections to go from one size to another, but are too close to add any additional metal reducers and I didn't want to cut and reinstall all new metal ends.  Plus all my existing parts are mainly copper and brazed and didn't want to disturb them.  My solution was do a search for silicone reducers and I found a company called "Styling" something that had all I needed.  I don't know if they would go from 2 1/2" to 1 1/2", but they would from 2 1/2" to 2" and then 2" to 1 1/2" with a short 2" between.  I went from 2 3/4" to 2 1/2" using these silicone hoses and they should last forever.

Mine was because of metric adapting to imperial.  75 mm is about 2 3/4" and the radiators were all 2 1/2"  That's what happens when a German bus gets powered in the U.S. in the 80's by their own factory and they used rubber hose that they either stretched or tightened the fire out of the hose clamps.

[NEO/Russ]

Try this if the hoses interest you.  I checked and they don't do 1 1/2" to 2 1/2". but do go to the 2" size.  Good luck.

http://www.stylinmotors.com/reducers.html

[rv_safetyman]

Rick, when I did my Series 60 conversion I had to make a lot of tubing parts (air and water).  I used exhaust tubing.  Often the enlarged ends of the tubing will let you mate two different sizes of hoses.

One thing to consider, if you use any form of metal tubing, you should put a bead on the tubing to assure that the hose will not come off. You can see some of my plumbing construction (including the forming of the beads) on my bus pages at:

http://www.rvsafetysystems.com/busproject5.htm

[Rick Brown]

I am ever amazed at the ingenuity shown on this board.  Thanks for the input
-Rick