is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

[auldyin1998]

Thinking about fitting copper pipe for fuel pipe on my mk2s plus on my diesel daily runabout whats the pros and cons to it.
Thanks

[tiff_lee]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

Plenty of people use the microbore copper pipe, some will recommend it while others will not. It's probably far cheaper to get a 30m bundle of nylon pipe and do both cars with that.

[richie00boy]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

It could be a problem in the near future with the increased levels of bio ethanol being put into petrol.

[DarrenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

yeah petrol is chemically corrosive to pure copper.

pure copper will work harden and stress fracture if its vibrated allot, this is why brake hoses were alloyed in more recent years with nickel and iron

i know many people have used it, but i wouldnt use it on purpose if there are alternatives

[aussie astraGTE]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

i have had copper fuel lines on my 16v for 14 years & no cracks or leaks yet

[BlackBox]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

same here ... bit longer in fact ...

This keeps coming up ....

[easytrans]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

Indeed this does come up again and again ..... I think historic evidence is little use as the re-use of Ethanol is fairly recent and due to get worse in 2013 ....

I think the general conclusion is that there is a risk though minimal short term and if you read the following you will see copper pipe is only one part that could be effected by the modern E5 E10 fuels ..... there are much bigger fish frying

http://www.groups.tr-register.co.uk/wessex/ethanol-update.html

I personally think like others have said while there are better options like nylon fuel line available why would you choose domestic copper (other than the ease of shaping and securing)?

Laurie.

[BenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

I used copper nickle fuel pipe, as for copper and ethanol.. What are whiskey still's made from??

Steel will also work harden and crack, they last fine from new till the rust eats them. If it was that much of a problem you'd not have copper nickle brake lines imho.

If you do go for it use some compression ferrules and solder them on as a bulge for the pipes to grip to, this is the down side with nylon no bulge. Idealy nylon would want a insert then compression fitting (not a push type) then a barbed tail onto that. Starts to add up if you go down that route.

Old low pressure diesel injector (think volvo hgv) pipes are copper as well, and copper rads dont stress fracture all the while either..

[DarrenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

What are whiskey still's made from??

stainless steel these days, to stop them erroding

joking asside, i can only google as much as you regards modern stills. but when i did, i found out that whiskey production errodes copper because of the corrosive element (sulfur) in ethanol, the same element in petrol which is of danger to us. infact in modern stills they line them with copper on purpose as a catalyst to remove sulfur

[BenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

Lol all the best ones are still copper, I have a father inlaw that is very into single malt. He often has invitations to see the distillers and go for a tour round the site, indeed yes they use pure copper for a reason but copper nickle has a higher resistance to sulphur. Also most petrol tends to be low sulphur for emissions, a bit off topic was it bmw or porsche that had the early unleaded high sulphur problems eating the Nicksill plating of the bores?

[BlackBox]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

Honda NR750? the one with oval pistons and eight valves ... that had probs too I seem to remember?

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://blog.motorcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/1987_NR750_pistons.jpg&imgrefurl=http://objetpart.blogspot.com/2010/02/part-of-day-honda-nr750-oval-piston.html&h=393&w=687&sz=51&tbnid=NdhqHhcaXscXGM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=124&zoom=1&usg=__nue_By8oNEb7kTO5JlRqMrfKRZU=&docid=2ZHtzUM3O1lNMM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=kV8hUN-LMdPY0QX44oDgBw&ved=0CFEQ9QEwAw&dur=10096

Mind you the bores didn't last long anyway ...

[BenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

That looks mad! Must get one..

[DarrenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

lol at mono piston, thats immense

[aussie astraGTE]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

At the tank it is rubber fuel line connecting the copper ,steel ,nylon fuel line ,so why not just run goodyear ortac hose or a similar rubber silicone fuel hose all the way ,used on pretty much all race cars over here & the one hose can be used for everything fuel,oil,water,chemical
being used on my oil cooler here
as for the ethanol fuels ,we have had it for about 3 years now but it is a choice we have 91 RON 95,95e10 & 98 ,100 premium & only the 95 e10 has the ethanol & its cheaper

[DarrenH]

Re: is copper pipe safe to use with petrol (unleaded) and diesel

i noticed goodridge 200 and 210 series steel braided nitrile hose, it says not suitable for use inside cockpit. tbh it sounds VERY suitable, i wonder why? still porous and lets fumes into cab ?