Bad heat treating on tubing?

alfadog

alfadog

Final Approach
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alfadog
Yesterday, I had to fabricate a fuel vent line for the Beech 18 and the boss handed me a piece of 3/8 tubing that that he had bought from Spruce for another project. He warned me that it was not flaring properly in that I would need to heat it up while I was flaring it to prevent cracking. I I figured I would give it a try first and sure enough it cracked. The flare on the right in the picture was the one he did and the one on the left was the one I did without heating it. It's 2024-T3 which should flare properly, correct? Spruce does have a couple softer annealed 5052-O and 6061-O but I think this one should have worked? Any ideas?

IMG_20181012_084323919.jpg
 
I've never heard of anyone trying to flare 2024 tubing for use in anything related to fuel, oil or hydraulic systems. Run!

Push/pull control rods and things like that sure.
 
I had a boss like that while working on a P-38 in Middlesboro, he didn't have a clue about maintenance
 
Yup. Wrong tubing altogether. That tubing is only doing what one would expect. 2024-T3 can't be stretched much at all without cracking. 5052-O is what fuel and vent and brake lines are made of.
 
2024 is way too hard to flare, I would expect it to crack just as it did. Even if it didn't crack while flaring it, I would be concerned about metal fatigue in a high vibration environment.
 
Thanks. I would have researched a bit before ordering but went with what the boss handed me. It is just a vent line so no worries.
 
Bell206 said:
FWIW. For an up and inspiring A&P, whether old or young, that is not a good mindset to get into.
Click to expand...

Not to mention unairworthy on a certified aircraft. That little bit about specified materials in the manuals.........
 
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