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DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

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grahamemmett
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DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by grahamemmett »

A member has asked what are the chances of finding the capillary tube that runs from the sender on the thermostat housing and the dashboard mounted gauge. Does anybody know of a supplier?
Or has anybody substituted a modern sender?
Graham Emmett ¦ DLOC Chairman ¦ chair@dloc.co.uk ¦ 07967 109160
Northwich, Cheshire
DB18 1949 LCV522 (Yes that one with the P100s)

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migray
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Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by migray »

I had a gauge repaired by Speedy Cables instruments@speedycables.com - on my DJ254. Black faced AC gauge.
They fitted a new capillary and bulb. I had to specify the length and size of bulb. This was after Speedograph said they couldn't fix it.

Mike

qantasqf1
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Joined: Mon Mar 07, 2016 10:13 pm

Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by qantasqf1 »

Graham, I have a spare gauge/capillary tube if you have problems sourcing a repair. You can email me at
stevemoore47@iprimus.com.au

Dartford Dave
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Location: Dartford

Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by Dartford Dave »

If it helps, when I bought my DB18 the capillary tube had been broken off at the sensor bulb. I bought some ether on eBay and a hypodermic needle. The repair was pretty straight forward. I cut an inch off the capillary and drilled the right size hole in the bulb opposite to where the tube was attached and soldered the one inch stub on. Then soldered the capillary tube itself back on. Put the ether in the fridge for a couple of hours so it was nice and cold. Using the the needle inject the ether into the bulb through the stub and pinched it closed with pliars. Soldered over the end to be sure it was sealed. It's worked fine for the last four years. The amount of ether needed is extremely small and being cold it gives you a few minutes to work before it flashes off to gas. Cheap repair and took less then an hour.

classiclife
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Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by classiclife »

Hello.

Relating to this current thread, I thought the following may be of assistance and most certainly of interest.

Published in the Driving Member - November 2014, is a very informative article pertaining to an owners DB18 capillary tube disaster and subsequent rebuild, rescuing the problem to a practical working solution.

I contacted the article author, Paul Young, who has kindly given permission for me to upload the extremely well written article, for the hopeful benefit of others.

## Thank you Paul - much appreciated.

Regards.

Richard.
Attachments
Article - Regain Your Cool Pt1 - Nov 2014.pdf
(1.42 MiB) Downloaded 82 times
Article - Regain Your Cool Pt2 - Nov 2014.pdf
(1.85 MiB) Downloaded 77 times
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grahamemmett
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Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by grahamemmett »

Great article, thanks for find that Richard.
I'll post it on the DB18.org site too.
Good news - a capillary tube and bulb has been found (thank you Marches Mark) and will be on it's way to the member tomorrow.
Graham Emmett ¦ DLOC Chairman ¦ chair@dloc.co.uk ¦ 07967 109160
Northwich, Cheshire
DB18 1949 LCV522 (Yes that one with the P100s)

Fossil
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Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by Fossil »

A small safety matter. Ether is explosive in air.

This is why operating theatre floors used to have to be anti-static. A build up of static electricity on any person or apparatus leaked to earth via the floor to avoid sparks igniting explosive mixtures of volatile anaesthetic agents such as ether; that must have happened quite a few times before such an ingenious, radical and expensive solution to the problem was chosen. Fortunately explosive anaesthetic agents are no longer used.

Keep safe!

Cheers

Fossil

Dartford Dave
Posts: 44
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:33 pm
Location: Dartford

Re: DB18 Water Temperature capillary tube

Post by Dartford Dave »

I found this article on line from NZ DLOC that explains quite well how to repair the temperature capillary and refill it. This follows fairly closely how I tackled the job. I put the ether into a fridge for a few hours to delay reaching the flash point as long as possible. The article is on page 9 of the attaced

By

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... eRMJw4_C-5

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