Are there any other options besides Brassworks for a new brass radiator?
Bergs!
http://www.bergsradiator.com/home.html
I may be wrong, but I don't think Berg's makes brass radiators - just black ones.
Bergs has made brass radiators. I bought one last year. He does not like doing them, but if you twist his arm, he may make you one. His price was less than Brassworks
Macs sells a replacement T radiator they list in their catalog. Ive never seen one but maybe they are OK. They list them every year.
Bud, after Rob told about the great work Tom's Radiator Service did for him, I sent the radiator from my 1915 runabout to Tom for a new core. He did a nice job and I saved a couple of Benjamins. Saving some dough was nice, but what really decided me was seeing a picture of a new Berg's brass radiator. I'm sure it works just fine, but it's not like the original, so I decided I wanted to keep my original tank.
Tom's did a nice job on your radiator. If I were Bud, I would contact you, Steve and then Tom and see about getting my original radiator recored.
I have heard that the tanks get brittle after so many years of service. The hot-cold cycle and all the vibration going on takes its toll on the tanks. It makes them hard to repair and they like to crack. Does anybody have any more info on this? Thanks, Scott
I haven't had a problem with that on mine yet, but it's only 98 years old.
My 24 radiator was recored in 1999. This year the shop took off the bottom tank and rodded it out. I wouldn't hesitate to recore an original radiator. I am not sure where this story of hard to repair and likely to crack came from. You are not the first, nor likely the last to say it.
Had a long talk with Mr. Berg this AM. He is just too busy to spend the extra time a brass radiator requires to make. He was also a little concerned about the age of the radiator and thought that a recore could be a problem over the years - not because of the core but because of the changes that occur with the metallurgy of the brass tanks over the years and the difficulty of getting a good lasting solder job.
Nice fellow, I would not hesitate to do business with him.
Also called Langs and discussed their radiators (Brassworks). They said that they have sold about 50 in the last two years and have had 2 returns for warranty work. Not perfect, but not too bad either.
So I pulled the trigger with Lang's. They've always treated me well and frankly I'm tired of screwing around and not being able to go on the longer trips I want to go on. Wish me luck. ;o)
I just had my 13 radiator down to the local radiator repair shop ( no he didn't look at me funny ), he told me that they hadn't seen a brass T radiator in 3 or so years, now he has three in one week, they love these old radiators, $352- later, he told me its good to go for another 99 years.
So they are still out there taking pride in their work, so if your radiator looks good still, maybe your local can do the same.
David.
I think Bud wants to quit messing with it and get it over with. He will be out some cash, but he will be in good shape.
Bud will be in good shape or his radiator will be in good shape?
(Just kidding Bud)
Robert Scott Owens,
What you are probably referring to is commonly known as "age cracking". Copper & zinc alloys (brass) are susceptible to this phenomena. If you think of it as bending a piece of metal back and forth until it breaks, that is basically what is going on. It would depend on what state the metal left the factory in. If it was in an annealed state when it left the factory, it would take longer for the "age cracking" to take place. It it had not been annealed, or was subjected to a lot of vibration during its life (such as in a brass sidelight or headlight), you will probably see more cracks.
Verne