Client wants to reuse pipe

[Elcube]

Our client decided to remodel his office floor which caused the removal of existing refrigerant pipes (The system (Daikin VRV- has been installed for about 7years). Attached are the pictures of the pipes.
Kindly advice if the pipe can be reused. Thank you everyone.

148151481614817

[The Viking]

Elcube,

You are based in Nigeria?
That might change the answer, here in Europe the answer is a big NO. As the pipework has been taken out of the building it have been shaped and distorted too many times all ready, by the time it has been reinstalled our labour rates means it would have been cheaper to use virgin pipe.
How that compares in your neck of the woods...
But do bear in mind, the more a pipe is bent, distorted, formed, and so on the more likely it is to fracture and leak... How does loosing a full charge compare to buying new pipes in the first place cost wise?
Not to mention the possibilities for contamination.


:cool:

[Elcube]

Elcube,

You are based in Nigeria?
That might change the answer, here in Europe the answer is a big NO. As the pipework has been taken out of the building it have been shaped and distorted too many times all ready, by the time it has been reinstalled our labour rates means it would have been cheaper to use virgin pipe.
How that compares in your neck of the woods...
But do bear in mind, the more a pipe is bent, distorted, formed, and so on the more likely it is to fracture and leak... How does loosing a full charge compare to buying new pipes in the first place cost wise?
Not to mention the possibilities for contamination.


:cool:

Yes, I'm based in Nigeria.

Thank you, could you also help with technical reasons why it can't be reused apart from your above comment. (Which had been communicated to the client)
He said he was told it can be reused, so we need a comprehensive report to convince him from doing so.
Thanks

[FaultCode]

All sorts of contaminants may now inside the pipes, these will cause damage to the finely engineered components of the vrv system.

[ConnectedOne]

Much of the corrosion that can occur with copper (and other) pipes is not visible to the naked eye. Much of this pipe does have visible corrosion, which nearly guarantees that the remaining pipe has some invisible corrosion. There are also factors involving physical damage and multiple heat histories that can lessen the strength of the system. Copper is an amazing metal in that it is infinitely reusable, but subsequent usage in something as critical as refrigerant piping must involve melting it down, removing impurities, and re-establishing a proper grain structure.

HVACR Piping (aka. ACR) in the US goes through extensive cleaning cycles to ensure purity for system startup in order to protect the many components, compressors, expansion orifices, etc. that are carefully engineered for performance. The amount of contaminants that would be introduced by reuse of piping could be sufficient to destroy costly equipment and would undoubtedly void the warranty on any connected equipment.

The customer is not always right. This is a fools errand with the likelihood of costing many times what was presumably saved in (1) equipment damage (initial), (2) shortened life of this capital-intensive system, or (3) major loss of costly refrigerant gases. Whoever told the owner the pipes can be reused knows nothing about HVACR systems.

Good luck

[The Viking]

Best advice I can give is to take a length of soft / coiled copper pipe and ask your customer to bend it 4-5 times. He will feel it harden up and then see it fracture...
The same applies to reusing pipe in the fashion he suggest.

Normally when we agree to reuse the pipe work that means leaving the pipes in situe and change the units at either end of them and even then it is a risky undertaking.

If he insists on using that pile of reclaimed pipe do ensure that he understand that you don't offer any warranty at all, that all leaks found will be charged for extra and any breakdown of components or loss of refrigerant is his responsibility.

:cool:

[Kev The Tool]

Walk away from this one!

[vickg]

Our client decided to remodel his office floor which caused the removal of existing refrigerant pipes (The system (Daikin VRV- has been installed for about 7years). Attached are the pictures of the pipes.
Kindly advice if the pipe can be reused. Thank you everyone.

148151481614817

You call yourself an aircon tech and you cant figure this one out yourself?
Come on ! there is so many reasons not to use it.
No one in their right mind can do a job like that and guarantee it.

[Greek_engineer]

Customers want to save money...I understand that notion but only when the tube bends well enough so as to be used again.And of course be cleaned with the right procedure.

[RANGER1]

First find out price difference, as you can also get scrap value for old pipe.
Basically no manufacturer warranty & no warranty from your company regarding leaks etc
Every part of the world is different, so understand issue, nothing is straight forward.

[hookster]

Why cant you re-use the pipe!
Whoever took out the pipe actually kept the lengths pretty straight and tape sealed the ends. Clean up / remove all the lagging and the pile looks a lot better.
Anneal pieces before bending, vacuum system and pressure test. If you want to go overboard run a flushing agent through the pipe.

There is a tendency in Europe etc to throw away and replace with new. We all agree new is much easier to do but it does not mean you cant re-use!