Is copper tubing going to break down in a marine use? Circulating marine water through a chiller box via coiled copper tubing…is there any reason you’d say this would not work to cool the water down?
IIRC, copper does not corrode to failure in marine water.
I think it’s OK, since
these folks
seem justifiably proud that thier condensing coils conform to the standards of the
American Boat and Yacht Council
A drawback to copper tubing is that it can work-harden and crack from vibration. Recommendations are for seamless, annealed tubing with permanent flared connectors, and secure mounting. Old-time motorcycles used to use a loop in the line from the gas tank to allow some flexibility, but most people use a section of suitable rubber hose these days. The chilling water won’t be a fire hazard like a broken gas line, but if it has a through-hull fitting below the waterline, you could get a sinking feeling. A seacock on all through hull fittings is standard equipment.
If you come up with a compact, low-cost cooling system for the occupants of a boat, please feel free to share the design.
Copper and seawater get along OK. The U.S.S. Constitution has a copper-clad hull and AFAIK hasn’t sunk yet.
Of course, I’ll bet they make specialty alloys just for the purpose of running brine.
Just don’t let any other metals touch it. That’s bad news in seawater.
Corrosion of Copper and Copper Alloys
Marine Applications of Copper-Nickel Alloys
More links than you can shake a stick at:
marine “copper alloys”