Hvac School - For Techs, By Techs

In this short podcast episode, Bryan answers a listener-submitted question about double flares and their application in the HVAC/R industry. Flare connections are common in certain types of equipment, and they connect the copper to the appliance. As a result, when we make a flare, our goal is to make it leak-free. A regular flare requires you to cut the copper, clean it, put the flare nut on, and make the flare with a flaring block (or a flaring tool). You can also put a little bit of oil on the flare cone to prevent galling. Modern power flaring tools are common nowadays, especially in markets where we install a lot of mini-splits. We also use torque wrenches to tighten the flare connection according to the manufacturer's specs. In mission-critical applications where we have toxic or flammable refrigerants under high pressure, we especially want leak-free connections. Double flares make more sense in these scenarios for extra security (though we may use different connection types). A double flare requires yo