What does capillary tube do and is it necessary?

[dspur]

For my 69 Bee under restoration....Had the Heater A/C Box rebuilt, Joe Hudacek rebuilt my water valve (highly recommend) and left the capillary tube where I could splice (crimp) it together. Problem is, I don't have the rest of the tube nor do I know where the other end attaches. I need an education here and perhaps a tube. Thanks in advance.

 

[Demonic]

And you would need to be able to charge it effectively. The capillary has a charge - sometimes alcohol, sometimes refrigerant. The spec have been lost to time, as far as I can tell. Ranco, the original mfg, has been sold, traded hands twice at least. The body of the H10 valve was actually used by Volvo, and other mfg's, but the metal tabs are a different width that hold it all together. The best info easily available is a few ambigous paragraphs on p 24-11 of the 1969 service manual about the water valve test, but it doesn't go into fine detail.

Were you able to get the mounting bracket re-plated? Not a lot of sources to do it all in one shot, last I heard.

 

[dspur]

And you would need to be able to charge it effectively. The capillary has a charge - sometimes alcohol, sometimes refrigerant. The spec have been lost to time, as far as I can tell. Ranco, the original mfg, has been sold, traded hands twice at least. The body of the H10 valve was actually used by Volvo, and other mfg's, but the metal tabs are a different width that hold it all together. The best info easily available is a few ambigous paragraphs on p 24-11 of the 1969 service manual about the water valve test, but it doesn't go into fine detail.

Were you able to get the mounting bracket re-plated? Not a lot of sources to do it all in one shot, last I heard.

As I said I am a bit ignorant. I had the water valve rebuilt and it looks great, was not replated. I'm not sure it that is what you are talking about with "mounting plate"? When I bought the car a lot was missing. I do not have anything with the capillary tube other than a few inches sticking out from the water valve. I do not know how much "tube" is missing or where it attaches to on the Heater A/C box which has just been rebuilt by Original Air.
Thanks

 

[Demonic]

Short answer - don't worry about it, it will work just fine. No way to recharge the capillary tube, it may have had an R12 charge.

 

[Dave6T4]

I used to work at a factory that made thermostatic controls. I was supervisor of an assembly line that made the high limit safety shut off switch for electric base board heaters. These switches had a long capillary tube that matched the specific length of the heater. The tube assembly was charged with a glycol mixture that could sense an overheat anywhere along the length of the capillary tube and shut the heater off. I imagine the capillary tube on your heater similarly senses heat and opens and closes your hot water valve according to where your heater temperature slider switch is set. If you don't drive your old car in the winter, don't worry about it.