Sheesh, it’s a copper/nickel alloy not pure copper!!!
See burst pressures here- Brake, Fuel and Hydraulic Line | FedHill
It’s more than adequate for brake systems.
By the way, they are still not harder other than you can easily bend and shape them with your fingers.
Yes, they are extremely malleable and resist kinking. The comment I made about the hardness was relative to pure copper not in relationship to steel. The nickel is added to resist cracking under conditions like double flaring (which pure copper is subject to doing) and to reduce the propensity for work hardening from repeated flexing.
NY STATE LAW - automotive brake lines.
@TwinTurbo
Thank You so much for the info and the link. I’ve never given it a thought as to what the pipes actually were made off before, as they are always called copper brakepipes. I have never heard the word Kunifer before and I can’t even translate it to my own language or find something related.
But as You have proven with regards to burst pressure, the question remains: why are they not legal in USA?. They just make those jobs so much easier and - for the customer - cheaper. Well, at least over here.
Kind regards to all.
Klaus
@asterix
There could be many reasons ranging from protectionist policies to irrational fear of the unknown to cost to qualify and so on.
The old shoe is always acceptable and preferred. Qualifying alternates is usually expensive.
It is almost impossible to distinguish the alloy from pure copper from a simple visual inspection. Some DIY person might think it was simple copper plumbing tubing and do a repair using that so they are reluctant to allow it as a legal alternate to avoid confusion.
Perhaps the industry making steel lines has lobbied hard to ensure there is no competition from a patent protected material they cannot compete with…
I could go on but that should offer at least some insight into the myriad of reasons why something like this is not commonly accepted here even though it is well established elsewhere.
I have used them and they are exceptionally easy to work with due to the way they can be bent without kinking. You’re lucky to have that option!