"John?] "
wrote in message
Just had a new central air unit installed and it had to be moved to a
new location, so a new line set was required. I had a coil of 3/4"
copper that I had traded for, so I offered it to my HVAC guy for the
line set. He looked at it and said that he couldn't use it because it
was "plumbing copper" and was manufactured with a seam. If you tried
to run R-22 through it, it would leak like a sieve.

He is completely trustworthy and I have no reason to question him, but
I started wondering about the types of copper tubing.

If you can't use "plumbing copper" for refrigerant, can you use
"refrigeration copper" for plumbing? What tubing do you need for
natural gas? What are the correct names for the different types of
copper?

Can someone school me please?

This will be a start http://www.bomiltubing.com/

There are many differences in materials, annealing, and sizing for different
uses. Refrigeration tubing is generally soft, seamless, and purged with an
inert gas to keep it clean and free of oxidation. Cleanliness is very
important on a sealed system.

Plumbing tubing had different wall thickness for supply lines and drain
lines.

Soft copper is often used for propane, but some areas do not allow it for
natural gas.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
news:GHBOg.22$F46.21@trndny09...

"John?] "
wrote in message
Just had a new central air unit installed and it had to be moved to a
new location, so a new line set was required. I had a coil of 3/4"
copper that I had traded for, so I offered it to my HVAC guy for the
line set. He looked at it and said that he couldn't use it because it
was "plumbing copper" and was manufactured with a seam. If you tried
to run R-22 through it, it would leak like a sieve.

He is completely trustworthy and I have no reason to question him, but
I started wondering about the types of copper tubing.

If you can't use "plumbing copper" for refrigerant, can you use
"refrigeration copper" for plumbing? What tubing do you need for
natural gas? What are the correct names for the different types of
copper?

Can someone school me please?

This will be a start http://www.bomiltubing.com/

I hate to think what the handyman tubing is; or what it might be used for,
for that matter.