Compression fitting won't fit on evaporative cooler supply line

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jorgenman

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There's a section of my supply line to my swamp cooler (1/4" copper) on the roof that had a small crack in it. So, I figured I'd just cut out that small piece and use a compression union fitting to connect it back together. I got the compression fitting from HD, in the section with all the swamp coolers and cut my line. However, the compression sleeve is too small to fit the copper tubing, and so is the threaded part of the fitting that the copper line is supposed to go into. It's not just a tight fit, either - there is no way it's going to go on.

Am I doing something stupid here, or is there something I'm not getting? I've used compression fittings before (on bigger pipe), so I know how they're supposed to work. I cut the tubing with a hacksaw and then cleaned up the ends, so I don't think I deformed the tubing significantly.

Thanks for any ideas.
 

Jadnashua

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The tubing has to be very round for the fitting to go on. If it is out of round at all, you may not get the bits together. If it split because of freezing over the winter, you may need to replace more of the line, since it likely expanded the tubing and is now out of tolerance for the fitting to work. A good micrometer or caliper would tell you the OD. The OD of 1/4" copper pipe should be 3/8" or 0.375". The tolerance is only a couple of 0.001".
 
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