Rollers need lubricated. Not sure what its made out of, maybe Marty can elaborate on that and if there is a suitable substitute. To me it looks like some type of lard mix and does seem to go bad after sitting many years. Also it sounds like you are over rolling. If all is right it doesn't take much pressure to get a seal on the tubes, then upon pressure testing if you have a leaker a slight reroll will usually get it.
If you have a tube cracking and flaking I would get it out and redo it.
As Marty stated tubes being rolled in do not need annealed.
Over annealing copper fire tubes?
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Re: Over annealing copper fire tubes?
Marty_Knox wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 6:12 pmChooChooChris wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 5:56 pmThe first tube I did was not annealed and reaulted in surface cracking and lots of copper flakes that kept jamming up the roller . Hope I didn’t make a mistake doing that.Marty_Knox wrote: ↑Sun Oct 02, 2022 5:46 pm Why did you anneal them? You don't need to anneal if you are installing tubes with a roller.
What were you using as a lubricant? You shouldn't roll tubes dry. Just about any oil or grease will work, even Crisco.
Using a lightweight oil. Few drops before starting. The annealed ones seem to be rolling in much easier and cleaner and are not leaving copper fragments like the non annealed with oil only.
-Chris Srch---- Home track Tradewinds and Atlantic Railroad