Oil cooler making machine

What is an oil cooler?

The oil cooler is a kind of cooling product for modern industrial use. It has many applications, such as automobiles, ships, industrial manufacturing, aerospace, biology and other fields. The appearance design, cooling method, and manufacturing process of the oil cooler are very different. This article mainly introduces the aluminum automotive oil cooler machine and the production process.

The structure of the oil cooler

This oil cooler is stacked and comprises multiple aluminum plates with different functions. Among them, the aluminum fin is a key part. It is professionally manufactured by a fin machine to form a sawtooth shape, and then cut into the desired shape. When the engine oil flows through the gaps of the sawtooth, it can contact a larger area, thus achieving better cooling efficiency.

A complete oil cooler requires at least 5 different parts to be assemble, each with a different function. Therefore, we need a variety of oil cooler manufacturing machines with other functions to meet production needs.

The bottom plate is for installation and fixing; its thickness is usually about 5mm, and it has installation holes.

There are two types of separators, A and B. Their function is to isolate two independent channels in the oil cooler: one channel is for the hot medium, and the other is for the cold medium. The two media then exchange heat with each other.

The fin parts are made of 0.3mm aluminum material, and larger oil coolers will use 0.5mm aluminum foil. Usually, the oil coolers used in cars are 0.3mm. Its function is to increase the resistance of the flowing medium and improve the heat exchange efficiency.

The top plate is a special part, as some aluminum tubes need to be installed here, placing higher demands on the production process. The mold for producing this top plate must be exact; otherwise, the oil cooler is very prone to leakage.

An aluminum tube is an oil pipe that connects the engine or the gearbox. This tube is purchased separately.

Oil cooler making machine

Producing this kind of car oil cooler is a complex process, and a new factory needs various machines to meet the demand. Let’s introduce what oil cooler production machines a minimum unit factory needs.

1. Stamping machine

An ordinary stamping machine can meet the technical requirements, but the best stamping machine at present is the pneumatic one, which has better sliding precision and less noise. Of course, its price is also higher.

2. Stamping mold

This kind of oil cooler has high quality requirements for molds. If ordinary molds produce the parts, their smoothness may not meet the requirements. After the oil cooler is brazing, it is very easy to leak. If there is a leak, the loss cannot be recovered. Therefore, the quality of the molds is very crucial.

3. Ultrasonic cleaning machine

The function of this machine is to clean all parts, because there is some lubricating oil in the stamping production process, and it must be clean with this machine, otherwise it will leak after aluminum brazing.

4. flux spraying

If your factory uses CAB brazing technology, then the parts of the oil cooler need to be spraying with flux before assembly to improve the brazing quality. If your factory uses vacuum brazing technology, then you don’t need this machine.

5. Fin machine

This machine is a device for producing internal fins. It is a key oil cooler machine in this factory that can realize unattended automatic production. It can cut the required shape outline and holes. The fins it produces meet the smoothness requirements of the process.

6. brazing furnace

With the improvement of brazing technology and the advancement of industrial manufacturing, some large-scale production factories adopt CAB brazing, which has the advantage of very high production efficiency and already low welding cost. However, some OEM factories in Europe and America still prefer the vacuum aluminum brazing technology. This is a dilemma. On the one hand, factories want to reduce production costs; on the other hand, they need to meet customers’ requirements for production technology. Therefore, choosing CAB or vacuum brazing technology depends on the customer’s requirements.

7. Testing machine

After the oil cooler is welding, it must undergo rigorous sealing tests, and the test pressure must not be less than 1.5MPa. If the oil cooler has two channels, then each channel must be testing independently to determine whether the two are in series.

8. Other machines

The new factory also needs other machines, such as air compressors, packaging machines, power supply transformers, etc. If you want to start this project, you can click the button below to contact our engineers for more details.

Video of the oil cooler manufacturer

List of oil cooler making machines

Manufacturing and process of oil coolers

An oil cooler for a car may seem simple, but manufacturing a high-quality oil cooler requires mastering many technologies. Let’s introduce the most crucial production techniques below.

1. Aluminum brazing technology.

This is the most crucial technology. Throughout the entire production process, we strictly control all the production details. If the oil cooler leaks after brazing, all our hard work will be in vain, and it will have no value at all. Therefore, it is very necessary to improve the brazing machine.

2. The assembly of the oil cooler.

During the assembly process of an oil cooler, if one layer of aluminum plate is installed incorrectly, it will leak after aluminum brazing. Therefore, workers need to be very careful throughout the assembly process, and after assembly, it needs to be inspected by an inspector to avoid unnecessary losses. Some fully automatic oil cooler machines use vision inspection technology, effectively avoiding possible assembly errors. Still, such machines are very expensive and do not meet the production needs of small factories.

3. Stamping technology

The stamping process is the most widely useing production technology in industrial production. However, this product has very high requirements for the flatness of parts, and the planes of two stacked parts must be fully in contact, which can ensure the effectiveness of aluminum brazing and avoid false welding.

4. Fixed technology

When the oil cooler is assembled, it needs to be fixed with a special tool. The top and bottom plates need to be reinforced with graphite plates. Since the entire aluminum brazing process involves heating, brazing, and cooling, it needs to go through a process of thermal expansion and contraction, which places stricter requirements on the fixation of the tool. When installing screws for reinforcement, it is necessary to set a specified torque.

Matters needing attention

If you want to start this project of producing car oil coolers now, then these are the things you must consider.

1. If you plan to produce aftermarket car oil coolers, the investment in stamping molds is a huge sum. Each oil cooler requires 8-10 high-quality stamping molds, and the average cost of each mold is about 1000 USD. If your factory plans to produce 100 different types of oil coolers, then the investment in stamping molds will be greater than the total cost of all machines.

2. Aluminum brazing technology is very crucial to the entire production process. If your engineers are not proficient in this technology, many scrap products will be production, resulting in huge losses. Therefore, it is necessary to find a reliable supplier, purchase the most suitable machine, and let the supplier provide technical support.

3. The aluminum material used in producing automotive oil coolers is special; its brand is 4343/3003/4343. This material has a brazing layer on both sides, which allows two aluminum foils to be welding together through high-temperature melting. Ordinary aluminum materials cannot meet this requirement.

4. With the development of industry, more and more factories have achieved automatic high-efficiency production, thus reducing the cost of aluminum. Before you start this project, you need to calculate whether this project is profitable, otherwise don’t start it.