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A failure mode analysis of 140 unrepairable plastic tank radiators retrieved from a repair shop in detroit indicates that aluminum radiators of brazed construction have the lowest long term failure rates, followed by mechanically bonded flat fin and round tube aluminum radiators and then by copper radiators. In this analysis, the long term failure ratio of copper radiators to brazed aluminum radiators is 3.4 to 1 and to aluminum mechanical radiators is 2.4 to 1. Most failures are attributable to time and temperature degradation of materials, exacerbated by inadequate or inappropriate design details. Closer look at long term failure modes indicates that some manufacturer detail design configurations have low failure rates for each of the long term failure modes, pointing toward designs for very low long term failure rates.