Right on, Stuart. Just before nodding off to sleep, I made a mental note to cut the 5/8 inlet pipe as long as possible to try to keep the heat away from the guts. I have a pencil torch, which should help. I'll also wrap a wet cloth on the guts end of the pipe to try to suck the heat out.
Bill, glad to know I could finally give some info back to you after so long of being on the receiving end of the info pipeline!
I don't know if it popped up on your radar, but I found several additional suppliers of Ranco H16 HCVs, and these even have the capillary tubes. I added a picture and links to the post on the topic where I whine about crummy reproductions.
Bill
