Yes. That would be my last resort though. I don't have a lathe. It does have a center hole so I could fix it to a drill and turn it to keep it round. It would still be hard to keep it square (straight edge and not a conical cylinder). The most readily available "standard" tubing over here would be 5/8" I.D. with a 1/16" wall. So the O.D. would be a bit smaller (more sanding
).
The o-ring thing is a hassle I haven't dealt with yet. Very little margin (if any?) where it provides a full seal and at the same time enough pressure to withstand bumps or possibly drops or pocket pressure without fracturing the tube. Pressing sideways on the drip tip applys a good bit of leverage down at the base. Having my Silver Bullet standing upright on a hard surface and then fall/knock over generates a good amount of impact shock as well as lateral force on the tank (tank is smaller diameter than the Silver Bullet cylinder and so is still suspended without support when the SB smacks flat on it's side).
I'm first going to see if I can find a semi-permanent sealer/glue solution. Silicone sealer hasn't worked out so well. It seals fine but loses it's adhesion. I do want to be able to disassemble it so I don't want a totally permanent bond. I may risk trying 2 part epoxy glue next time I take it apart. I'm guessing one might have to destroy the tube to take it apart but you should be able to remove the epoxy from the aluminum with heat. I may try epoxy with the flexible (thick walled) pvc tubing I have. I really like the shock/impact proof qualities of that. With a 3/4 to 1" length it's still fairly rigid.
I wonder how nylon tubing would do? Haven't found it in clear yet, always translucent.
Quick, reading about the problems you have to find mm tubes, and how to solve your problem, you can do other things, and there are several things you can consider:
1) acrylic tubes do not fracture because the disk + o'ring fits very tight, that's no good, but is not the reason. The tubes fractures because it happend, is a characteristic of extruded plexiglas, the manufacturer told me that, even before I bought the tubes, this material can fracture by being in contact with many liquids, and it seems that our e-liquids are within that group, even if nothing is doing pressure over the acrylic. The acrylic tubes works great but there are not for ever, because of that we must think in spare tubes.
2) You can reduce the diameter of the disc as well asdaq says, but if you do this, you will probably also need to deepen the O-ring gland or search for an o´ring with a less diameter section but a smaller diameter section perhaps let too much space on the sides of the gland and that is not good. There are certain rules to be followed for an O-ring.
3) The O-rings should NOT go extremely tight, because it is not necessary, if the disc enters the tube very tight and then you can not easily remove the tube by hand, is wrong. To build housing for o'ring must follow these guidelines,
though trial and error is the best as always:
Static O-Ring Gland Design - Static Radial Applications
I have done several discs for the genesis, (you've probably seen my pics), of ss and aluminum, for orings mm and inch, with one gland and two, etc etc, and in my experience I say it's quite difficult to find the perfect fit gland. So in your case perhaps be best not to touch the disk, and yes play with the acrylic, you can do that, and you can always have easily another piece to work with.
I know you dont have a lathe, but, you can grab a 15,875 mm ID tube with a hand drill and sand down it a little with 500 grit sandpaper only on the parts that fits on disks, you only have to sand down 1.3 tenth of a millimeter, it's easy, and if you do it wrong, you can do it again and ready.
3 recommendations:
- The inner edges of the tube should
always be perfectly polished because if not, it would hurt the oring.
- Do not go with another material such as nylon
- Do not look a great solution with silicone or sealants, because probably you will not get it, and you will lose the property of mechanical assembly provided by the oring.