Replacement Pick Up Tube for VPI 16.5
- Thread starter fmueller
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You can buy the tube from Elusive Disc if you need a new tube.
http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HW-3008-45
But you can by the felt strips from Disc Doctor if that's all you need. But you need to call him to order.
http://www.discdoc.com/p188.html
http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=HW-3008-45
But you can by the felt strips from Disc Doctor if that's all you need. But you need to call him to order.
http://www.discdoc.com/p188.html
fmueller
Super Member
Sticker shock - my foot! $30 for a short plastic tube with a slot is daylight robbery! Best of all, the plastic is obviously not able to withstand alcohol - the sucking off of which is the very job the tube was created for. My original tube became brittle and completely disintegrated.
Make no mistake, I love the results I get in cleaning records with the VPI 16.5, but these tubes are substandard $#€!$$@&€<%
Anyhow, many thanks for the info. I guess I'll just suck it up and buy another overpriced crap tube :gigglemad
Make no mistake, I love the results I get in cleaning records with the VPI 16.5, but these tubes are substandard $#€!$$@&€<%
Anyhow, many thanks for the info. I guess I'll just suck it up and buy another overpriced crap tube :gigglemad
pioneervato
Lunatic Member
If you have ever made the mistake of closing the lid to your VPI 16.5 when the vacuum tube is not over the platter you run the risk of breaking it almost immediately or causing it to crack which would then shorten the life of the tube. Not a good thing either way. Sorry to hear of yours falling apart.
Don't mean to hijack but FYI, when those cracks happen I immediately superglue them from the inside and ever so lightly on the outside. It extends the tube life amazingly well.
fmueller
Super Member
Yup, done that, but never hard enough to actually inflict any visible damage to the tube. IMHO selling a $550 machine, which has such a built-in potential for user error is not a good thing either - and not necessary. With the lid 1/2" higher, this whole issue would have been completely avoidable. A big :thumbsdn: for VPI on this one, but considering the price of any other comparable record cleaning machine, I guess the 16.5 has not much competition :sigh:
Good thinking. What happened in my case is that I have not used the machine in over a year. When I got it out the other day to fire it back up, I noticed that the tube had simply brittled away, for lack of a better term. Both ends of the tube have splintered like you would expect safety glass to break into small pieces when shattered.
The super glue suggestion gives me another idea. If the tube is made from acrylic, the best 'glue' would be methylene chloride. Methylene chloride dissolves acrylic and then quickly evaporates. In the process the acrylic is kind of welded together forming one piece. Acrylic fish tanks are made that way. If you have a crack in acrylic, you can simply make it go away by applying methylene chloride, which will be sucked into the crack due to capillary action.
This won't resuscitate my old tube, because there are too many pieces, but what better object to test if it's acrylic by using some methylene chloride. I'll report back how I go!
fmueller
Super Member
I think you just saved me $30! Upon closer inspection, the tubed had actually only fallen into three parts, although there ware a gazillion cracks where it was about to disintegrate further. I put the parts together again as well as could be, and applied a very small amount of methylene chloride to the cracks using a medical syringe (some people use an artist's brush). The procedure immediately welded the tube back together like you would expect if it was made from acrylic. The tube looks a bit hazy now where the acrylic was applied, but I think it is fully usable again. Time permitting, I might give it a test run tonight! Many thanks.
markd51
Nyuk Nyuk
Delrin would be a product of choice, or even PTFE Tubing. A competent machinist could clone the tube in about 10 minute's time. Then apply the Disc Doctor Velvet Strips.
Walker was making the Vortex tube for a short period but ceased production.
Without protective strips, and only an 80mm long slot, versus the 100mm slot on the original tube, I have no idea what he (Lloyd) was thinking?
With a non-transparent tube though, you do lose one slight advantage, which Meggy remarked about a long time ago here, and that was, one could visibly see soaps-detergents in the tube when vacuuming, and when proper rinsing was executed, you would no longer see this foaming within the clear tube. Mark
Walker was making the Vortex tube for a short period but ceased production.
Without protective strips, and only an 80mm long slot, versus the 100mm slot on the original tube, I have no idea what he (Lloyd) was thinking?
With a non-transparent tube though, you do lose one slight advantage, which Meggy remarked about a long time ago here, and that was, one could visibly see soaps-detergents in the tube when vacuuming, and when proper rinsing was executed, you would no longer see this foaming within the clear tube. Mark
fmueller
Super Member
About 3-4 years.
If a competent machinist was willing to work for less than $30 per 10 minutes ($180 per hour!), we might have a business opportunity here! Put the things on eBay and they'd sell themselves. Unlikely to be a full time job due to the niche market character of the product, but if you had access to the required machines, it could be a nice little side business.
Good point. Mine is milky in places, but still plenty enough transparent to see the foaming.
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