Does anyone have experience using metal extension springs to replace the actuator’s elastic o-rings? I am thinking to try something like this
We have generally steered away from springs as they are very hard to spec reliably for distributed manufacturing. But it would be exciting to see a version with springs working!
It has been a while since this post. This issue has been lingering in my head for quite a while. But here it is…a metal spring loaded OFM. It was a challenge to hook the loop end inside the microscope. It works great so far. I havent had a problem for over 6 months now. I changed 3 sets of o-rings to the other microscope in the same time. GO SPRINGS!
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Is something like this even possible? any ideas if this concept would work? How would you add a compression spring to the actuators?
That’s definitely something we’ve thought about in the past - you’d need to modify the actuator column a bit (increase the spacing above the nut, so there’s room for the spring when it’s compressed, and make a bigger slot to insert it). I suspect we’d also end up wanting to make a plastic tool to hold the spring in place while you insert the actuating screw.
As @j.stirling says, the tricky issue is how to spec it reliably - pretty much anywhere, it’s possible to buy Viton O rings of a specific size. Speccing inner diameter, outer diameter, length, and spring constant is possible, but finding a spring that matches all the parameters is often very tricky. Our experience is that if a component is hard to source, it usually means microscopes get built with approximated components and don’t work as well, which is why we’ve stuck with O rings despite their downsides. If we could find a reliable way to source them without relying on one particular supplier, that would be really handy.
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