Quote Originally Posted by mlwood37 View Post
got a questiion or a solction for you. Dunno if any ones suggested it to you though.

Why dont you insted of tapping the plastic or useing plastic screws, add a slither of metal to the side of the Res and then tap 2 holes for mouting. that way even if some one does over tighten them they are not doing it to the plastic totaly preventing it happening at all.

That's an excellent idea for the sides, but I don't think it would work for the back where the pump mounts. It would also very likely have to be added post injection molding which has a few issues. In the T3's current configuration there isn't enough room width wise for the plates on either side as they would have to be say .125" thick minimum to be effective which translates to .25" of extra width.

If you bonded them in post production that would mean an adhesive would be needed that could bond aluminum to acrylic. The clear plastics like acrylic and poly carbonate are difficult to bond to anything but themselves, even to other plastics.

If you used a bearing plate in a new design and made provisions for them in the molding process then you would have to deal with expansion. The issue with the inserts was that when they are overtightened even a little, then exposed to temperature variations they expand and contract at a different rate then the plastic. In an item the size of the insert that expansion expressed as a percentage is not all that big, but a plate say 1.5" long that expands in length even a small percentage is likely way beyond what the surrounding plastic could handle without fractures.

Load bearing plates or "force spreaders" are an excellent idea in general, (they are used extensively in marine and aviation engineering for example), But plastics are a whole other beast, and as I have learned, clear plastics are even worse, and if your wanting to use optically clear plastics like acrylic or poly carbonate...may as well brace yourself for a bumpy ride as the manufacturer. The next time your in a store look around at the products there and see how many injection molded parts that you would consider "complicated" as in significant dimensions in all three planes or not "mostly flat" you find that are optically clear. Wont be many and of the ones you may find, most will not be a critical use type item like a reservoir.

I know I will never design one again...just too much work to get them dialed in production wise.

Thank you for taking the time to think up possible solutions and even more time draw them out.