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Thread: Homefill Piston Seals?

  1. #1
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    Default Homefill Piston Seals?

    Hello, I see some older threads mentioning Homefill piston seals being available from McMaster-Carr but am having no luck finding them on their website. Just wondering if anyone might have been down this path and happen to have part numbers or any other details that might help identify the seals for cyliders 3,4 & 5? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Russell.

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Get yourself a micrometer and measure the dimensions. Then contact a manufacturer nearest you.

    That's your best bet unless someone has the dimensions already.

    How about you take them and post...could save people time in the future.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Ok thanks. If I find any information I'll post it. Cheers, Russell.

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    I have seen this info before on here and there is one piston or seal you can't get but if it's not the dead one I here you can get this pretty painless . Other than the research
    Lampworking the road that never ends, Until your out of gas!

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Might check with Salt City Glass?

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    salt city doesn't refurbish their units, so they will not keep seals or the part #'s on hand.
    You shouldn't be having sex for pleasure, only for reproduction.
    Thousands of people read my threads now. So I’m trying to not embarrass myself.

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Hey thanks all for the suggestions. Bearings and bushes seem easy to find but still no luck with the piston seals with either local suppliers or McMaster-Carr. Seems Invacare have put some serious design into making repair by anyone other than themselves a bit of a challenge! Next step try some other suppliers, or look at getting them manufactured. Will keep updated if I have any luck. Cheers, Russell.

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Looks like istandalone24/7 replaced a piston seal last year:

    Quote Originally Posted by istandalone24/7 View Post
    yes it will shut off at 2000psi. to keep the load on the compressor light, people usually fill only to 1200ish. i usually shoot for 1500.

    my homefill has been sitting for two months....i had a friend do some work on it (replaced the #5 piston seal and general look over) and it worked great after that. let it sit in the cold for a few days, and it decided to stop putting pressure out (but would still "start") so i took it inside where it's warm, and promptly forgot about it.

    well last night i was bored, and out of oxygen so i decided to plug it in and see what happens, and she'd pumping away nicely. filling my 200cf now and will swap out to the 330cf tank this evening.

    sooooooo friggin stoked to have free oxy again
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  9. #9
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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    http://www.hitechseals.com/products/...cups.asp?lang=

    Try this place maybe? The "finger spring" appears to be very similar in appearance.

    I'm really surprised these dimensions aren't on the forum.

  10. #10
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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    I know for sure they are on the McMaster-Carr web site cause i have seen them... but i dont know the sizes.

    Khan

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    When I tried to look up the ones from McMaster I couldn't find them.

    The link from the "who has experienced fixing homefills" thread led me to a new page with different seals. So I'm not sure.

    I do remember the #4 not being the right size according to one member. But personally I didn't check.

    One day I'll get the measurements, and put them all as my signature. That way they're always around.

  12. #12
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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    ok look thru the seals on this page.
    http://www.mcmaster.com/#mechanical-seals/=14q2fg3

    i am sure they are on this page. the ones with the spring rather than the rubber o-ring.
    Khan

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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    What confuses me is they are now labeled 250psi/max, they used to be 3-5,000psi I thought.

    So according to the specs they can't handle they psi.

    I'm fairly sure they are the same though because the part #'s match...so I don't know what to think about them.

    Also have you khan or anyone else tried buying the #4 seal and seeing if it fits, from McMaster?

    In the who has experience thread, someone mentioned they thought it didn't fit. Wondering what's up with that? Does it fit or not?

    Also I noticed the oring filled seals from hitech mention some good qualities that were making me wonder if they would work better for this type of use. Which ones best?

  14. #14
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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Dont know about the sizes... i will tell you this. I have thought iwas going to have to buy new seals and i decided to try something. I took out the piston with the seal on it and used a pointed q-tip with alcohol and just run the point of the tip around in the end inside of the seal. It seems to reexpand the seal and cleans them so they look like new again. My homefill was not filling an i went thru all the pistons and cleaned everything and reexpaned the seals and when i put it all back together it worked like it was new. I think ive done that like twice and both times its solved the problem.
    You will see the spring in the end of the seal and just gently clean and push the seal out a little. It really did work wonders. Of course this isnt going to fix a seal thats twisted or mangled but if they are just old it definatly works.
    Another thing ive noticed is the seals do a lot better when its warm in the room... if you try to fill when its cold the seals loose their flex.
    Just some things to try before you buy new.

    Khan

  15. #15
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    Default Re: Homefill Piston Seals?

    Hi fam, I've got some new info on these. There is currently a guy on ebay selling the stage 4 and 5 seals for $150. His company outside of ebay is called OxygenPlus Medical. they will repair the unit for $175 + shipping. But even better, they will do a full rebuild for $450 WITH a one year warranty of the rebuild.
    I own three of these bloody things, got them really cheap and low hours, but they are all bricks right now. All three have less than 2000 hours. I've tried refurbing the existing seals, with some success, but could never get a unit to run at full fill speed myself. At best I maybe got 2/3 performance.

    Word to the wise it is best to actually read the service manual before you tear one of these apart. It will tell you useful things like don't tighten the pressure fittings past a 1/4 turn.
    One way to tell if a seal is leaking is to tape three of the four little holes on the stand off post for each of the stage 4 and 5 cylinders, then gently put your finger over the last hole that isn't taped. If you feel any oxygen pushing past your finger then there is a leak in that seal.
    To refurb existing seals take off the little shinny cylinders for stage 4 and 5 (I recommend NOT turning the stand off cylinder at all, maybe mark it first so you can keep it in the same spot. The calibration here is critical), then clean everything around the seal and the seal with a lil iso. Let it dry out, then very slowly/gently bend out the little metal arms inside the lip of the seal. This will make the seal tight to the walls of the cylinder and it might just fill up a whole K tank after that. In my experience this is a temp fix though. The refurb will more quickly degrade and may only fill up to say 1500 psi or something. Should get you back to melting though and doesn't take long.

    There are many potential leak issues with these. It's hard to follow what exactly is wrong. I recommend sending it in to OxygenPlus myself. These things do not seem to be made for the long fill times we K tank people use them for. That one year warranty is looking very enticing to me. Maybe don't OxygenPlus know your a glass blower though XD, they might not be eager to honor the warranty knowing you run the thing for over 20 hours straight.

    Also, little side note, I run two homefills on one 5 liter concentrator for better power savings. You set the output to 3 liters and hook the second homefill to the patient line with a little pressure relief valve for when the second homefill isn't running. My pressure relief value build a good little bit of back pressure before offing though I think that is critical. Not really sure. Maybe I'll make a post myself someday to show what I'm doing.

    First post/reply, much love

    Tall Chris from Florida

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