looking for an elongated o-ring

[jeffberk]

I'm searching for an o-ring, but not any o-ring. This is an elongated o-ring that fits in a boiler on a Breville 800ESXL espresso machine. I couldn't find anything at McMaster Carr and I was told that the material cannot be cut on a laser cutter by my local makerspace. I tried using a round o-ring and gluing it in place to take this form but it leaked. The o-ring's outside dimensions are 1.44 in (36.6 mm) by 0.46 in (11.8 mm) with a width of 0.075 in (1.8 mm).
Unfortunately it needs to be stable at about 215F since it's in a boiler so I cannot 3-D print it. I don't know if I can cut out anything that precise by hand.
I hate to trash a $500 espresso maker because of a bad o-ring but I'm running out of options.

 

[rlitman]

I'm searching for an o-ring, but not any o-ring. This is an elongated o-ring that fits in a boiler on a Breville 800ESXL espresso machine. I couldn't find anything at McMaster Carr and I was told that the material cannot be cut on a laser cutter by my local makerspace. I tried using a round o-ring and gluing it in place to take this form but it leaked. The o-ring's outside dimensions are 1.44 in (36.6 mm) by 0.46 in (11.8 mm) with a width of 0.075 in (1.8 mm).
Unfortunately it needs to be stable at about 215F since it's in a boiler so I cannot 3-D print it. I don't know if I can cut out anything that precise by hand.
I hate to trash a $500 espresso maker because of a bad o-ring but I'm running out of options.

Looks like gasket seals to me, not o-rings.

If so, you shouldn't need a seal that's perfectly round in cross section. You just need something sufficiently thick. I would trace it out on a piece of silicone sheet that's the appropriate thickness, use a round punch of the right radius (like one for leather) on each inside end, connect the holes by hand with an xacto knife and cut the outside with scissors, but if you know someone with a Cricut, that should be able to cut up to 2.4mm thick silicone, so it should have no trouble cutting 1.8mm.

 

[cvairwerks]

Jeff: You want either EPDM or Viton for your material. Any decent hydraulics shop probably has one on the shelf that will work. Just remember, you can use a round one and pull it into the oblong shape.

 

[jeffberk]

I'm going to try and use an o-ring again and glue it into a squashed o-ring one more time, then see if I can find a Viton o-ring if that doesn't work. I found a library not to far from home with a Cricut machine that I can try as a last resort using a high temperature silicone mat I use as a work table protector.
Thanks for the help people!

 

[Wrench97]

Does it fit into a groove on the part it's sealing"

 

[jeffberk]

Does it fit into a groove on the part it's sealing"

It is a little thicker than the groove.

 

[Wrench97]

Is the original also a bit thicker?
Usually the groove is meant to retain the seal during assembly.

 

[PCustoms]

I'm searching for an o-ring, but not any o-ring. This is an elongated o-ring that fits in a boiler on a Breville 800ESXL espresso machine. I couldn't find anything at McMaster Carr and I was told that the material cannot be cut on a laser cutter by my local makerspace. I tried using a round o-ring and gluing it in place to take this form but it leaked. The o-ring's outside dimensions are 1.44 in (36.6 mm) by 0.46 in (11.8 mm) with a width of 0.075 in (1.8 mm).
Unfortunately it needs to be stable at about 215F since it's in a boiler so I cannot 3-D print it. I don't know if I can cut out anything that precise by hand.
I hate to trash a $500 espresso maker because of a bad o-ring but I'm running out of options.

Is it a round cross section?

 

[jeffberk]

I think the original was either flush or nearly flush. It was, I think, rectangular cross section.

 

[PCustoms]

I think the original was either flush or nearly flush. It was, I think, rectangular cross section.

I'd get some cord stock and some good super glue, make my own.

 

[Wrench97]

Yep angle cut the ends and super glue.

 

[MBfreak]

Caterpillar shops ALL have a machine to make Orings from a large assortment of "rubber bands"

All qualitiesof base material.
And the glue joint is invisible

Ola

 

[RPH]

you can purchase o ring kits. Out here in the country I keep o rings in different materials and sizes. The build a o ring kit gets used more often then not. They’re cheap and easy. Just confirm the material is correct for the job.

 

[rlitman]

Jeff: You want either EPDM or Viton for your material. Any decent hydraulics shop probably has one on the shelf that will work. Just remember, you can use a round one and pull it into the oblong shape.

Caterpillar shops ALL have a machine to make Orings from a large assortment of "rubber bands"

All qualitiesof base material.
And the glue joint is invisible

Ola

EPDM is probably going to leave behind some lingering smell, and both viton and glued o-rings are almost certainly not food safe.

Just cut what you want out of a sheet of food-grade silicone. This isn't rocket science, and as I said above, it's a gasket, not an o-ring, so the properties required are quite different.

 

[cvairwerks]

EPDM is probably going to leave behind some lingering smell, and both viton and glued o-rings are almost certainly not food safe.

Both have food safe versions....

 

[cvairwerks]

Yep angle cut the ends and super glue.

Most cynoacrylates are not for use above 180F....you have to find the specialized ones, and the highest temp ones are pretty nasty chemical wise.

 

[glend123]

how about this? It's almost the exact size o-ring you need.

9396K67

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

high temp silicone.

 

[BillK]

Permatex® Ultra Red® RTV Silicone Gasket Maker, 3 OZ - Permatex

www.permatex.com

 

[Spareparts]

I like others have a O-Ring kit use it a lot, just get the desired materal from a Hyd Supplier, cut to desired length
and glue it together. Saved my **** countless times.

 

[toplessHO]

high temp silicone smeared into the recess and flush with surface
this will make half.call this part A
when cured flip part A over and place on top of a fresh part B
the parting line should cure together

 

[teknikfrog]

high temp silicone smeared into the recess and flush with surface
this will make half.call this part A
when cured flip part A over and place on top of a fresh part B
the parting line should cure together

Great idea, curious if that would actually work.

I've got a Breville machine that is showing its age (over 5000 lattes on it!) and I dread what to do about it. Breville corp is extremely dysfunctional and having dealt with them many times over the years, they are just awful to deal with. Getting parts is a complete crapshoot.

 

[cannuck]

To get this right you need to start with the dimensions of the existing groove. Once you have that go to marco rubber website
( https://www.marcorubber.com/o-ring-store ) and find the application guide and match up the width/depth of your groove to the US or Metric groove that matches. For an o-ring to seal it needs the right amount of compression and constraint - and I strongly suspect what you have is just a round o-ring placed in an oblong groove. Even if it IS a bespoke oblong, you will do just fine with a round one. Buy cheap ones of ANY material to fit the groove then go to your supplier and buy the right size of right material. Do NOT "glue" it in place.

 

[glend123]

To get this right you need to start with the dimensions of the existing groove. Once you have that go to marco rubber website
( https://www.marcorubber.com/o-ring-store ) and find the application guide and match up the width/depth of your groove to the US or Metric groove that matches. For an o-ring to seal it needs the right amount of compression and constraint - and I strongly suspect what you have is just a round o-ring placed in an oblong groove. Even if it IS a bespoke oblong, you will do just fine with a round one. Buy cheap ones of ANY material to fit the groove then go to your supplier and buy the right size of right material. Do NOT "glue" it in place.

This is what I did in my post #17.

 

[mechcsu]

Is the groove the o-ring fits into rectangular or square cross section? If so can you accurately measure the width and depth. I see in your original post you provided dimensions of the o-ring itself but it is likely deformed now or as o-ring people say "taken a set." By knowing the groove dimensions you can then back out the correct o-ring size for whatever it is you're trying to seal...water, steam, coffee, etc...

Just saw this is the same thing cannuck & gland123 are saying.

 

[jeffberk]

Thanks again for the help but after a few more tries, I just purchased another used espresso machine. My last attempt was to cut a cork gasket and it leaked, possibly because one of the screws holding it together stripped after I re-tapped it once.
I hate quitting on a project but I was having a rough time going without expresso this long.

 

[Jim greengo]

How much is a new machine?

 

[jeffberk]

I bought a lower end machine for $65 used. It was selling for around $500 new. The one I had was a Breville 800ESXL which sold for about $600 when new.

 

[glend123]

Thanks again for the help but after a few more tries, I just purchased another used espresso machine. My last attempt was to cut a cork gasket and it leaked, possibly because one of the screws holding it together stripped after I re-tapped it once.
I hate quitting on a project but I was having a rough time going without expresso this long.

Did you decide that a round o-ring would not work? or you couldn't find one locally?

 

[jeffberk]

I tried using round o-rings twice with no luck. I used silicone adhesive to hold it to the proper shape. Seems a waste to toss such a nice machine because the manufacture never made the seal available and eventually discontinued selling the boiler all together.