Water Filler - 3D Printed Alternative to Heoswater (1 Viewer)

[tonyl]

Having got wet more than once trying to operate a site tap and make sure the hose didn't flail around, I've been meaning to buy one of those Heoswater caps for a while. It would appear there is a cheaper one around now, the Haba Rheinland, which Homestead in Essex list at £6.99. They were out of stock on Tuesday when I was there but I came across this - - which looked as though it would do the job.

I printed it yesterday in basic black PLA. It took about 6 hours to print but watching it doesn't make it any faster, so I just left it to get on with it. I fitted an O ring from the spares box and tried it out - success!

It isn't at all tight on the fitting on the side of the van, so doesn't seal. In reality it doesn't need to, as long as the water flow is directed successfully down the filler pipe. I squashed a short piece of half inch hose on the back just to avoid any possibility of 'blowback' but the design is for 15mm hose, which I don't have 'in stock'. I didn't fill the tank to the top so don't know exactly what will happen then. Our van has an overflow pipe underneath but it can't flow at the same speed as the tap, so I expect it will spurt out of the two holes in the cap, so I can still expect to get soaked if I'm not careful!

To be honest I didn't come across many other useful things to make for the van, though I'll probably print a few coat hooks for the garage.

If I'd found this design a few weeks ago, I could have made a few for the Bring and Buy Rally and perhaps be well on my way to my first million! However, I wouldn't have been able to guarantee they were made from food grade plastic..........

Tony

 

[Mr Chrysalis]

Having got wet more than once trying to operate a site tap and make sure the hose didn't flail around, I've been meaning to buy one of those Heoswater caps for a while. It would appear there is a cheaper one around now, the Haba Rheinland, which Homestead in Essex list at £6.99. They were out of stock on Tuesday when I was there but I came across this - - which looked as though it would do the job.

I printed it yesterday in basic black PLA. It took about 6 hours to print but watching it doesn't make it any faster, so I just left it to get on with it. I fitted an O ring from the spares box and tried it out - success!
View attachment 233456
It isn't at all tight on the fitting on the side of the van, so doesn't seal. In reality it doesn't need to, as long as the water flow is directed successfully down the filler pipe. I squashed a short piece of half inch hose on the back just to avoid any possibility of 'blowback' but the design is for 15mm hose, which I don't have 'in stock'. I didn't fill the tank to the top so don't know exactly what will happen then. Our van has an overflow pipe underneath but it can't flow at the same speed as the tap, so I expect it will spurt out of the two holes in the cap, so I can still expect to get soaked if I'm not careful!
View attachment 233457
To be honest I didn't come across many other useful things to make for the van, though I'll probably print a few coat hooks for the garage.

If I'd found this design a few weeks ago, I could have made a few for the Bring and Buy Rally and perhaps be well on my way to my first million! However, I wouldn't have been able to guarantee they were made from food grade plastic..........

Tony

I’m curious. How much did the raw material cost, and what was the capital cost of the printer, and how long do you expect it to work for. It would be interesting to see how much your alternative to the £6.99 Cap cost?

 

[tonyl]

I hadn't thought about the costs really, but let's have a go:

I already have the printer (£279 on an Amazon deal but alternatives with the same resolution are available for less). Software to run it is included or free to download for personal use. In terms of life, I expect its technology will be outstripped before it wears out. If parts break, they are either generic or low cost. I did completely block a print head trying to use 'wood' filament and I had to put the spare which came with the unit into it. A replacement part for the blocked component in the head was £1.20 and I was able to rebuild it to give me my spare back. We could say three years I suppose. Used to make one item a day (say 1000 total), that would be under 30p each.
A roll of black PLA similar to that I used is £16.99 for a kilo and the program I used said it would take 64 grammes, making the raw material cost around £1.09. Colours cost a bit more. There is virtually no wastage if you don't have to change colour (even then it's only a few inches). I was lucky that it printed properly first time (sometimes things don't).
When printing, the bed is heated to 60C and the head to 195C. How much does that cost in electricity? I have no idea but it will be something.
I don't know how much a Hozelock O ring cost, as it came from a mixed set of branded bits including the washers that go in tap connectors. I'm sure they would be only a penny or two if you bought a thousand but we could say 10p for the purpose of this estimate.
There was also a bit of hose to attach to the back, though that might be considered optional. I chopped a bit of the wrong sized stuff of a reel (let's hope it still reaches the end of the garden!) but a bit of food grade in the right size would be at most 20p if you were buying it in a reasonable quantity.

Add all that up and it's about £1.70, excluding electricity.

However, that gives you a part which looks as though it was home made and is unknown in terms of durability.
Would one sell 1000 or even 100?
It's a bulky little item, so would cost a bit to pack and post.
The hassles associated with dealing with PEOPLE (who needs that?) don't appeal to me.
I'm sure there would be licensing issues unless you did a design yourself rather than copying someone else's.

I would have quite happily paid £6.99 or even the £20+ that the HEOS one costs, to be honest. As it is, I'm really happy with my marginal cost excluding the machine, which I bought as a hobby. If it produces something useful, that's a bit of a bonus.

Tony

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[Freespirit1]

Having got wet more than once trying to operate a site tap and make sure the hose didn't flail around, I've been meaning to buy one of those Heoswater caps for a while. It would appear there is a cheaper one around now, the Haba Rheinland, which Homestead in Essex list at £6.99. They were out of stock on Tuesday when I was there but I came across this - - which looked as though it would do the job.

I printed it yesterday in basic black PLA. It took about 6 hours to print but watching it doesn't make it any faster, so I just left it to get on with it. I fitted an O ring from the spares box and tried it out - success!
View attachment 233456
It isn't at all tight on the fitting on the side of the van, so doesn't seal. In reality it doesn't need to, as long as the water flow is directed successfully down the filler pipe. I squashed a short piece of half inch hose on the back just to avoid any possibility of 'blowback' but the design is for 15mm hose, which I don't have 'in stock'. I didn't fill the tank to the top so don't know exactly what will happen then. Our van has an overflow pipe underneath but it can't flow at the same speed as the tap, so I expect it will spurt out of the two holes in the cap, so I can still expect to get soaked if I'm not careful!
View attachment 233457
To be honest I didn't come across many other useful things to make for the van, though I'll probably print a few coat hooks for the garage.

If I'd found this design a few weeks ago, I could have made a few for the Bring and Buy Rally and perhaps be well on my way to my first million! However, I wouldn't have been able to guarantee they were made from food grade plastic..........

Tony

Wow - great idea -well done you!

 

[John.]

Wow - great idea -well done you!

X TWO

 

[sallylillian]

That's great I have the original and I have always thought that the straight connector is a bit fragile, it would be great if it was a 90 degree bend hanging down. If you come across a design like that I might just buy a printer!

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Well done a lot cheaper than the genuine article !

http://www.johnscross.co.uk/products/heos-water-hose-connection-blue.html

although we have some of these on special offer

http://www.johnscross.co.uk/products/bullfinch-water-inlet-point.html

Peter

 

[tonyl]

@sallylillian If one had the drawing skills, it would be possible to modify the design to make a right angle connector but printing it would be quite a bit more difficult, I think. As the 'weight monitor' for our van, I don't mind carrying the extra 64gm so taking a spare might be the easiest thing to do.

@webby1 You are probably right about the future but quite a lot of work is necessary to make parts cosmetically acceptable if printed using most affordable (domestic) printers. I'm sure they will improve. My machine works on a layer thickness (slice) of 0.2mm and 5 lines per millimetre is quite easy to see and feel if you run your fingernail over a part. Parts can be sanded and polished but its quite a lot of work.

With respect to the Dometic screw caps, I think the issue involved with a printed part would be temperature. Commonly available materials, such as PLA, PETG and even ABS, soften at quite low temperatures, so wouldn't be much good on a cooker. The materials can be annealed which makes a big difference but would still be poor in that application.