Indeed... something to be investigated on the move over to Delrin in time... the aluminium caps are what they are... we have stocks so can't change something that already exists, but definitely look to reducing bulk (?) of em when the time comes... as to what effect that would have on cost, without further research into the Delrin option I wouldn't care to guess.
At the mo you've simply got tube, 2 endcaps, bond together... so there's only so much slimming down one could do. Thinner walled acrylic tube is certainly do-able... but again, when we've run out of current stock... and that would bring with it the marginal advantage of a larger volume of water as OD of tube would remain constant whilst ID would increase preferably... In meantime simple approach is to offer them in increasingly smaller sizes... less acrylic, less cost.... altho the differences between a 6" length of tube and a 2" length of tube are ridiculously small. Bulk of the cost is in the endcaps.
There are cheaper mounting clamps we could use, bog standard sprung metal jobs rather than the plastic ones, but they have a tendency to scratch the acrylic unless stickybacked neoprene applied. And tbh I prefer the chunky visuals of the plastic ones along with the interlocking functionality and the fact that they have a clip to hold the tube in, whereas the sprung metal ones rely on the sprung metal alone... so if taking to a LAN fairly easy to knock on the car etc and off comes your res...
Rigidity and durability were initial prime concerns due to obvious mounting preference being external... and also so that this res would appeal to the LANners that we work with frequently thru TFF (thefragfactory.co.uk) who are still of the beleif that water and a LAN rig simply don't co-exist... and this res appealing more to those who want looks than functionality, altho I believe we covered both scenarios reasonably well. Other key improvement I'd like to see on the next revision would be to move away from 3/8" BSP fittings, and up to something larger to support the use of fittings with a larger ID...
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