PEU Bezel Tritium Repair

[gtie]

I have a PEU bezel with green tritium inserts that needs a tritium vial replaced. I was using this on my McLuxIII-PD and will be putting it on my incoming Ti-PD-S. I purchased this bezel from a now banned forum member and am looking for recommendations on where I can get the tritium vial replaced. All help is appreciated.

Here is a picture of the damaged vial:

 

[gtie]

Any direction is appreciated. I've checked the usual resources and they are all sold out. I'm looking for someone that can sell me a vial or can install a vial. Thanks.

 

[Kiessling]

B@rt is into selling those vials, you might wanna PM him about it.

As for replacing it ... IIRC you need to dissolve the epoxy and then the rest of the old vial falls out ... after that ... new epoxy and new vial ... and voilà.

bk

 

[pcmike]

Wrong, Bart doesn't sell the proper size vials for these bezels. Ask me how I know? If you were to use Bart's vials you would need to take a dremel to that bezel to get it to fit. The best I can say is, good luck in finding the proper size. I went through what you're going through about two weeks ago and got lucky in sending out a whole bunch of PMs. I'd recommend checking with 'gregw' directly since he was the one who organized a group buy to purchase the proper size originally.

 

[iconoclast]

It's true that the 5mm vials (such as Barts, among others) are too big for the slots in the PEU bezels, but since these are the more common size I've noticed that some of the bezels being bought/sold with trits in place have actually been bored out to handle the larger size vials. (I guess for some it's easier to work the metal than to find the smaller vials.)
If you haven't already done so, you might check to see if this particular bezel has already received the dremel treatment or not.

 

[gtie]

Thanks for the input. The seller stated that the bezel slots had been enlarged so I'm going to try a 5mm from a CPF seller as soon as they get them back in stock. Everyone seems to be out right now.

When I do get my hands on a replacement vial, what have you found to be the best epoxy for this type of application? What do you recommend for dissolving the existing epoxy? I'm pretty handy with firearms but have always had a gunsmith install night sights so I've never done anything with tritium vials. I've done the search route here and can't find a consensus answer.

 

[pcmike]

Everyone seems to use Norland 61 optical epoxy, but I have no idea how they dissolve the existing epoxy.

 

[easilyled]

The problem with dissolving the existing epoxy is that you only want
to remove the epoxy for the one slot, without dissolving the epoxy on
the other 2.

Nail polish remover will soften the epoxy but it needs to be soaked
in it for at least 24 hours.

You would need to position it somehow so that only the slot in question
is thoroughly soaked.

However if you're not bothered about breaking the glass of the vial,
since it seems to be already broken, why don't you just break through the
rest of the vial with a small screwdriver and then use sandpaper or a
dremel to remove the remaining epoxy - probably much easier.

I take it the tritium gas has already escaped since the vial is broken?

 

[greenLED]

gtie, no need to dissolve the epoxy. The easiest way I've found to remove epoxy is to heat up the part until the epoxy softens and then just push it out with a thin tipped screwdriver. Wear eye protection, since that vial is already broken.

 

[Cuso]

Teagle used to have the perfect sized vials (1.5mm x 4.85), but I havent heard from him since and the thread has gone without and update for quite a long time.

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=137473

 

[Groundhog66]

Bart's work....All I did was use a extra fine jewelers file to take the edge off the circumference at each end and they pop in perfectly.

:ironic:

 

[gtie]

Thanks for all of the feedback, it is very helpful. I ended up removing the broken vial with my Mnandi and the slot appears to be pretty clean. Based on the original posting for the bezel, I am guessing that it has already been enlarged for the 5 mm vials so I'll wait until they are back in stock with one of the CPF'ers. The installation is straight forward so I'll go ahead and order the Norland epoxy.

Thanks again for the feedback, this is what makes this such a worthwhile forum!

 

[fasteddie]

...order the Norland epoxy.

I found some glass adhesive superglue stuff at Home Depot that works great. Comes in a little syringe, although I've been applying it with a toothpick. Dries to a slightly rubbery consistency and very clear and uncolored (to my eyes). It starts to harden when exposed to UV or sunlight, so I finally got to use my ARC AAA UV for something.

Secret to securing trit in that bezel is to put a piece of tape over one side to close the opening, then apply the adhesive from the other, open side.