Kalk reactor, why use Acrylic

[whirley]

Hello.
I've been looking at plans about making a DIY Kalk reactor. All the plans use Acrylic tubing for thier main body. I'm curious, why do you have to use Acrylic tubing? Can't I just use PVC instead?

Thanks
whirley

[Mikeydog]

Yes, I have seen plans that use PVC. Acrylic looks nicer, and you can see how you mixing is going, and if you need to add more kalk.. Plus you can fabricate all the pieces you need and don't have to work out some crazy mess of reducers and various pieces.

[whirley]

Ok, any suggestion where I can buy a 4" piece of acrylic tube? Cheap is cool with me. I probably would only need like 12" or so, just enought to see inside the Reactor. Everything else would be PVC, it's fine with me!

whirley

[Mikeydog]

Well you try a local plastics shop. Thats where I bought mine. Or I'm sure there are tons of places on the web. I know that 5" is pretty cheap, under $10 a foot, but 6" is double that. Thats why I choose to use 5"

[Johnnyfishkiller]

www.mcmaster.com is where I got mine. I wish I had used pvc. My reactor sits in the laundry room behind the washer. I use a ph monitor to tell when I need to add kalk.

If you go with acrylic, you'll need 4.5 OD tubing. PVC is measured inside.