Hi there - I have a Snorkel and was going to attempt a clean and resac but the feeder tube will not come out of the unit - I unscrewed the nib unit but the tube just stayed happily in place... am I missing something here? Da Book says the tube and spring just comes out... how?

Im looking forward to someone having the answer. I have the same exact problem.

Did you unscrew the nib unit from the section or did you unscrew the body from the section...
The body unscrews from the section and the sac protector, spring and tube are inside the body...

Take a look at Richard Binder's Anatomy of a Snorkel

Thanks Tom.

A couple of hints:
1. Extend the snorkel tube before removing the barrel from the gripping section. This takes the pressure off of the spring and makes unscrewing the barrel easier and reduces the chance for damage.
2. Pull the sac protector, along with the snorkel tube, straight out of the nib/gripping section; Note the orientation of the sac protector unit to the grooves inside the gripping section - most are keyed with one larger groove, but not all.
3. When you remove the rubber section from the sac protector, try not to pull the snorkel tube out of the section - it's not the end of the world if you do, it's just easier.
4. Use care in taking the rubber section out of the protector; you may have to un-crimp the edges of the protector, don't get too rough with the metal, it's more fragile than you would think.
5. When you pull the section out, the sac will likely break off and stay in the tube. A short length of the feed, inside the snorkel tube, extends into the sac; be careful to not break it off.
6. You have to remove all of the sac out of the protector - sometimes it's easy, sometimes not.
7. Three rubber parts you have to change (at least if you want the restoration to last awhile and you don't want to go through the whole thing again) the sac, the O-ring, the point holder gasket. There is a fourth - the blind cap gasket, but it's usually OK; just make sure it's in place when you re-assemble.

OK, that's more than a couple, but the snorkel has a lot of parts. It is fun to restore though - really.

Success getting the section out of the barrel, though when I did I was greeted by a less than pleasant sight. It appears as though someone else has tampered with this pen before I found it - might explain why it was 25 cents at a garage sale? The spring is separated from the ring that I assume held it in place so it could move up and down the threads on the feed section... it looks like the think metal holding the spring in place started to unravel! Are these springs/rings easily replaced pen to pen? Anyone have one I could grab?

If you have some old bicycle inner tube you can just cut a small square, poke a hole in the middle for the screw and use that... works like a dream...

The spring only sits on the ring, although they can get stuck. If it's not rusty, I'd leave it alone. The ring can be removed, but it's difficult and there is not reason to change it if the spring stays put.

Best way to remove the rubber section is to get a piece of brass tubing that will just fit through the hole in the rear end of the sac protector. Poke it through the remains of the sac and make sure it fits over the snorkel tube and push the section out. This keeps you from breaking the feed off, and will leave the tube installed at the correct position.

I've only had one Snorkel sac stuck so far, athough the last one I did was somewhat tacky and had to be peeled off the inside of the sac protector. Usually the petrifed ones just slip out, they don't stick to the chrome plating. TDs on the other hand usualy have to be reamed out.

I've never had to replace a blind cap gasket so far.

Peter

As I said, I've been lucky!

I do think they stick less to the chrome plated protectors than the steel ones, though.

Getting stuck ones out is a chore!

Peter

Ok.. tacking on to the thread. I am with Gr8ham once again (back to where we started), where does one find the springs for the pen. I have the O rings from Giovanni on order, but I wasn't expecting the really rusty spring that I found when I opened it up and I don't see those on any pen repair supply stops (tryphon/pendomonium/pensac/etc.).

The spring that I found is really rusty, still works but its rusty.

Any suggestions??

I find that a wire wheel on a buffer, or on a Dremel can often clean up the spring enough that it's servicable.

The only place to find a replacement spring I'm afraid, is from another snorkel.

The blue color of the spring is from tempering. No need to restore it.

You might want to apply some carnauba wax to it though, it helps keep it from rusting more in the future.

Peter

So is the spring just supposed to sit freely inside the barrel, not actually attached to the ring on the threads? I will see if I can get a picture of what the damaged ring looks like and hopefully someone can tell me whether it is workable or not!