I'm going to try my first snorkel repair (an Admiral in generally good condition) once a couple more tools arrive. One thing I found about this one was that when I got it the plunger would not extend all the way. Taking it apart, it turns out that the spring rests against a lip in the interior of the barrel, on the blind cap end -- in this case, the spring had gotten pushed back over that lip toward the blind cap, and was binding up the touchdown tube once it was extended a little over halfway.

Easily fixed after removing the blind cap and removing the touchdown tube through the forward end of the barrel, but my question is - since the spring slipped out of place once, should I be worried about it doing so again, and if so what can I do about it?

The inside of the barrel appears to be in pretty good condition and the lip that should hold the spring doesn't seem obviously worn, as far as I can tell.

Thanks! :-)

Hi chud,
I was fixing a Snorkel I got from my aunt last night and I had the same mental question...but then I remembered this thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...28868&st=15
(check out Ron Zorn's 2nd post re: Snorkels on that page----he comments that with regard to Sheaffer Snorkels "On a clean pen, that spring should fall out of the barrel. Sometimes it's rusted and sticks to the ring on the sac protector. It should rotate freely on that ring. When you encounter a pen that won't come apart - the section very hard to turn out of the barrel - it's often because the spring is binding on the barrel and the sac protector. Mildly frightening to take apart!")

Hope Ron doesn't mind me quoting him above, but I am very grateful for his advice because my first instinct (before I found his post) was to try to bind the spring onto the sac protector tube...

Hope this helps,
~Maja

Thanks -- I remembered that it should be free within the barrel; the concern I had was with it moving farther back than it should (toward the blind cap), not so much getting bound to the front end of the sac protector. I'll try it and see if it still looks like it's going to be a problem after I get everything cleaned off -- hopefully it will be a non-issue.

Thanks!

Chud;

It is not possible for the spring to go too far back in the tube so there is no worry there. I'm more concerned with Maja welding springs to protector tubes, glad he figured that one out before it was too late.

Roger W.

I had one spring catching on the sac protector lower end - and would then end up riding up the sac protector - totally messing up the works (this in a lubricated specimen - with tight tolerances). Well I took a dremel tool (the cone type) and loosened the bottom collar of the spring - so it rode freely and sat at the section end of the sac protector - worked fine thereafter. I suspect this also has to do with pens put together with various parts as this one was.
Thanks for your time
badrsj

FYI...I think Maja is a "her" not a "he"

Not the way to go.

The collar that the spring rests on is part of the sac guard, not the spring. The collar should remain in place on the sac guard, the spring should move more or less freely on the collar. If it binds up, then you have a problem with either a rusted or distorted spring, or the collar has dents in it that are causing the spring to bind instead of rotate freely. Address these problems, and you'll be good to go.

If you open up the collar, it won't stay in place. If you open up the collar too much, then it could fall down too far on the sac guard, which means that you'll be looking for another sac guard. You won't find the collar without replacing the guard too. If I found a pen with a loose collar, I'd consider it to be defective, and would be looking for a replacement or another pen.

Occassionally you get them where the collar has ridden up the sac guard for whatever reason. So theSnorkel will not extend fully, it's the very devil to get them back down again, a little at a time turning as you go, eventually they wil seat where they should. I've not exeprianced further problems after this, or know why they have moved up, I think it may be because the spring has caught this ring and been forced when being opened, when the snorkel has not been extended first .

et

Thanks .... and for the record, I would never have considered welding anything---I don't like open flames
(by "binding", I meant turning the spring so that it was stuck on the ring at the top of the sac protector)

Let us know how your Snorkel repair went, Chud....

So far, I think it went well. First one! I didn't get the snorkel tube 100% lined up correctly with the nib -- the longitudinal slit should be closest to the nib and aligned with the slit, as I understand -- but it's close and I think it's close enough. It seems to write well for the moment anyway; we'll see over the next couple of days. (Actually, I can probably adjust that without disassembling the pen if I'm careful. I didn't shellac it to the section or anything.) It fills and writes for the moment...

I did go against what seems to be the conventional wisdom and use the screw-pull approach to getting the section out of the sac protector; having not seen one of these completely disassembled before, I didn't know exactly what the back end of the section looks like... I didn't want to damage it with a push rod. In retrospect it should have been safe enough once the snorkel tube was out, but now I know...

The old sac was hardened but not stuck to the sac protector; it came right out with the section, so that was nice. The snorkel tube took the most cleaning. But overall I think it worked...

Congrats - and the experience is priceless.

Sounds good! Re: lining up the Snorkel tube with the nib---I think you want to align it so that the tube is roughly level with the Snorkel hole in the nib. I've aligned it by gripping the tube gently (so as not to crimp it) with my fingers and some rubberized mat material to turn it.

As for removing that darned section out of the sac protector, I tried Richard's coat hanger approach, but found (for me, anyway) that FPNer Pigpog's Q-tip approach worked better. He cut the end off of a Q-tip and used the "stick" end to push the section out from behind (by inserting the Q-tip into the small hole at the very end of the sac protector tube). I did have to slightly (and I mean *slightly*) uncrimp those 4 metal bits holding the section in place before I pushed with the Q-tip. I tried to vary where I was pushing on the section so as to distribute the pressure on it. Other people's experiences may be different, but the Q-tip approach worked for me.

You got lucky on your first one! Sometimes that happens, often not.

I use a piece of thin rod (piano wire) mounted on a wood handle to push the plug out. The end is rounded, and I angle it to the edge/wall of the sac guard to avoid the damaging the end of the snorkel tube. Push from the inside, while glently rocking the tube from side to side.

Thanks - I'll do that next time; now that I've had one apart and I can visualize where the parts go it's easier.

I had to slightly un-crimp the front edge of the sac guard in order to get the section out; is it necessary to re-crimp it when I reassemble it, or can I just leave it alone? It seems pretty snug in there as is....

I always try to run the crimp back down, it keeps the section from pulling loose from the sac protector, and you also don't want a sharp edge chewing on the nib holder.

Exact alignment of the slit in the feed and the slit in the snorkel tube isn't necessary, but they should be pretty close. Easier on the Triumph nibs since the end is cut at an angle.

About half of the Snorks I've re-done had the sac just slip out, the other's required carving. They can be really a pain if someone pulled ink in there!.

I can usually get the section out by pulling on the snorkel tube while gently working it back and forth, it saves all the re-alignment hassle. Doesn't always work, though.

Worst thing I've had happen is the spring stick in the seat so the seat partially "unscrews" up the sac protector and I can't get it to screw back down to the base. Is there a trick to this? It's fairly thin brass and I don't want to mash it.

I've found that when this happens, the spring has started to come "unwound" a bit or is rusty, and gently bending the end inward a hair keeps it from gouging into the seat next time.

Peter

Yes, you do need to crimp it again. Press in on the flats with the point of a flat blade screw driver, and roll the edge of the sac guard on your knockout block or a solid piece of metal. This will press the edges in evenly. Check the fit in the section when done. The sac guard should move in and out without any binding or scraping. Note that some of the sac guards are keyed - there is one wide ridge that fits into a wider slot in the section. When you have this you want to make sure that you reinstall the plug in the same spot. If you don't you'll have to re-orient the snorkel tube so that it's in the right position in the feed.