I just got my first Sheaffer plunger filling pen. I'm sure it's going to need to have repairs done because when you unscrew the back and pull up on it, it sqeaks like it's all dried out. Tell me, what do I need to know... how should I go about taking this pen apart and fixing it? In the past I've repaired a number of sac fillers and knocked out and unplugged clogged nibs and feeds so pen repairs really aren't anything new to me.

Looking from the "repair" perspective, there 2 major vac fill's version, being pens with "open nibs " & those with "Triumph nibs".
Sheaffer made three plunger bore diameters covering both versions.
Repair of an "open nib"pen is much easier & straight forward compared to a Triumph nib pen, mainly due to the tricky dis assembling of the Triumph nib (see Dabook) On an open nib pen one heats up the section thread & unscrews the section for the barrel;
Alternatively you can then :
1- Drill out the worn rod packing seal from the section side, install an O ring & glue a back-up washer ensuring axial fixation of the Oring ( Nishimura approach)
2- Leave worn rod packing seal as is & slide one of my "additional" fountainbel" cartridges in the barrel. No drilling, no gluing, minor drawback being one looses 7 mm ink volume but - in my opinion- neglectable given the inherent large Vac-fill ink capacity.
Restoring the barrel transparency a profound US cleaning cycle is recommended. Always install also a new precision piston seal.
On a triumph nib pen one had to disassemble the nib unit & hope that the threaded transparent plastic nib bushing will come out togethet with the nib.
According Dabook you have a 50% chance it does, otherwise you have a problem.
If the nib assembly comes out as a unit you can alternatively proceed as on pen with an open nib.
When the gold triumph nib comes off separately, one can install one of my "full replacement" fountainbel cartridges, which are installed from the blind cap side after extracting the worn rod packing assembly with special tooling.
Dillon Ang- who uses my cartridges in the US- or I can do this for you.
You can read all details on my different cartridges on the excellent Penpedia website.
For the real conservative "purist" collector I've recently developed a new approach in which the full rod sealing housing remains untouched.
Even the original axial back-up washer is reused.
Starting with the extraction of the old rod packing housing from the blind cap side, I remove the worn seals & felt ring & replace them with an O ring AND a fresh made (silicone grease impregnated) felt disk, just as in the original Sheaffer design.
No drilling, no gluing ,the complete housing & the back-up washer remain untouched !
The build in grease reserve ensures long problem free functionality at low friction, hence low wear of the sealing element.
Merry Christmas !
Wishing you success,
Regards,Francis

Throw a mess of silicon grease onto the shaft to see if you can't revitalize the felt. I got lucky once that way.

...of course, I've got six others that I'm saving up to put Mijneer Fountainbel's gizmo into.

Plunger fillers are in the realm of nightmare repair when compared to knocking nibs and replacing sacs. I don't buy them - period! They are a stepping stone for Sheaffer getting away from the lever. You can see it in their war film that they are convinced that a vac fill is the way to go and Sheaffer achieves this with the touchdown filler but from 1935 to 1947 they are various horrible vac fills. There are good repairs but they involve drilling out the unit etc. if you want to do it right. There are repairs to make them functional but, are not really good repair techniques. I collect 1912 to 1941 but having a vac "hole" from 1935 to 1941 doesn't bother me one bit - they are wicked bad pens.

Roger W.

Roger,
With all respect, but I totally disagree with your viewpoint.
When properly repaired a vac-fill can hold more ink as any filling system ever made, except perhaps the differential telescopic piston of the early Montblanc's.
Sheaffer"s most beautiful striated pens are fabricated in the Vac-fill range.
Although the filling system is difficult to repair, the satisfaction in bringing those beautiful pens to live with modern sealing elements is very rewarding.
Properly repaired life expectation of the filling system is surely as long as the sac in a lever filled pen & can hold surely 60% more ink.

Francis;

I'm not really saying they are absolutely bad. I like doing my own repairs unless it is filigree overlay work and those are $700-800 pens. Vac fillers have the same high quality nibs and they do offer a big difference from levers with their transparent barrels. I just won't do the repair on them nor am I willing to send them out. Frankly, a lot of other people won't either which offers you and Mr. Berg opportunities to get very good pens cheap. They are excellent properly repaired - they are Sheaffer's after all. Just to much fuss for me personally. Too bad Sheaffer couldn't have jumped right to touchdowns but, it would take development to get there though, these don't have the transparency. By all means continue to enjoy them as I continue to avoid them.

Roger W.

I realize you aren't speaking badly of the vac-fills.
I though will speak highly of them. They have become my everyday carry pens.
All have been outfitted with francis' catridge and hold a ton of ink. Their ability to
hold so much ink is the major reason I use them at work. I have no opportunity to fill-up during the day.

As you said Roger. More for us!

Merry Christmas ALL!

I understand what Roger says, and for a long time, I simply would not buy them. But I'm not sure that it applies any more. Don't forget the Wahl Dorics use essentially the same filling system.... I turned the corner when a reliable system came out to repair the packing units came out, then a reliable way to punch the right size piston washers became available (thank you Francis) and I got my hands on one sweet little Roseglow Balance.

I repair them, and repair them in such a way that they will hold up, but I do not like working on them because there is a host of problems that can pop up. But the system when working properly is elegantly simple, and the pens hold a ton of ink!

If they were easy, there wouldn't be the pleasure in accomplishment, of making these beautiful instruments operational again. A step at a time, but we can all get there, and bring them back to life, with the help of people such as Francis, who through their perseverance have made their repair achievable to us mere mortals.

Thankyou Fountainbel, for all help freely given, not just with the vac fillers.

et

Thank you. I guess I'll get it apart and see what kind of mess I have. The plunger does move but just sqeaks so maybe some silicone grease will do the trick. If that doesn't do it where can you find the parts you needs to replace the ones that are bad- I like a good challenge.

Oh yeah, where else can I find some diagrams of the workings of these pens? With sac fillers I've always been able to find diagrams that show and explain how the various pieces come apart and go back together. Some of those would be a lot of help- when I'm working on the offset lithographic presses at school I always like to have the repair manuals that show all the diagrams of that perticular part of the machine that way your less likey to slip up and loose some tiny little clip of spring.

Hey LedZep haven't seen you posting in a while. What pens/inks did you get for Christmas?

I've been so bloody busy- school and all- that's why I haven't been around much.

For Christmas I got a red Esterbrook single jewel, an ebonized peal Sheaffer balance- (the pen I'm looking for advice about here) and my grandmother gave me a Sheaffer cartrige pen (one of those transparents ones, the name escapes me) that belonged to my great grandmother. I also got an inkwell with stand and a wooden pen box that my grandfather made me- he's a carpenter and good at that kind of stuff. I hope the solvents in varnish don't ruin celluliod because it smells so strongly of varnish.

Hi there,
To answer a couple of your questions, there is more than one way to repair Sheafer vac fillers. Read up on them both, Francis Goosens method and David Nishimura's, whole differant debate on the ethical propriety of either method. Both also sell the required parts, and both are held, I believe in equal esteem by their respective supporters. Think you know that part of the fun is the chase for the information, along the way, you learn all sorts of other stuff that stands you in good stead for future pens. It's all covered here in previous threads and posts, and fountainbel is more than willing to help out with finite detail. David Nishimura is also a fine and good person to deal with, there will be others out there, but this is two that I have had direct and extremely satisfactory dealings with.

For your inkwell and stand to remind you of nail varnish, sounds to me like you grandfather used acid or pre catalysed lacquer to finish the item with. This is removed or thinned with acetone. It should stabilise once cured/hardened and do no damage to your pens, but we do know what acetone can do, so make sure it is well aired prior to use. Someone else may chip in with more elaborate or informed opinion on this.

As with all pen repair/restoration take your time and make sure you are clear in your own mind about what you are doing, also have all the equipment at hand, you will need. They are not I consider, the easiest of pens to repair satisfactorily, at a first attempt, so be patient.

BTW. I saw Led Zep in 1975 and1979, Earl's Court and Knebwoth, didn't try for tickets this time, but the clips I saw on the telly, they looked as god as they ever were.

et

Oh (Potty Mouth)! When I was heating this pen up to get the section and barrel separated the barrel right above the threads got soft and deformed!!! I knew it was threaded so I don't know what I did wrong! *pulls hair, throws ball point across the room in a fit of rage*

I guess I'm going to still take the pen the rest of the away apart to see how vacs work, but there's not any point in fixing it because it looks so hidiously ugly now.

Just to let you know if anyone has a Sheaffer vac ebonized pearl with a busted nib or cap that they are willing to part with for a reasonalble price I'm interested.

Welcome to the club. I think that everyone who restores pens has done that at some point. But it still stinks - you have my empathy.

You go the pen a little too hot too fast. The heat didn't have time to reach the sealant, and the plastic got too hot. Sheaffers are more prone to this than are the Parker Vacumatics. DON'T throw the parts away though. You may need them for the next one.

BTW, I've been collecting for nearly 20 years, and I'm still a sucker for red Esterbrooks. I especially like the transitional Esties.

I won't throw the parts away! Never! The nib is wonderful and the cap is in great shape, no chips or cracks- something that seems to plauge balances. I need to find someone on here who has a broken vac with a bad nib or cap or even both or someone who just has a vac barrel stashed away somewhere. The last time I fixed a Sheaffer the section pulled out of the barrel without any heat just a bit of twisting and it was out.

I'm really starting to love Esties, they usually don't give you any trouble because they come with good sacs most of the time and the interchangeable nibs are brilliant- they make cleaning so easy when you get a pen that was put away with ink in it!

Hey, where's a good place to post to tell people you are looking for something?

Maybe, in addition to the repair description in Da Book, it might help some people to read Victor Chen's repair of the Sheaffer vac -filling fountain pens. He gives a good description of His procedure in the Summer 2007 Pennant (PCA publication). There are many procedures to repair these pens. The trick is to find, over time, one which is satisfying and comfortable. Of course, it would help immensely to start on lower end or even junk vac fills so as not to ruin a more valuable fountain pen.

Hey, where can I find this perticular publication?

The pen I have is junk as of now because it deformed when I was heating it to get it apart so now I have a junk pen to play with.

Thank you.

I don't know which Vac-fill version you have, but one can not remove the section from the barrel on all vac-fill pens.
While this is generally not a problem on vac-fill's equipped with an open nib, it can't be done on all Triumph nibbed pens !
Sheaffer made 2 different versions of Triumph nibbed vac-fill pens :
1- The"early"( mostly striated versions) containing the ink directly in the semi -transparent barrel.
Most* ebonized pearl pens are also part of this family -(*I doubt saying all , but I'm nearly sure, please somebody correct if I'm wrong).
These pens have plain black section & do NOT feature an "all around" ink view window in the section just under the clutch ring
On these pens the section can NOT be removed from the barrel, the section is permanently glued/shrunk on the barrel.
The section will simply shear-off & break when heating up & applying the necessary loosening torque
2- The "later" plain color (and some non-transparent striated ) pens with a non transparent barrel containing the ink in a separated internal ink container.
These pens always feature a 4 mm wide "all around" ink view window in the section just under the clutch ring;
On these pens the section can be removed after removing the blind cap & the blind cap coupling nut from the plunger rod.
The section has not to be sealed in the barrel & can normally easily be unscrewed without heat.

Well mine didn't break, and my guess is the pen is from around 1945 because I have a similar Sheaffer Balance which is lever fill- but it has the same style of cap, cap band, nib and is the same lenght. Mine melted but the section did come free and it's threaded, which I knew before hand. It didn't appear that there were any kinds of glue on the threads either. I think it was just heated to quickly.

Totally OT but I never knew that Page wrote while playin BASS.

Sorry to hear about your pen there LedZepGirl, as Ron said, we have all been there. Those EP Balances are really nice too.

Cheers,
Sean

If you didn't know, he played bass for awhile when he was in the Yardbirds. Just common knowlege if you know anything about Jimmy.

Hey I could be getting a barrel, I'll just have to wait and see. I have great cap and a very nice nib (after cleaning all the dried ink off).

All right, now I want to know who repairs Sheaffer vac's. If you do and have done a few sucessfully let me know.

The Vacufills are often gorgeous pens. I would not hesitate to buy a properly restored one if it caught my fancy. However I avoid the ones "in the wild" since I know I'm probably dealing with a send out and major fix that I can't even touch myself. I prefer levers, myself- nothing beats the simplicity of it. I prefer Touchdowns to the Vacufill as well. But in a restored state, I think a nice Vacufill Balance might be in my future at some point, not sure when though.

Sorry no one answered this question, Zep.

richardspens.com (no direct link, but it's on the Reading page)
Swisher
Nibs.com

Likely other places, too. Unfortunately, Frank died a few years ago, but I do remember his posts on alt.collecting.pens-pencils.