Hi, I got a vac maxima, and disembled almost everything. But the filler is still stuck in the barrel, likely held by ossified rubber sac (see the pictures). I've soaked it in the water for a day, still does not budge. Does anyone have any suggestion on how to soften the ossified rubber? Thanks.

Check out the information in my page on replacing a Vac diaphragm.

Richard, thanks for your reply. But I did read your instruction, a few times, before I proceeded to dissemble the pen. Now I am at a stage that your instruction seems not to mention about -- to get that stucked filler out. I tried to push quite hard, but no success.

Jun

Have you made a "pusher" like the one i described? If you're using one and still can't get the filler out, try setting the barrel up on a nib block, and apply a hammer gently to the back end of the pusher.

Richard's pusher tool and a gentle touch is the ticket! If you've got a hobby shop (model trains & planes) in your town, they'll have the brass tubing.

Hardest part for me (and my crummy eyes) is making sure the filler seat is total clean.

Good luck

John

Thanks again! I tried the pushing trick and did not work. I think your last suggestion is right on! I perhaps need to knock it out, but am a bit worried whether the plastic edge can stand the knocking pressure. Da book mentioned something like lighter's fluid as a way to soften the hard rubber. Can that be used?
Jun

Lighter fluid has no place in my studio, but I know that other repairers use it. The Vac barrel is celluloid, and you have to whack it pretty hard to break it. The edge will stand up to the little amount of impact you need to knock the filler loose.

Let me reinforce what Richard is saying about having to knock it loose - and using the knock out block to support it. If you don't support the end, and simply hold it in your hand, there is the real possibility that the barrel will delaminate (i.e. fall apart) on you. Standing it on end in the knock out block will prevent this. The voice of experience......

poke it from the front

-david

Or you just have to have the hands-on skill set of a David Isaacson, in which case not even whacking it a bit can result in the following. Good thing i didn't specialize in surgery.

Blearrrgghhhhh!!!!

d

Wow, this is a scary picture! This is exactly what I am afraid of.

Ron, by "using the knock out block to support it" do you mean to put that barrel into some kind of a hole of appropriate diameter? Or just treating the barrel+filler as section+nib, and knock the filler out the same way as knocking the nib out? Thanks. Jun

The end of the barrel which the filler is in should be placed over a hole which is slightly smaller than it (but large enough to allow the filler to come out), so as to support the whole face of the back end of the barrel. Then from the front section end of the barrel insert your knock out rod and give it a smart tap. You aren't driving nails here, so no need for a full armed swing. Just give it a nice solid tap. The filler should drop out under the knock out block.

Or, as I have now read the whole of your question of Ron above, do it just like knocking a nib out of a section.

Cheers and good luck.
Sean

This is a nice pen that should only be handled by a pro. Please try not to work on the pen if you are not able with a proper tool. Paid and see your pen repairman if you really want and like to understand better. This pen is "not" worth a try but only regrets later. I hate to see One less in the world esp: a MAx Vac.

I would add that if you are afraid of barrel breakage, warming the barrel around the filler seat reduces the material's brittleness while softening the hardened rubber holding the filler in place.

Success Report and Next Challenge: After soaking it for two days, I pushed the filler out without knocking! Thank you all for the great advice and all the tips.

The next step is to clean those sticky rubber debris out -- just brute force (i.e., small screw drivers, dental picks etc), or some more nice tricks?

Jun

I use a combination of dental scrapers and wooden chopsticks. Watch that you do not scratch the barrel bore with something sharp. Soak the barrel again overnight and any remaining diaphragm will turn grey and be easier to see. That last little Bon Mot was a tip from Ron to me a wile ago, and it works awesome.

Cheers,
Sean

What you want to avoid is scoring the inside of the barrel. The best scraping tools to use are rounded, so as to minimize digging in. A good scraper can be made from a piece of metal tubing.

More on Vacumatic repair here: The Seven Deadly Sins of Vacumatic Repair

I was working on a Vacumatic earlier today and found that running the stuck parts under hot water from the sink worked a treat in loosening things without breakage.

Thanks for your nice suggestion. I tried that (i.e., medium hot running water) for about an hour and it did not do the trick. So I just dumped the unit to a grass with water for two days (so the water naturally cooled down) and finally got the stuck rubber loose.
Thanks again.

Good eyes. It is amazing (at least to me) that you can tell it is a vac maxima barrel from just this set of pictures. I sometimes have trouble figuring that out even with the picture of the whole pen. I purposedly did not show the whole pen being afraid of being hated by some of you guys .

I actually fully agree with you. When I first started, I just said to myself: just gave it a try, if it got stuck I'll just stop and send it to someone like Ron or Richard. But then, whenever it got stuck, I somehow was "pulled" to "solve" it (or reluctant to admit defeat). I have dealt with a few standard vacs and they were okay. I've made a few mistakes, all of which were results of carelessness and ignorance (before I discovered this forum), not really due to difficult issues (I actually just realized it now, interesting). I do still have a few difficult and valuable pens (two RHR duofolds and a wahl coronet) and am waiting for a chance to hand them to professionals in some pen show.

I am a statistics professor by profession, but I really enjoyed playing/tinkering with pens. It is perhaps some kind of addiction -- I appreciate very much how it feels to get a nonfunctional pen to life.

Please do not use hot water on celluloid, it will discolor it in very short order. The best and generally most approved heating method is to use a hair dryer or an embossing heat gun from a scrapbooking store. These will be easier for you to control the heat with, with practise, and generally will not harm the pen when used correctly.

Cheers,
Sean

I seem to have been fortunate, then, as the celluloid is intact (what form does this discoloration take?). I am largely a neophyte and would fear melting with inexpert use of a heat gun. Would pen-in-plastic-bag and then warm water be better?

Take a look at this (rather longish) thread on heating pens.
Fireworks or how to and how not to heat a pen.

Cheers,
Sean

I had (page 2 in particular). I am still curious as to the exact nature of the damage that can be inflicted on celluloid by water.

I did it once. I once was frustrated (two years ago) and threw a vac junior's barrel with its stuck filler into a pot of water of roughly 200 F. The barrel instantly became whitish cloudy, like someone did a very thin layer of white paint on it.
But running water should be okay as long as your hand can handle it comfortably. Otherwise it might be too hot.

Tym, you know the funny thing, I cannot explain the phenomenon. I know that others (Ron, Richard, David N etc) have stated that it is not a good or peferred method to heat pens. So I have never actually used hot, or even warm for that matter, water on a pen. I can say that other than the 2 pens I have overheated with a heat gun (both of which burst into flames), none have discolored.

I guess that it is just my nature to listen to the pros and do what they do, I also don't do what they don't do.

Cheers,
Sean

Looking at David Nishimura's Pen Repair Don'ts, I wonder if it has more to do with the temperature of the water than the water itself. I can easily see how water just shy of boiling would melt celluloid. Of course, water that is contaminated with ink, ammonia, or bleach I could easily see damaging the celluloid as well.

I wonder if something like distilled or deionized water would be a better choice (provided it's kept cool enough). Just free associating a bit...

I don't recall anyone saying that warm clean water should be of any problem for celluloid.

The other thing to consider is whether hot water leaches out the camphor, effectively deplasticizing the celluloid. I do know that for long-term preservation, it is better to use lower heat for a longer time than high heat for a shorter time -- and not just for preventing scorching! Apparently the loss of camphor accelerates considerably as the temperature rises. I also know that exposing celluloid to alcohol leaches out quite a bit of camphor. Celluloid is a quite permeable material, which is why it can stain when exposed directly to some inks.

David,

If camphor loss can be accelerated, is there any way for it to be reversed?

Curious,
Tom