I just received a Sheaffer Tuckaway fountain pen. It has a short clip and a Lifetime Triumph nib... a beautiful little pen! It does have a couple of little issues, though, and I was hoping (with y'all's advice) to be able to take care of them myself, since I'm having trouble putting it down long enough to even think about shipping it away for someone else to repair.

First of all, the clip is a bit loose. It's not detached or bent, just loose at the attachment point.

Second, it doesn't seem to hold as much ink as I would expect. It's a piston filler, and fills without problems... but I seem to run out of ink quickly (filled this morning, ran out a bit after lunch - and not a LOT of writing done in the meantime). I filled it with cleaning solution overnight, then rinsed and rinsed and rinsed with water before inking it... could there still be a clog of old ink? Or does this pen just not hold much?

Any comments and advice would be appreciated. It's a lovely little pen and writes beautifully... It deserves to be an everyday user.

Is it a Touchdown filler or a plunger filler? The Touchdown pens are pretty easy (and inexpensive) to repair... the piston fillers frighten me.

Well, I'm not sure what it's called, actually.
*gooddog blushes

It's my first piston filler. If I'm doing it right, then the blind cap (?) unscrews, you pull it out, dip it in the ink, push the piston back in, and hold it in the ink for at least 10 seconds. Would that be a plunger filler?

No need to blush. If the plunger is almost the same diameter as the pen it is a touchdown. If the plunger is much smaller in diameter it is a piston filler.

Edited to clarify piston filler. The proper term is Vacuum-fil. I'm confusing myself now.

I guess it would be a Vacuum-fil, then. the plunger is about the diameter of a #2 pencil lead.

Here is an article that may be of interest. There are 2 images of the inner components of the Vacuum-fil mechanism.

I re-worked a Touchdown filler about 2 months ago, but I understand the Vac-fil is one left to the pros.

Is there a way to know if it's a bad packing unit or o-ring, vs just a clog of old ink?

I'd suspect either the packing or the piston seal. If it were a clog, it just wouldn't take in ink at all really. With a vac, if it's in top shape and you're pressing the piston down, it will return to the top of its travel thanks to the vacuum it's generating and when the pressure releases the pen will say something very like, "Guk!" An imperfect seal, if it works at all, won't bounce back during the downstroke and will be less emphatic in it's statement.

One way to tell if the packing is the problem is seeing ink on the piston-shaft. Ink in your pocket is a pretty sure sign, too.

Well, it has said nothing to me at all, and the piston doesn't bounce back... on the other hand, there is no ink on the shaft and no leaks.

So... time to call in the pros?

Probably. One can stumble along for a long while if it's the piston seal that's not quite let go, but there's always the danger of the packing joining the party.

But it's my PRECIOUS!

Hey, I've got two that REALLY SHOULD be sent in for fixin', but they draw enough ink to write for a day and that writing is sooooo nice... how could I part with them? My current stop-gap is to apply a good slather of the correct pure silicon grease to the shaft, in the hopes that it will keep the packing if not plump then at least hydrophobic.