Sometimes you think something is obvious and it isn't. I'm about to remove my first filling mechanism from a Vac and I want to make sure that I'm attacking the problem correctly. I have Da Book and all it says is to remove the filler with no instructions that I can find as to how to proceed. I think I understand how to proceed after the filler is out, I'm just checking that I'm takeing the filler out correctly.

I do have a Vac tool. I remove the blind cap and screw the filling system into the tool and then tighten. The filler is screwed into the end of the pen. It is not a slip fit like many sections. The reason that I'm tightening the Vac tool is so that I can clamp the end of the filler and then screw out the filler. Sometimes heat is required to loosen the filler. The filler is a right handed thread.

Am I doing this right? Like I said, sometimes the obvious isn't so obvious. I'd rather ask questions the first time than take the chance and go CRACK.

Thanks for any help.

Ray H

I've not done many Vacs but one thing I will add is that it's a good idea to mark the relative positions of the filler and barrel. This way they can be re-united in the same position which will ensure that the blind cap appears flush when screwed on.

Good luck!

Martin

You're on the right track. Just make sure you don't grip too hard. If there's no give, heat some more.

When putting the Vac tool on, consider screwing it down until it touches the barrel, then tightening, applying heat and removing the filler. If you don't have to remove the Vac tool from the threaded part of the filler for the rest of the repair, then when replacing, it will screw down to the exact position it was in originally, ensuring alignment of the blind cap. You can do this in addition to Martin's suggestion of marking - another good thing to do.

Gerry

You can take it for what it's worth, but I never mark the position of the filler when repairing Vac-fillers -- and I do literally hundreds each year.

How far you screw in the filler retainer should be a function of how thick the diaphragm skirt is, anyway -- and that can vary considerably. If the skirt isn't compressed at all, you may get leakage out the back. Compress it too much, and you may get barrel bulging or, on 51s, stress cracks around the filler seat. These can take some time to appear, too, so just because everything looks fine once you've completed reassembly won't mean that it will be equally copacetic after a few weeks or months.

Like David, I do hundreds of Vacs a year. I don't mark positions, either, because of the piece-to-piece variation of the diaphragms. When I first started out, I did mark positions, and I aligned things when I reassembled, and it was always wrong anyway. Now I do it by feel; I know by experience how far to torque it down. Once it's down, alignment is easy; it's just a matter of going backward or forward a very little.