I just received a restored Vacumatic, and the filling mechanism seems a little odd. First, it doesn't quite fill entirely up - it only gets to about 1/2 inch from the top when looking through the transparency. Also, unlike my other Vacs which feel smooth when depressing the filler, this one gives a popping sensation at the end of the stroke (make almost a clicking sound).

Should I be concerned about the filler, or is this normal for some Vacs? My other Vacumatic seems to fill entirely up, and this one gets well short of that.

Thanks for your help!

A Vac will fill only as far as one pump stroke's worth above the top of the breather tube. Is this pen's breather tube abnormally short?

The "popping" is a diaphragm that's not quite cut to the magically perfect length. As long as it doesn't jam, it's not a problem.

Thanks very much, Richard.

Yes, the breather tube is noticeably shorter than my other Vac, which definitely seems to explain the difference in ink capacity. The pen hold plenty of ink for my needs, so I'm glad to hear all is normal - especially that the popping sensation isn't likely going to be troublesome. Now I'm happy