Sheaffer Triumph And Imperial Feed Dismantling

[SmoutKa]

Hello,

I am a newbee here. I own a Sheaffer Triumph and Imperial pen, cartridge filled, type 550. (the cap is from a 30 years older Imperial IV, maybe sometime I tell it's story)

The problem is: It has never written properly. I received it new in 1993, but it doesn't feed ink, and never did.

Since I received it straight from the factory or import-agency, it can't be clogged with dried out ink.

I can fill the convertor normally, and then it will write until the nib is empty.

Apparently, ink can go in, but can't flow out properly.

I would like to repair it, and therefore remove the feed from barrel and nib.

How can I do that?

 

Karel

[pokermind]

You can do it like this

 

 

but I strongly recommend you first try the less drastic procedures of soaking and flushing first.

[JonSzanto]

...but I strongly recommend you first try the less drastic procedures of soaking and flushing first.

Boy, no kidding. Shawn says "I applied a little heat...". Yeah, right. For someone who has never done this before, you wonder: what kind of heat source? how much? what if it doesn't come out easy like that one? if heat causes it to unseal, how do I make a secure seal again?

 

Etc, etc.

 

One thing *I* would suggest is a slightly more involved cleaning: get an ear syringe bulb, and make up a solution of cool water and a small amount of household ammonia. Fill the bulb, and then stick the tip on the tube that sticks into the convertor or cartridge. Flush through the section and out through the nib, and do this repeatedly. This is the only way to make sure - barring taking it apart - that you'll flush out any small material or other crud that might be in the feeder tube or the feed itself. It doesn't have to be ink, it might be just something left over from manufacturing. After you've flushed it a good number of times, do the same thing with plain water, blow out with air and then dry thoroughly.

 

See if that helps. If it doesn't, then you have to weigh whether you've got the repair mojo to do it yourself, or send it to a repair / nib guy to service it for you.

Edited March 30, 2012 by JonSzanto

[SmoutKa]

Thanks for the link. You are right: I'd better not have this task as my introduction in pen repair :-)

 

So I had the proper soaking and flushing procedure first.

 

Ammonia, water, time, flushing. Until the water was clean, not only while flushing, but also after hours of soaking. Alas, it didn't do the trick.

So, I tried something slightly more drastic, but not as complicated as the youtube film.

 

See answer on netxt post.

 

 

You can do it like this

 

 

but I strongly recommend you first try the less drastic procedures of soaking and flushing first.

[SmoutKa]

Cleaned as good as I could. No syringe bulb available, so I used my mouth - just had to miss out on the ammonia. I did use ammonia for soaking, just not for flushing. An advantage of using my mouth was, that I could also do it form nib to barrel.

Anyway, it didn't help. But since flushing was easy, inkflow couldn't be hindered by clogging. So maybe the problem isn't in the feed, but in the nib. These inlaid nibs have no flex at all, and I wondered: what if the nib chokes the feed, or the gap in the nib itself is to small? So I gently inserted a fingernail between nib and feed. And later used a thin wire to get deeper between the two.

After some tweaking, I got a reasonable flow. It doesn't lay wet lines yet, sometimes misses out on a period, and still has a scratchy feeling over it. My Targa writes way better, but at least it makes a start now.

 

See the scan for my results.

 

Thanks for your help.

Are there other tweaks to improve inkflow?

 

Karel

 

...but I strongly recommend you first try the less drastic procedures of soaking and flushing first.

Boy, no kidding. Shawn says "I applied a little heat...". Yeah, right. For someone who has never done this before, you wonder: what kind of heat source? how much? what if it doesn't come out easy like that one? if heat causes it to unseal, how do I make a secure seal again?

 

Etc, etc.

 

One thing *I* would suggest is a slightly more involved cleaning: get an ear syringe bulb, and make up a solution of cool water and a small amount of household ammonia. Fill the bulb, and then stick the tip on the tube that sticks into the convertor or cartridge. Flush through the section and out through the nib, and do this repeatedly. This is the only way to make sure - barring taking it apart - that you'll flush out any small material or other crud that might be in the feeder tube or the feed itself. It doesn't have to be ink, it might be just something left over from manufacturing. After you've flushed it a good number of times, do the same thing with plain water, blow out with air and then dry thoroughly.

 

See if that helps. If it doesn't, then you have to weigh whether you've got the repair mojo to do it yourself, or send it to a repair / nib guy to service it for you.

[SmoutKa]

Okay, I wasn't happy with the result, and felt there must be something wrong in there.

So I decided to do it the hard way.

 

I used a hairdrier for 'some heat', and yes, the nib was pretty easy to unscrew.

It took some time to figure out how to split the feed from the rest. But then I found the culprit. A red, sharp, tiny particle of enamel or glass was was clearly blocking the inkflow. I removed it with a needle.

 

Re-assembling wasn't as easy as I hoped. The fitting was reluctant to screw back deep enough. Tried the hairdrier again. Didn't help.

Then I tried hot water (80 C), but that didn't help, either.

In the end I decided to use some mechanical force, running the risk of damaging the plastic (with a cloth to avoid direct contact).

It did the job, but left some scratches as well.

 

The good: I did my first fountain pen repair! It writes good, now.

The bad: Putting it back together isn't as easy as taking the nib apart. I did some damage to the surface.

 

 

Picture one: the enamel particle, broken while removed.

Picture two: the parts of the nib. When one looks close, one can see the enamel particle in the middle of the feed.

Edited April 2, 2012 by SmoutKa

[Chrissy]

I think you were very brave to do this as your first ever attempt at dismantling a pen without any special tools.

 

Maybe you can get some polish to get rid of the scratches.

 

There are pen repairers on here who sell it. You will find them in the pinned posts on top of the relevant repair or Sheaffer forums

[SmoutKa]

Thank you, Chrissy.

It makes me feel pretty proud, writing with it. It is similar to my first cars: needing a lot of maintenance, being a student I did half of it myself. Gives me a special connection, knowing what is going on 'under the bonnet'.

 

Even now it gives a rather dry line. I prefer my wetter Targa 1003. On the other hand (litterally speaking this time) my daughter is a lefty, and does her schoolwork with a disintegrating schoolpen. The dry line can be an advantage to her for smearing reasons.

 

And for the scratches: I am a little reluctant. Have seen bad results on other surfaces like laptops and carparts. What plastics are used for these pens?

I read a reply by a true FPN boss, the other day, suggesting that you should use nothing but a polishing machine with a cloth wheel at 750 rpm. (but who was it?)

 

I think you were very brave to do this as your first ever attempt at dismantling a pen without any special tools.

 

Maybe you can get some polish to get rid of the scratches.

 

There are pen repairers on here who sell it. You will find them in the pinned posts on top of the relevant repair or Sheaffer forums

[watch_art]

Great job!!

[hazcat]

No syringe bulb available, so I used my mouth

 

SmoutKa, I like your style and bravery! I'm so glad you shared your experience.

 

I bought a used 444XG, same style of nib, just to try that type and it writes smoothly and beautifully. If you don't love your pen yet, I hope you try adjusting it or send it out. It will be worthwhile.

 

Can you find Flitz polish? It is wonderful stuff for plastics if you use a light touch. The last time I bought it was at a gun store, but it may be at a place for professional car detailers. That's where I found it 25 years ago. There should be a polishing thread around here somewhere, too.

[hazcat]

Here's a thread on polishing. Turns out Flitz might not be the best stuff after all, https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/217451-pen-polishing/

 

It worked for me on a low-risk modern pen.

Edited April 19, 2012 by hazcat

[SmoutKa]

No syringe bulb available, so I used my mouth

 

SmoutKa, I like your style and bravery! I'm so glad you shared your experience.

 

I bought a used 444XG, same style of nib, just to try that type and it writes smoothly and beautifully. If you don't love your pen yet, I hope you try adjusting it or send it out. It will be worthwhile.

 

Can you find Flitz polish? It is wonderful stuff for plastics if you use a light touch. The last time I bought it was at a gun store, but it may be at a place for professional car detailers. That's where I found it 25 years ago. There should be a polishing thread around here somewhere, too.

Hi hazcat! Thnx for the support. I'm intrigued you somehow taste that I still have some double feelings about the pen. And you are right.

When I was done I had a problem left: timid flow. The slit looked closed to me, so I put some (well, quite a lot, frankly) force on it, using the nails of my thumbs. 'Massaged' the nib. It worked like a charm. Scratchiness and dryness are gone.

Well, are they?

My daughter uses it now at school as her daily writer, and every now and again (like 2 pages of writing), it'll dry and skip. Some shaking 'n tapping will get it going again. So there either is a vacuum building up, or an airbulb (yeaks, looks horrid. Probably there is a different word for that) blocking the flow. Scanning FPN I see this is a major problem with convertors. On the other hand, I couldn't find one example of an inlaid nib or even any Sheaffer with this problem.

So I plan a next round. Maybe I was at fault reassembling. I remember the metal tube / plastic thing (what is it? In the picture it is the part between the 2 O-rings), and that I wasn't sure which side sould be up. Suppose I got it the wrong way round. That would explain the force needed to screw it together, and it might explain the vacuum. Just wonder if I find enough force to unscrew the lot. I know what I used to close it :ltcapd:

 

As for the finish: I have some car (paint) related polishers around. I'll try these at old electronics or toys, and if that works, will apply them on the pen.

 

444XG: That must me one of the best daily writers I can imagine. If it weren't for the gold (to flashy for the purpose), I would give one to my 10 year old son. He is seriously clumsy, and is supposed to use a (#^%& 'less than perfect' FP at school. Most of the ink ends up on clothes and boy. The part he manages to get on the paper is difficult to understand for the teachers

[hazcat]

I love the way the 444xg writes, but the external looks are such a turnoff. Only the cool nib saves it.

 

Have you tried different inks in the Targa? I have some easygoing, eat anything type pens, and then I have some that are very, very fussy. Maybe it's gagging on a dense ink and would prefer a thinner formula?

 

And which converter do you have? 444xg has an aerometric, but I prefer the twisty-piston types. I'm not going to change it, though. I'll just keep the same ink in it. I have not had any splorps or splats or blobs. The nib stays just a bit messy on the top side even though I have Noodler's in it, but as long as it writes well, I'll just wipe it once in a while.

[hazcat]

I wonder if there is a Sheaffer service manual anywhere? Maybe a patent diagram?

[SmoutKa]

I have three inks in daily use. Quink blue black, Skrip black, Penman Ruby. I don't see a difference in performance.

Now I am trying a couple of suggestions from this thread: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/219488-what-am-i-doing-wrong/page__p__2317412__fromsearch__1&do=findComment&comment=2317412.

At the moment I flushed the aeromatic convertor with soapy water, and inserted a particle to break surface tension. Maybe an airpocket is the problem.

444xg looks great to me: all matt metal. Sturdy, just some extra weight compared to very light 440s. It is too lustrous for a schoolclass with 10 years old children, but otherwise suits most people perfectly, IMHO.

I love the way the 444xg writes, but the external looks are such a turnoff. Only the cool nib saves it.

 

Have you tried different inks in the Targa? I have some easygoing, eat anything type pens, and then I have some that are very, very fussy. Maybe it's gagging on a dense ink and would prefer a thinner formula?

 

And which converter do you have? 444xg has an aerometric, but I prefer the twisty-piston types. I'm not going to change it, though. I'll just keep the same ink in it. I have not had any splorps or splats or blobs. The nib stays just a bit messy on the top side even though I have Noodler's in it, but as long as it writes well, I'll just wipe it once in a while.

[jctsoares]

Hoi Karel,

 

I received this Triumph Imperial 2443 as a gift and tried to disassemle the section to clean it but I gave up halfway because I didn´t manage to push out the feed from the section by any means and wasn´t sure if it had to get out through the front or back. I think the back but there's no movement at all. Is there any trick to push it out? Do you have to pull the inner white O ring first or the inner feed? if you can help with info on how to do this I appreciate it. Groetjes, Carlos

2016-02-07_10-21-48 by João Carlos Soares, no Flickr
2016-02-07_10-22-10 by João Carlos Soares, no Flickr
2016-02-07_10-22-24 by João Carlos Soares, no Flickr

[northstar]

Yes you have to remove the small o ring out, it gets stuck in place sometimes and stops the feed from being pushed out, once the o ring is out (be careful not to damage it while trying to get it out), just push the feed out and it should come out easily.

 

Best regards.

[jctsoares]

Yes you have to remove the small o ring out, it gets stuck in place sometimes and stops the feed from being pushed out, once the o ring is out (be careful not to damage it while trying to get it out), just push the feed out and it should come out easily.

 

Best regards.

OK thanks, surprises me that when I push the feed the rubber white O ring doesn't even move ... I´ll try again next time. For the meantime I inked up the pen and it writes perfect. Looks like a medium nib and no skipping. I guess I'm not gonna open it up again soon but it peeved me off that I didn't manage to take it completely apart and just had to know how in case I run into another one. Restoring old fountain pens and servicing is one of the things, that besides writing, makes this new hobby fun for me.

Edited February 9, 2016 by jctsoares

[macquid]

Great thread. Hope I'm not jumping in too late...

 

About reassembling the feed into an inlaid section: Do one, two or three points of shellac need to be applied on the feed for reassembly?.. i.e. feed top, feed sides or feed top and sides? Or am I mistaken about this all together?

 

Thanks

[terim]

Shellac goes on the metal bushing, not the feed ....