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How Durable Are Snap-On Cap Mechanisms?


lurcho

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I've found them to very varied in durability. My L2K seems to be okay, but should a premium pen such as iit is last decades?

 

How about cheaper stuff like Jinhao 450s and 750s?

 

I'd be interested in your experiences, especially over protracted periods.

 

Thanks.

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The Parker 51, P-61, and P-75 have lasted a long time. In theory, the grip on the Parker 75 might wear down, but I have four of them that seem in great shape. The Sheaffer PFM is another.

 

I don;t know about the Chinese pens.

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Parker 45 is pretty good too. (dating to the 60's) My P51 Special is still really good as well. (early 50's)

 

My Lamy Al Star is over 18 years old. It doesn't stay on as good as it once did.

Brad

"Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind" - Rudyard Kipling
"None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try." - Mark Twain

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I have several push-cap pens from the 1990s, all Waterman. Only one of them has been mine all that time and it still clicks nicely -- an Expert II. The others, five Le Man 100 and an Edson, all work fine but I have no idea what was the extent of their use before this year.

 

I also have slip-caps from the 1920s. They are doing fine as well. My remaining push cap pens are very modern so of course have no wear.

 

Not in the least scientific, I know. One way of putting it is that I have no fears that any of the above are going to decline any faster than I will.

Edited by praxim

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My Lamy Studio must be around 20y old now (rough guess). The click mechanism had to be replaced some 5y ago (didn't close any more. At all). (Good news: Lamy replaced it free of charge). Now, the second mechanism still works well enough to take the pen to work in my 3-pen leather pouch. Use it at work. But I no longer dare to put it in my shirtpocket since it doesn't close very secure any more.

247254751_TSUKI-Yo_emptycompressedverkleind.gif.bfc6147ec85572db950933e0fa1b6100.gif

 

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I think it depend from how the mechanism is made.

inner cap in plastic, used in cheap pens but not only, should have a shorter life then metal mechanism.

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It will depend on the mechanism.

 

The Parker "51", Sheaffer PFM and Imperial, and Lamy 2000 all use springs to retain the cap. In the "51", it is internal to the cap, and there are no doubt similar springs on Parker's other pens with clutch rings; for the others, it's in the section.

 

The cap on my earlier Plaisir purchase does not snap on as firmly as the newer one. So some definitely degrade over time.

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I have a Parker 51 which was purchased by the original owner's fiancee in 1950. He carried the pen through USMC Officers Training, and then in combat in the Korean War. He told me that it was so cold in the northern parts of Korea, that there were times when the pen froze in his pocket. Anyways, the pen survived the war, and the owner came back, and reestablished his life and he became a Professor of Engineering at my University. I got to know him sometime around when FPN was first started, and he gave me his Parker 51 pen. Well, I have it now, and it is in my daily rotation. All the pen needed was a new sac, and it works as well as it was new. The snap-cap works fine too, even though it has seen 66 years of continuos service.

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The slide on caps certainly vary in both durability and mechanism but my Targa and Waterman Man 100 and Opera still work as well as my threaded Parker Centennial from the same period.

 

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As others have said, it all depends on the mechanism. Slip-on caps with no snap action can probably last forever, unless the cap and barrel are made of materials that shrink at different rates over time. Snap-on caps have to have some material that acts as a spring. If the material is well-chosen metal, and it doesn't corrode, the action should last nearly for ever. If it is plastic, everything depends on the details of the design. But the odds are the action will loosen and fail, maybe much sooner than you would like. This is one of those rare cases where you are likely to get what you pay for in fountain pens--reliable snap mechanisms that maintain a reasonable level of required force over a long period are likely to be more expensive to build.

ron

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Jinhao X450 I have had several years. No problems.

 

The only pens I had that gave me problems were earlier Montblanc 144s, where the clutch ring, adhered to the front of the section, would break off after several years. MB redesigned the section to a screw-on clutch ring.

 

Lamy 2000 annoyed me with its bumps on the section to hold the cap on. Durable, though, as far as I know.

Edited by pajaro

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
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As others have said, it all depends on the mechanism. Slip-on caps with no snap action can probably last forever, unless the cap and barrel are made of materials that shrink at different rates over time.

 

Yes. Some of the above comparisons are flawed. A Parker 51 has a slip-on mechanism with springs, and even without springs it might be pretty durable.

 

But the Parker 75's snap-on mechanism would seem to be less durable. I say this not from my own bad experience, but because replacement inner-cap clutch parts are offered prominently on eBay, which suggests that many 75 owners have needed to replace the inner-cap thingie.

 

The details are presumably different for different pens. I've gotten to where I'm willing to buy a screw-closure pen or a 51, though not so willing to buy a pen with a snap-on cap.

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I have found the caps on my Lamy Safari's to become loose very quickly if uncapped multiple times in a day. I had them for three years through college, and three years after before I needed to replace the caps, but then only a year of research field work before I needed to replace them again. The Lamy Studio appears to hold up better, it's a little loose but still usable after a year of field research.

 

The Pilot Metropolitan appears to hold up pretty well too, and has survived 2-3 years of research field work without becoming loose.

 

The Esterbrook SM Deluxe cap is very durable, and I believe falls within the spring mechanism that is mentioned above. It's my favorite snap cap pen by far! It's 50+ years old and has no sign of loosening.

 

I have a Parker 51 and 21 and they appear to be just as durable, but I don't use them as much so haven't put them through the ringer compared to the ones mentioned above.

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All 3 of my Parker 75 pens from the 1960s close securely with a satisfying clink. Same with my Parker 51 and my Cross Century pens from the 80s...as well as my 70s and 80s Mont blanc Noblesse pens (all 5)

 

The Parker 75 has the most secure and satisfying close

Edited by dadbar
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Some of the Chinese pens that I have, the plastic inner cap slips over part of the section to "click" on.

The problem is that inner cap.

I have several where the cap has become loose. What happened is the inner cap cracked, towards the bottom, where it would snap over the section. Luckily the fix is fairly easy.

- unscrew the fineal (sp?)

- push out the inner cap

- wrap ONE layer of electrical tape around the bottom of the inner cap. More than one layer and you won't be able to push the inner cap back in.

- push the inner cap back into the cap. May have to use a dowel or chopstick to push the inner cap all the way in.

- screw on the fineal.

 

The electrical tape pulls the inner cap back into shape and takes up the space between the inner and outer cap, so it keeps the inner cap from flexing out.

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Some of the Chinese pens that I have, the plastic inner cap slips over part of the section to "click" on.

The problem is that inner cap.

I have several where the cap has become loose. What happened is the inner cap cracked, towards the bottom, where it would snap over the section. Luckily the fix is fairly easy.

- unscrew the fineal (sp?)

- push out the inner cap

- wrap ONE layer of electrical tape around the bottom of the inner cap. More than one layer and you won't be able to push the inner cap back in.

- push the inner cap back into the cap. May have to use a dowel or chopstick to push the inner cap all the way in.

- screw on the fineal.

 

The electrical tape pulls the inner cap back into shape and takes up the space between the inner and outer cap, so it keeps the inner cap from flexing out.

 

Thank you very much.

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Sometimes you get what you pay for...how many beers did you pay for that pen?

 

Electric tape is cheap too.

 

 

My P-75 cost $22 in silver dollars...at $1.00=$16.59 or $364.98.

I've lot money!!!!!! :( :crybaby:

 

Well in Germany in @1970 that was @ 4 beers to the dollar... 88 beers back then...and still works like a champ.

 

There are places where you can get one for only E120....or E187....and If only back in the BC...before computer's when cost $1million...if only I had known to keep the stupid box.

But no one sold used pens back then...even if they were silver. Silver was so you could take it to a pawn shop.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Parker 45 - flawless after lord knows how many years.

 

Lamy 2000 - same. That click is so reassuring too.

 

Sheaffer Imperial - as secure as it ever was.

 

Visconti magnetic is SO lovely and can't see how a magnet will fail . . . but I've only had it since October.

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The only cap I have had problems is the Pilot Metropolitan. Mine was shot in a matter of a few weeks. I pulled the pen out of my pocket by the cap, the pen fell to the ground with the cap in my hand, and the nib was ruined. The second pen it happened to, I quit on Metropolitans.

Adam

Dayton, OH

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.

-- Prov 25:2
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