New Duofold Bp Refill Removal - Rear Assembly Won't Come Out

[Brian-McQueen]

I had a problem getting the refill out of a new style Duofold ballpoint today. The cap pulled off of the back, but I couldn't untwist the back end to get to the refill. I looked for resources on how to get it out. I saw many old topics where people asked the same question, but no answers. Well, I figured it out, and thought I'd share in case someone searches for it in the future.

 

Here's what the problem looks like when the gold cap comes off but the mechanism and refill don't come with it.

 

I fit a 5mm deep-well socket into the rear end of the pen, and turned it counter clockwise to remove the mechanism.

 

The black part is the part that comes out with the socket.

 

Then you press the gold cap and the black part together very firmly

 

Then, drop your new ballpoint refill in the barrel, and screw the rear assembly into the barrel, continuing a few turns past what seems necessary. Then check your extend/retract function. If that works smoothly, you should be able to unscrew the rear assembly as one piece out of the back of the barrel to replace the refill in the future.

[elysee]

I had this problem with a Duofold ballpoint that I purchased on eBay. I had tried multiple times to remove the mechanism without the cap coming off but noting would help. When I contacted the seller, he kept insisting that I was not pushing hard enough on the top of the pen while turning the cap and that it was my fault that the pen mechanism would not come out for replacing the pen refill. After I described the problem to him multiple times as well as provided pictures of the cap and the top of the pen with the mechanism still inside, he agreed to allow me to return the pen for a full refund of my money. When I spoke with him by phone it became clear that he found that some of his other pens had the same problem.

 

When I spoke with the seller, I shared information with him regarding the design of the mechanism for the 1990's Duofold ballpoint pens. For these, the pen mechanism was not recessed inside the pen and, thus, could be twisted off even if the gold cap was removed; I had shared pictures of the 1990's Duofold ballpoint mechanism with him as well.

 

I appreciate your sharing this solution to the problem as well as the pictures. It will be helpful to others as this seems to be a problem with the newer Duofold ballpoint pens.

Edited December 27, 2016 by elysee

[Kalessin]

I know I'm reviving this topic after a five-year sleep, but I found this information super-useful for a Duofold Red Mosaic ballpoint that I just received. 

 

For design reasons that I can't fathom, Parker designed the ballpoint mechanism with a removable cap at the back end of the pen.  They further complicated the design by using only a sliding clutch to hold on the end cap rather than something that could better spin the "black part" mentioned above, which is the extension mechanism.  The clutch is too weak to keep the metal end cap from spinning freely or coming off, especially if the pen has been sitting for some time. The threads that hold the extension mechanism in the pen shaft seem to get a little stuck.

 

The socket method shown above is what allowed me to remove the extension mechanism, because it engages the clutch fingers from the sides.  I used a standard-depth socket, but the critical dimension is the outer shaft diameter, because it needs to fit into a recessed area.

 

When using a 5mm socket, gently press it into place, and then gently rotate it counter-clockwise, using minimal force to get the job done.  When I got the ballpoint refill out, it was well-covered with a very light lubricant, probably to smooth and quiet the refill motion in the shaft.

 

After some more reading, it seems that this lubricant may originally have been inside the extension mechanism to help keep it silent, and eventually leaked into the refill area.

 

After putting the extension mechanism part into the metal end cap, and then screwing the assembly back into the pen with the refill inside, the mechanism now works as the original design intended: to remove the refill, turn the end cap counter-clockwise to first retract the point, and then unscrew the extension mechanism.  When re-assembling, you may need to fiddle with the assembly a bit to get the point to extend out fully.

 

When I was looking for information about the extension mechanism, I found that Parker may have discontinued the version in my 2003 ballpoint pen, and no longer has the part available.  They also apparently can wear out with heavy use.