Close Call - How I Reassembled M1005 Piston Without A Tool

[usnavydoc]

I was cleaning out my M1005 Demonstrator when I noticed that the piston wasnt moving up to suck in ink. Like a noob I kept turning right thinking it could be stuck and will dislodge. One thing did dislodge - the entire piston from the rest of the pen.

 

I went to YouTube to find out how to put it back together and learned that my piston assembly somehow got loose, which is why it wasnt moving when I was turning the plunger. I also realized I didnt have the tool needed to put it back together without having a gap between the barrel and the end cap.

 

Not wanting to send the pen for repairs, I figured out a way to assemble the pen without a tool. First I took the nib out. Then I pushed the plunger into the barrel through the rear opening with the plunger rod aligned to the oval hole of the piston assembly when its fully screwed in. Then I screwed in the piston assembly and hand tightened it. I installed the end cap and turned it clockwise 6 turns.

 

Using a chopstick, I pushed the plunger towards the assembly hole. Once the plunger rod was inside the piston assembly, I continued to turn the end cap clockwise until it was fully seated. Tested it a few times and installed nib back into the pen.

 

Lessons learned: 1) when turning the piston and it doesnt move - dont keep turning, something is loose. 2) get the damn tool for piston installment and removal, and silicone grease. 3) always keep chopsticks around. With my screw up I did learn a few things about my pen that I would never have learned otherwise. Figured Id share my fix in case someone ever has this happen to them and they dont have the tool or are not willing to send it for service.

[inner000light]

Good job and good save! I wouldn't have thought of chop sticks... I have those around . I will defn not keep turning the knob if piston doesn't move on my 1005 and other pelikans. thanks for the tip!

 

I will be using the twsbi tool from the 2 twsbi clear ecos that I keep around to let non fountain pen friends use instead of my m1005 when they ask to borrow my pen.

[Bo Bo Olson]

From what I remember reading, one can chop a wrench into a credit card and use it to unscrew the 800/1000....I don't have either nor any plans to. Too heavy for me.

[Driften]

I wonder how that could happen. On my pelikan pens the piston bottoms out against the back of the section. At that point both ends have no where to go. You really could not keep turning it then. On the up side the knob is locked against the body.

 

I wonder if your piston had not bet setup correctly in the first place at the factory to give it enough room to come loose. Maybe the piston rod is too short for that pen. Or are m1000's different then m800's and lower models?

 

The TWSBI metal wrenches work on m800/m1000...

[hari317]

Well done. But the chopstick is an improvised tool, no?

 

Here is a under the hood guide I wrote a while back.

 

https://ia601509.us.archive.org/21/items/M800M1000PistonFillerUnitUnderTheHood/M800%20M1000%20Piston%20Filler%20Unit-Under%20The%20Hood.pdf

[Driften]

Well done. But the chopstick is an improvised tool, no?

 

Here is a under the hood guide I wrote a while back.

 

https://ia601509.us.archive.org/21/items/M800M1000PistonFillerUnitUnderTheHood/M800%20M1000%20Piston%20Filler%20Unit-Under%20The%20Hood.pdf

 

 

Thanks for the pdf!