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Silicone Sac For Touchdown?

adamz712003

By adamz712003
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adamz712003 NOS (New Old Stock)

adamz712003

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Has anyone ever tried using a silicone sac when replacing a touchdown sac? Been reading up on them, and wondered if anyone had any experience

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pajaro Museum Piece

pajaro

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I bought a Sheaffer Imperial Touchdown from Ron Zorn that he had resacced with a PVC sac. I have personally used a Touchdown repair kit that I think I was told had a silicone sac. Working perfectly. The kit came from David Nishimura's company. Hope I spelled his name correctly. Works perfectly too.

 

I think the PVC sac should last longer, based on the Parker 51 aero I have with a PVC sac that I bought new in 1970 that is still working perfectly.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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Ron Z Museum Piece

Ron Z

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You may find this article to be helpful. Each of the sac materials comes with its own set of problems. Having said that, I will use the PVC sacs as long as I can, and will offer the silicone sac after they're gone, with the caveat that the pen has to be stored nib up because the pen may ooze if you don't.

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adamz712003 NOS (New Old Stock)

adamz712003

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You may find this article to be helpful. Each of the sac materials comes with its own set of problems. Having said that, I will use the PVC sacs as long as I can, and will offer the silicone sac after they're gone, with the caveat that the pen has to be stored nib up because the pen may ooze if you don't.

Thanks for the link, and the info. I think I will look towards the PVC sac, or possibly just send it in for one!

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tamiya Vintage

tamiya

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Just an odd thought... is silicone "softer" than latex, where it won't return back to its bulbous shape as fast/easy?

 

Remembering vaguely one incidence where a rebuilt pen wouldn't suck much ink in. Barrel plunger tested serviceable & pumped enough to collapse sac, but sac stayed shrivelled & wouldn't expand back to suck ink up.

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Ron Z Museum Piece

Ron Z

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Just an odd thought... is silicone "softer" than latex, where it won't return back to its bulbous shape as fast/easy?

 

Remembering vaguely one incidence where a rebuilt pen wouldn't suck much ink in. Barrel plunger tested serviceable & pumped enough to collapse sac, but sac stayed shrivelled & wouldn't expand back to suck ink up.

 

It all depends on wall thickness. The silicone sacs from David Nishimura (Vintage Pens) is fairly thick. Martin Smith sold PVC sacs as "silicone", and had some "super flexible" sacs for snorkel and TD pens that don't work very well because the walls of the sac are rather thin. They collapsed easily, but couldn't spring back to shape very well, so didn't fill well at all.

 

But all of the sac types come with their own advantages and problems. Take a look at the article in link in my post above...

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tamiya Vintage

tamiya

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Thanks Ron, yeah I did read that article. PVC plasticiser softening celluloid is a worry as as not all RTVs are the same... hmmm... definitely safer to stick to latex & shellac :)

 

Plastic erasers too can damage some plastics & paint finishes just by being in contact for long time.

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  • 2 weeks later...
rff000 Mint

rff000

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I had two latex sacs turn to goo in a tip-dip Cadet that I re-sacced. I don't want that to happen again so I may look for something besides latex, based on the above info. Or else, just experiment with inks and be ready to change the latex sacs more often. The pen worked really well and did not leak before the latex sac failed. I was a very easy repair--just as easy as changing a cartridge. The problem now is finding one or two sacs without a huge shipping charge.

 

Update: I just came up with a temporary solution for fun. I had a one dollar Chinese Parker clone with a cracked thread and I pulled off its sac and managed to stretch it onto the tip-dip peg. So far, it filled and is writing nicely. I'll see how long that lasts and if it will fill again. The Chinese sac feels more like silicone than latex, by the way.

Edited by rff000
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Ron Z Museum Piece

Ron Z

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The problem is that our source for PVC sacs, Martin Smith at Woodbin, passed away in early 2018. I'm hording the ones that I have.

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rff000 Mint

rff000

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I also wonder if shellac is really necessary for the tip-dip if you get a very tight fit over the peg plus a tight metal sac guard fit over that. I used shellac once but not the second time and not now and never had leaks--only the gooey latex sac I mentioned above.

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  • 4 years later...
goodpens Vintage

goodpens

Posted
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Thanks to all who participated in this thread. I wish I had looked for it and similar info when I replaced the sac in a Touchdown last year. I used silicone, having heard good things about them overall, but it didn’t do well at all and made a mess. I hadn’t realized that there might be filler-system-specific considerations. I finally swapped it out for a latex sac again and it is much better. 

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