Repairing A Parker Lockdown Vacumatic

[Paul-in-SF]

Hi, folks. Last week I was able to successfully repair my first P51 vacumatic filling system, so I thought I would give this trickier one a try, to relieve my cabin fever. It's been sitting in my repair drawer for months. It is a black pen, double-jewel, made in Canada, about 118 mm long.

 

I have disassembled everything. The filling unit looks intact, no corrosion, and I think I understand how to put it back together. I think I have the correct size diaphragm (debutante size). I also have questions.

 

First, the remains of the previous diaphragm are stuck like glue to the sides of the barrel, just behind the threads that hold the filler unit. I have been scraping away at it with a nice spoon-shaped dental tool thingie but it is taking forever, and it is difficult to see what I'm doing. Any tricks to softening up that crud so that it will come out easier? I soaked it and ultrasoniced iit which did a champion job of getting out the old ink, but didn't do much for this stuff.

 

Related question: when I have been scraping that stuff I am getting not only black bits but also light brown shreds that almost look like wood shavings (I'm sure that's not what they are, just what they look like). Is that normal?

 

Final question, I think: how long should the diaphragm be trimmed? I have found some old discussions but none that cover that point/

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/repair/vac.htm

 

Includes instructions to make a tools and diaphragm lengths

 

Good luck. Pics or it didn’t happen!

[Ron Z]

Use Naphtha to soften the old diaphragm. Your wood shavings are shavings of the barrel. Length is about an inch from the tip of the ball to the open end. I have it marked on a drawer of my tool box, and another on the center drawer of my bench so I don't have to measure. You may need to play with your first one. You want the diaphragm to unroll completely without stretching.

[Paul-in-SF]

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/repair/vac.htm

 

Includes instructions to make a tools and diaphragm lengths

 

Good luck. Pics or it didn’t happen!

 

Thanks for the link. And challenge accepted. Here's the starting place (I haven't trimmed the diaphragm yet or cleaned the filling unit).

 

Edited August 13, 2020 by Paul-in-SF

[Paul-in-SF]

Use Naphtha to soften the old diaphragm. Your wood shavings are shavings of the barrel. Length is about an inch from the tip of the ball to the open end. I have it marked on a drawer of my tool box, and another on the center drawer of my bench so I don't have to measure. You may need to play with your first one. You want the diaphragm to unroll completely without stretching.

 

Thank you, I guess it's good I stopped scraping when I did. The resource I used for my P51 vacumatic repair said 1-1/16" for that diaphragm, and it seemed to work OK. It makes sense that this one could be a bit shorter because the diaphragm end of the filling unit is a tiny bit shorter.

[FarmBoy]

Parker had all the diaphragms cut to the same length. The fillers all have the same stroke.

 

It looks like the notch on your filler shaft is torn so the filler will not latch down. In some instances this can be addressed.

 

When removing or installing a lockdown filler release it from the locked down position. Also make sure your vac wrench has enough clearance at the back and the crown is not hanging up and turning.

 

The lockdown pens came in different models that use all three sizes. The filler diameter determines which one you use.

 

I think there was an article in the Pennant about the different fillers.

Edited August 14, 2020 by FarmBoy

[Paul-in-SF]

Farmboy, thank you for the information. I think you are right about the filler unit not locking down. It was that way when it came to me, although I wasn't sure how serious it was at the time. It does not seem that there are readily available replacement parts for these things. And if this can be addressed, I have no idea how. I screwed the blind cap on just now to the filler unit and there is about 1/16" of play in the shaft (or maybe a little more). I suppose the blind cap would hold it down during use but I don't know what would happen with that amount of play in the shaft, whether it would promote leaking or something.

 

As you can see, I don't have a good understanding of the details of how these units function, and I've never handled any other than this one. The plastic button ones seem easier to deal with, or at least you can replace them if they are broken. I'll try to check out the back issues of the Pennant to see if I can find that article.

[Chuchulan]

Hi, due to the shortage of Lockdown spares I am looking at replacing it with a regular Vacu unit. Has anyone tried this, and what were the issues? or does anyone know where I can get a refurbed lockdown unit?

[FarmBoy]

7 hours ago, Chuchulan said:

Hi, due to the shortage of Lockdown spares I am looking at replacing it with a regular Vacu unit. Has anyone tried this, and what were the issues? or does anyone know where I can get a refurbed lockdown unit?

I wouldn't so much say there is a shortage of lockdown filler units but more a lack of fillers people are willing to sell at a reasonable price.    The real deal breaker on this one is the high cost of shipping from the US (where there are fillers available) to the UK.  The only way the filler will make it is in a small box, a bubble envelope hasn't always worked out so well for the filler.

 

Often times the best way to get one is to buy an otherwise damaged pen in whole and use it for parts.

 

You might contact Tim (repairs at parker51 dot com) and see if he has any.  Note that most people with these will not sell them outright but keep them and sell them as part of a restoration.

 

If you switch to an all plastic filler there is only the small (deb) size filler that is available.  The obvious problem is the putton presses against the back of the blind cap.

[VacNut]

The London and Birmingham Pen shows are coming up. You can likely find a good filler at both events. I can’t speak to pricing. Good luck.

[es9]

I think Dale over at Pentooling has NOS lockdown units for sale. They’re not cheap, but that’s not surprising given how hard good ones can be to come by. 

[VacNut]

I think a NOS lockdown filler is around $45-$50. I know Fivestar was selling NOS Oversize fillers for $65 (I bought a few. 😀😀😀). At those prices, it may be more economical hunting down a few donor pens, especially if you factor in postage to the UK. Sometimes you get lucky and you end up getting a few good tassies and jewels in the process.

[bunnspecial]

12 hours ago, VacNut said:

I think a NOS lockdown filler is around $45-$50. I know Fivestar was selling NOS Oversize fillers for $65 (I bought a few. 😀😀😀). At those prices, it may be more economical hunting down a few donor pens, especially if you factor in postage to the UK. Sometimes you get lucky and you end up getting a few good tassies and jewels in the process.

 

I've paid $50 or so for "parts" pens that had good fillers and at least one or two other other good parts...of course usually at those prices I'm getting plastic plunger pens and not lockdowns, but I have bought parts lockdowns for that.

[Ron Z]

TIP  -  the part of a lockdown filler that breaks is almost always the plunger.  The plunger is the same for all size lockdown fillers.  If your thread bushing and cone are good and you find a good pump with the wrong size cone and thread bushing, you can push the bar out which releases the cone, and can swap the parts out.  You will need to use an Xacto knife to push the spring back to reassemble with the replacement parts and to put the bar back in place.  Use the bar that goes with the cone and thread bushing that you will be using since they do vary in length depending on the diameter of the cone.

[VacNut]

7 hours ago, Ron Z said:

TIP  -  the part of a lockdown filler that breaks is almost always the plunger.  The plunger is the same for all size lockdown fillers.  If your thread bushing and cone are good and you find a good pump with the wrong size cone and thread bushing, you can push the bar out which releases the cone, and can swap the parts out.  You will need to use an Xacto knife to push the spring back to reassemble with the replacement parts and to put the bar back in place.  Use the bar that goes with the cone and thread bushing that you will be using since they do vary in length depending on the diameter of the cone.

Ron

When you get the chance, can you describe your process for re-inserting the retaining strip? Do you have a DIY tool that helps with the process?

[VacNut]

9 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

 

I've paid $50 or so for "parts" pens that had good fillers and at least one or two other other good parts...of course usually at those prices I'm getting plastic plunger pens and not lockdowns, but I have bought parts lockdowns for that.

…and down the rabbit hole Alice went….

The donor pen(s) is definitely the more economical long term option, but then that is how the Vac Madness begins, as you start hunting for more pen parts to restore donor pens…

IMHO, unless the vac is near mint, I would not bother trying to install a NOS filler. If you have such a filler, I would suggest you keep it for the very very special Vac. Find a good filler that is appropriate for the pen. 
Any filler will work on the Vac Junior or Standard pen, but as FB says the plunger will push against the back of the end cap or jewel, which is not ideal but works. 
A good repro filler is about $25.

[Ron Z]

15 hours ago, VacNut said:

Ron

When you get the chance, can you describe your process for re-inserting the retaining strip? Do you have a DIY tool that helps with the process?

 

Keep a dull #11 hobby knife blade handy for this.  I haven't cut myself yet, but then I'm very careful. 

 

Put the thread bushing  on the pump tube.  I catch the end of the spring with the tip of the blade and push it up the barrel, while holding the spring  back put the cone on the tube, line the slit in the cone up with the slit in the pump.  It's fiddly, but I use a pair of needle nose pliers to hold the bar and work into and through the slits from one side of the cone to the other.  Once bar is through everything, pull the blade out and let the spring snap forward.   

 

Do make sure that the fiber disc stays in the front of the pump, ahead of the bar.

 

When I insert a sac, I first use my pellet pusher to bump the disc back, which also pushes back the bar, cone, etc.  I insert the diaphragm and then pull the cone etc. forward.  This pulls the disc forward against the inside end of the diaphragm and pellet, which helps to insure that the diaphragm never pulls out of the pellet cup/end of the pump tube.

 

I happened to be working on a lockdown pump today, so I've taken an exploded view of the pump and have pinned it to the top of the repair forum.