stubborn vac filling unit

[underdradar]

Well----after removing a lot of vacumatic filling units, I have finally run into one that I cannot get to budge. Repeated soaking and assaults with the heat gun have produced no result. I would be appreciative of any constructive suggestion.

Thanks.

[KevinGambrell]

Hi

you say vac fill but what vac fill? Parker Sheaffer etc etc??

 

kevin

[underdradar]

Sorry Kevin for my vagueness. I am having trouble removing a PARKER vac's filling unit.

[KevinGambrell]

I had a Parker Vacumatic come in for repair a month or so black that had been sealed using Locktite thread locker. The problem was the locktite would break way above the melting point of the pen. In the end All i could do was clamp the filler in a vice to undo it, I held the barrel with a sheet of rubber. After fitting a new filler its a realy nice pen! and you wouldnt know the struggle involved. I have on a few occasions machined off the thread from a damaged filler and fitted a threaded sleave over the machined section. This is not a bad way to recover a badly chewed thread. In times of desperation I have made complete filler units but its a real pain in the bum to do.

 

I doubt this is your problem thankfully. Most of these are sealed using shellac but I have seen one or two that used lord knows what to seal them. To be honest the Parker just dosnt need anything on the threads to seal it the Diaphragm does this on the tapper.

 

I would start by giving the filler end a long soak in warm water by warm i meen warm to your fingers and certainly not hot. time wise maybe four or five hours.

Then move on to warming the filler to a higher degree but still no hotter than your fingers can stand. I may well be alone in my ideas but i do not like using too much heat on any pen. Shellac does need rather a lot of heat to melt but it becomes plastic at lower temps and that should be all you need. I am on maybe my 30th parker and have never heated to the temps some people use.

 

As you start to turn the filler tool try tightening the filler first by maybe 1/16 of a turn if it will move. Do not over do this as you can do damage. Then try undoing the filler as you would normaly do.

 

if all this fails you may need to use more heat, but be very carefull I still prefer to use hot water over hot air guns, although i do from time to time use a hair dryer.

 

Above all caution is the watch word with most pens, if it looks like its going to bugger it up it in all chances will!

 

If this all fails I would say sending the pen out is the only option left to you.

 

One thought that has just popped up is the filler oxidising, i have seen this on one pen. The aluminum had turned white and locked the filler solid. You could try standing the filler end in house hold vinegar for an hour or so.

I use Vinegar as an additive to my ultrasonic tank and I know it does no harm to the pen barrels.

 

kevin

[underdradar]

Thank you Kevin for your reply. There was oxidation so I gave the pen a vinegar bath for 3 hours. Nothing. Afterwards, I tried a couple of fairly warm baths for a few hours. Nothing. No result. The filling unit has not budged. And the pen is not worth sending out for repair. So....

[KevinGambrell]

HI

Sounds like it could have had an attack of the modern sticky stuff. The problem is most glue for a lack of a better term can be broken down in one or another solvents but as a rule the same solvents break down the pen! Can be a problem.

 

What tool are you using to grip the filler? the double tool sold by Tryphon is ideal as it lets you warm the tool its a nice lump to hold heat.

 

You may want to try going hotter for a short time I dont like to do this but it may be your only option. If you heat the tool it will hold the heat for longer than the filler and with luck allow you more working time.

 

What model of Parker is the pen?

 

Kevin

[SMG]

Hey Radar, I had one similar to this just last week. It was a plastic filler unit, and when I say that, the threaded collar was plastic. I heated the (Potty Mouth) out of that pen and it would not budge, it just kept turning out of my vac tool.

 

I ended up twisting the smaller thread off of the filler, cutting the plastic filler plunger off and drilling the filler out. I left plenty of room so that I could use an easy out, but ended up that would not work either. I ended up cutting away as much of the plastic threads as I could with a knife, and then eventually I only had a .5mm wall thickness left. At this point I pried the filler inward and it broke just enough that I could pick the remnants out of the threads. Someone had super glued the filler in there, I could see it on the threads.

 

I carefully picked the CA out of the threads and tried a new lockdown filler unit. perfect fit and sealed up right away.

 

If you want, shoot me an email back channel. I would be willing to give it a shot for you.

 

BTW Kevin, if you need a section, give me a yell, I have a spare.

 

Cheers,

SMG

[underdradar]

Thanks SMG for the offer and a description of your experience. I was away from a computer for a few days. I suspect that someone used a completely inappropriate glue on this vac. But I am going to keep working on it somehow.

Kevin, I am going to try heating up the vac tool and see what happens. I am not using a block but the tool with a handle which allows one to clamp down on the threads. And the pen is a simple vac major which is not in good shape.