Lamy Safari Cap Problem

[KiriBean]

Hello all,

 

I did a search of the forums but I couldn't find anything so I'm going to go ahead and ask.

 

I did a little bit of writing this morning and when I went to put the cap back on my Lamy Safari I find that it won't lock. The cap just won't stay on. I've looked it over, and I can't find any cracks or other damage (save for a few scuff marks from living in my purse). It wasn't dropped, or otherwise mishandled. It worked fine five minutes ago!

 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there anything I can do to fix it, or should I just chalk it up to 'cheap pen' syndrome. I've had it for less than a year.

 

Thanks,

-Kiri.

 

PS - Thank you to those who will suggest sending the pen in for repair. Honestly, the cost of shipping and the hassle of the "you must be there to receive it or we're sending it back" courier service used by the Canadian distributors makes this option waaay more hassle than it's worth. I just want to know if it can be repaired at home (tighten a screw, order a cheap replacement part, etc) before I chuck it. Thank you for the helpful thoughts, though.

 

[Edit: Spelling]

Edited January 5, 2010 by KiriBean

[PaulLeMay]

The Lamy Safari used to be my favorite pen, I love the clip.

I had three of them but they all developed this cap problem. It feels like the spring that holds the cap clicked on just wears out.

I sent two of them to Lamy for repair, they just put on a new cap. I don't use them anymore. After a few months the spring gets loose and the cap wont stay on.

 

I have switched to Pelikan.

 

Now if the Safari had a screw on cap there would be one in my pocket right now.

[Chthulhu]

The older Safari caps can be disassembled pretty easily without damage, but the more recent production are snap-fit, with the retaining part easy to damage during disassembly. If you look way up inside your cap, there should be a black (probably) ring of little "teeth" that are supposed to grip the groove just behind the nib. Most likely that piece is broken in some way.

 

New caps can be had for $10 or so: http://www.lamyusa.com/safari5.html

[KiriBean]

Thanks for all the help, guys.

 

I left the pen alone for a few days and lo and behold it's working again! I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that this pen usually lives in my purse, so it's had rather wild temperature fluctuations lately (indoor heat to -30).

 

Thanks again for the help,

-Kiri,

[Thornton]

The Lamy Safari used to be my favorite pen, I love the clip.

I had three of them but they all developed this cap problem. It feels like the spring that holds the cap clicked on just wears out.

I sent two of them to Lamy for repair, they just put on a new cap. I don't use them anymore. After a few months the spring gets loose and the cap wont stay on.

 

I have switched to Pelikan.

 

Now if the Safari had a screw on cap there would be one in my pocket right now.

 

Just out of curiosity, how long did you have the Safaris before the snap mechanism wore out? I've had all my Safaris for less than two years and so far the snaps still work.

[kazoolaw]

My first Safari had the lock fail. It was replaced for free.

Neither it, nor any later Safaris or variants, had another cap problem.

gary

[Edgar Allan Bo]

They have an inner cap made of rubber and if you press too hard while capping it can deform and the cap wont stay on the pen anymore...

[Thornton]

They have an inner cap made of rubber and if you press too hard while capping it can deform and the cap wont stay on the pen anymore...

 

Interesting. I'm pretty gentle with my pens so hopefully they'll last longer.

[jdkonzem]

has anyone had this problem with the Allstars? I know they are almost identical, but thought there might be a difference in durability.

[jchart51]

A slightly off-topic question (apologies)

 

Are converters for Safaris and AL Stars interchangeable?

 

Thanks

 

JH

[significantpass]

A slightly off-topic question (apologies)

 

Are converters for Safaris and AL Stars interchangeable?

 

Thanks

 

JH

Yeah.

[jchart51]

Thank ou

 

JCH

[Edgar Allan Bo]

A slightly off-topic question (apologies)

 

Are converters for Safaris and AL Stars interchangeable?

 

Thanks

 

JH

Yeah.

 

IF you are talking about the one with the red turning knob - then yes. But there is also the other konverter with the black turning knob... you can put it in the Safari and all the other Lamy c/c pens, but I think you can't put the converter with the red turning knob (the "Safari-converter") in enything else except the Safari/Al-Starm, I'm not sure...

 

LOOK HERE!

 

This konverter (the one with the red turning knob) kas 2 small "ears" at the front and those ears will fit perfectly in the section of the Safari pen, but if you want to put that converter in some other LAMY pen it probably won't fit because of those ears!?!

Edited January 23, 2010 by Edgar Allan Bo

[jasonjwwilliams]

Kiri I've had the same problem...and fixed it. The blind cap that the pen locks into is just a plastic sleeve that grips with friction. In my case, a ride in the washing machine made it no longer grip the pen. Fix was pretty easy:

 

1.) Remove the plug from the top of the cap. Older Safaris the plug unscrews, on newer ones like mine it snaps in. To pop it out push a small flat object (like a small diameter chopstick) inside the cap against the plug until it pops out. For me a small torx screwdriver head worked great.

 

2.) Now you can see the top of the bind cap in the plug cavity, pop it out by pushing down on it.

 

3.) Wrap three layers of electrical tap around the broad end of the blind cap to add thickness to the diameter of the blind cap. This will cause the blind cap's internal diameter to compress when put back into the cap.

 

4.) Snap the blindcap back into the cap (the torx screwdriver worked well for this).

 

5.) Snap the plug back in. In my case my screwdriver was the socket type, so I just took out the torx bit and pushed the empty socket inside the cap against the top of the blind cap to keep it in place while pushing the plug back into the top of the cap (the cavity in the socket screwdriver allowed the plug to come in).

 

Now my Safari is nice and tight again.

 

Hope this helps others.

 

-J

Edited April 27, 2011 by jasonjwwilliams

[minnman]

My Al-Star did this. When I posted about it here, it seemed like others had had the same problem. Mine has been parked in a coffee cup on my desk for a couple years now. I might try to sell it (with full disclosure) as it has an EF nib and a converter that functions fine. This really turned me off Lamy and I doubt I'd ever get another.

[pierrerreip]

This message is to jasonjwwilliams who posted on Posted 28 April 2011 - 03:18 AM in reply to the original poster KiriBean. I had 3 Charcoal/Black Lamy Safari fountain pens all which had the problem of the loose cap. I was so excited when I saw your solution to the problem. I was even more excited when it worked like a charm!! Of course my older 2 pens had the metal screw on the top of the cap and I just could not remove them but at least my 3rd Lamy had a plastic screw which was easily removed as per your instructions and now the pen's cap fastens tighter than when I first had it. I was about to dump the pen as on several occasion I had lost the pen by it dropping and even worse on a few occasions the pen had come out in my shirt and blotted ink on to my good shirts. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for this information

[Sintares]

The older Safari caps can be disassembled pretty easily without damage, but the more recent production are snap-fit, with the retaining part easy to damage during disassembly. If you look way up inside your cap, there should be a black (probably) ring of little "teeth" that are supposed to grip the groove just behind the nib. Most likely that piece is broken in some way.

 

New caps can be had for $10 or so: http://www.lamyusa.com/safari5.html

Caps are not available unless you send your pen in and have it "repaired." I went back and forth with a representative at Lamy U.S.A. but had no luck. They don't sell "replacement parts," which just seems odd to me.

[Chthulhu]

Caps are not available unless you send your pen in and have it "repaired." I went back and forth with a representative at Lamy U.S.A. but had no luck. They don't sell "replacement parts," which just seems odd to me.

The post you quoted was from almost five years ago. At that time, Lamy USA did, indeed, have parts available at that link. I'm sorry to see that this no longer seems to be the case. :-/

[FayeV]

Thank you. I've filed away JasonJWWilliams' loose cap fix for future reference in case any of my Safari/Vista/Al-Star pens develop this problem.

[returnofpenguy]

I had a problem with my safari today. I clipped on my shirt today after office. At lunch I realized that clip was on it once and the pen had fallen inside the tucked in shirt. It caused big blue spot on my undershirt and shirt. :-(. Never had such a problem with even eye dropper in-expensive pens. Did anyone have simile experience of cap coming off?