What Can I Use To Remove Ossified Sac Pieces From Barrel?

September 7, 2010

I have a Sheaffer Lifetime Flat Top Senior in perfect jade color. For this reason, I felt it was important that I remove the latex sac these pens are fitted with. I first flushed the pen with water, and a mess came out of it - a combination of turquoise ink and hard pieces of black plastic. Then I tried to see if it would fill. Nope. From this I suspected that it had an ossified sac and there was ink inside. I knew that if I didn't clean the mess it would only be a matter of time before the pen barrel and cap begins to discolor.

The hardest part was removing the section - but using the info I found in this site, I soaked the section in water for a few hours and then used a blow drier to loosen it up. This worked and upon removing the section - Phew!!! I was gasping because the moment the section came off some foul smelling odor began to come out of the pen.

Using a flashlight I could see the inside filled with what appeared to be black mush. Using tweezers and forceps from my med pack, I was able to remove hundreds of pieces from the sac. The lever bar and the J bar still work, a testament to the quality of pens made by Sheaffer.

I am having trouble with removing the pieces stuck to the wall of the barrel. I used a gun cleaning nylon brush and got some pieces off, but they are really stubborn and won't budge. Is there any chemical I can use to speed up the removal of this gunk? Someone suggested acetone, but I don't know how that would react to the plastic of the pen. I may also use a copper brush for cleaning gun barrels if I don't have any luck. The smell of coming out of the pen is terrible - must be rotting rubber.

Thanks for any advice.

September 7, 2010

Well, using water was the hard way (hard pieces of rubber sac was coming out not black plastic). Sections are easy to get out of Sheaffers. I never heat them at all but, it would be safer so that was good on you. If everything was dry I would just use a dental pick to chip out the rest of the sac. A brush may eventually dislodge the pieces but even a straightened stiff paperclip would allow you to chip off the sac. Dry it out - you are probably doing the lever bar no favors for corrosion. I'd almost assume the sac was bad to start with but, you can tell if there is stiff resistance against the lever or absolutely no resistance in that the sac has already disintegrated. Getting all that wet just would not be helpful at all. Therefore, dry it out and chip out the rest of the sac. I can't help you with a dissolving chemical as I've never used one with the hundreds of Sheaffer's I've cleaned out.

Roger W.

September 7, 2010

Thanks Roger,

Before your response, I figured that this would be work and no shortcut would be found

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c322/navydoc414/IMG_0145.jpg

While I was waiting for a response to this, I tried using a toothpick but it broke. The sac was stuck pretty good, and who knows for how long. As you mentioned, I learned the hard way on the past that water isn't friendly with pressure or lever bars, as the pressure bar of one of my vintage Duofolds corroded and broke.

Ironically, it was with the remains of that pressure bar that I used to scrape off the hardened rubber off. It worked so well that I decided to put it in my toolkit for future use. As far as water, I learned from that previous incident to use a technique I learned to dry off wet firearms when I was in the military. I dry off the pen as much as I can, then place it inside a ziploc bag. I fill it with rice, and add a packet of silica for good measure. It has dried everything safely so far, including a cell phone that I dropped on the bath tub once.

I contacted the previous owner when I found out about the sac, and he told me he would use an eye dropper and fill the pen through the slit of the lever bar. I think that could explain why the section was so hard to remove. There was some kind of dried gunk on it - either it's shellac or just the dried ink mixed in with the rubber.

In any case, thanks for the advice, I am tired from all this scrubbing.

Well, using water was the hard way (hard pieces of rubber sac was coming out not black plastic). Sections are easy to get out of Sheaffers. I never heat them at all but, it would be safer so that was good on you. If everything was dry I would just use a dental pick to chip out the rest of the sac. A brush may eventually dislodge the pieces but even a straightened stiff paperclip would allow you to chip off the sac. Dry it out - you are probably doing the lever bar no favors for corrosion. I'd almost assume the sac was bad to start with but, you can tell if there is stiff resistance against the lever or absolutely no resistance in that the sac has already disintegrated. Getting all that wet just would not be helpful at all. Therefore, dry it out and chip out the rest of the sac. I can't help you with a dissolving chemical as I've never used one with the hundreds of Sheaffer's I've cleaned out.

Roger W.

September 7, 2010

I contacted the previous owner when I found out about the sac, and he told me he would use an eye dropper and fill the pen through the slit of the lever bar.

Was he insane!!! That may rank as one of the stupidest things I have ever heard someone doing to a pen. I guess if you didn't know the first thing about a pen and didn't bother to find out you might resort to that but, for Gosh sakes he could have asked an old person how it worked at the very least. Well, I guess I haven't heard everything yet but, I just got closer. Thanks for sharing that.

Roger W.

September 7, 2010

I am just glad he didn't cause any permanent damage and it ended up in my hands - someone who knows how it works and appreciates it. How the barrel kept its color is beyond me. I assume maybe because he had to open the lever whenever he needed to fill it, allowing the gas to escape.

I believe the section was coated with shellac which is why it was so hard to remove. Denatured alcohol removed most of it.

Just have to put some simichrome on the pen and the metal parts, re-sac it with a silicone sac, and it should be ready to write.

September 7, 2010

While I was waiting for a response to this, I tried using a toothpick but it broke.

Just a thought on the scraping thing. I've found great success using bamboo skewers, rather than toothpicks. They are much tougher, and you can shape the tip with a sharp knife to whatever profile you need. And it never scratches anything. If you can find the small ones (about 6"), they are the handiest.

Edited September 7, 2010 by D Armstrong

September 7, 2010

I have a dual sided dental scaler tool where one side is a little knife blade, maybe 1/4" w x 1/2"l and the other end is kind of a scooper outter cup looking dealie.

The little knife end is just sharp enough to scrape good but not sharp enough to cut into the barrel. The scoop end turned upside down is good for getting the loosened material out.

Bruce in Ocala, FL

September 7, 2010

+ 1 on what Roger said - that's the craziest thing I ever heard - dumping ink in the lever slot??? You are lucky there is a j-bar left and who knows what shape the feed is in with small bits of sac floating around in there.

Be careful with the Simichrome and the plated parts - the clip and cap ring - you can remove the plating quite easily with that stuff. And for future reference, keep the acetone away from plastic pens unless you are repairing a crack or something like that - otherwise you will be disappointed.

Good luck