Lamy Al-Star Loose Cap

[videopope]

Good day

 

I have an Al-Star... Writes awesome, no problems. However I notice that the cap does not click on strongly. It clicks and the cap stays on, but I thought that the cap used to click more strongly. Also it doesn't seem to post as securely as it used to either.

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

 

I'm thinking that something happened to the cap liner.

 

Any ideas?

 

Cheers,

Matt

[satkomuni]

Getting the same problem. Cap no longer stays on except very tentatively: essentially, touch it laterally and it comes off. Anyone have experience fixing this, or do we just have to be clever ourselves? Appears to grip onto the groove just beyond the nib, but the last bit of plastic right before the barrel is also not impossible.

[risingsun]

Good info here that should also work for the Al-Star

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/202486-repair-a-lamy-safari-cap/

[satkomuni]

Thank you very much! That looks like it should work. I was hesitant to break any plastic parts by popping anything apart without knowing what I was doing.

[satkomuni]

So, having retreived the Al-Star in question from its Place of Holding, I can report that the Safari method doesn't work, as the cap structures are different. The black, cruciate insert is actually threaded inside to a small brass cup, and what is a rubber sleeve on the Safari is a thin metal sleeve on the Al-Star. Inserting a chopstick to hold the cup firm while unscrewing the Phillips head will allow removal of the pocket clip along with those two parts, but removal of the sleeve we want to tighten is prevented by the involute lip of the aluminum pen cap. The sleeve/liner has two opposing longitudinal slits towards the open end, so it appears to have been put into place by the manufacturer in the manner of an opened umbrella. Maybe a dental pick or two could be used to collapse the umbrella enough to pull it out?

 

I gave up and put the thing back together and just stuck a piece of grip tape over the nib-end ridge of the section. Not ideal. Applying some kind of thin coat of epoxy or lacquer to widen the circumference of that rim might be better.

 

Anyway, thanks for the advice.