Jump to content

How Is It Supposed To Fill?


R.D. Herring

Recommended Posts

I recently bought a Sheaffer Balance with a vacuum fill mechanism. When I went to clean it, I realized that there was ink caked on the feed and set about cleaning it. During that process, I noticed that the only way the pen would fill was in the up-stroke.

 

This is my first vac fill fountain pen, so I am not well acquainted with how they're supposed to work. But, from what I know of modern vac fillers, they fill by the release of the vacuum made while pushing the plunger down. Is this a common problem with these pens? If so, is there a simple fix?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 3
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Garageboy

    1

  • ANM

    1

  • jar

    1

  • R.D. Herring

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Your pen may have filled on the up-stroke because the plunger seal was intact. If the seal at the back end of the pen is not working, there won't be a vacuum to fill the pen after the end of the down stroke.

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time. TS Eliot

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you buy it restored? If not, chances are slim it's working

It's a vac fill, because it generates a vacuum on the downstroke, which at the end of the stroke is released, sucking in ink

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...