Loose Cap On Rotring 600

[samuraicat]

I have an older Rotring 600 that has a loose cap that I would like to tighten and use every day (carry in shirt). I sent it to "The Write Pen" and Danny told me that it doesnt have a clutch ring so unfortunately there is not much he can do with it. I was bummed because he has helped me out with so many of my other pens and is a great person.

 

I did take a look at JPS_Rotring's post on Rotring identification and it appears that I have a 2nd generation steel nib FP. So that being said, it may just have a worn out inner cap. Does anyone have any thoughts about (and yes, I know... EBay), where might be a good location to find the cap liners for a 2nd Generation Rotring 600? Has anyone found any, does anyone have spares, etc.

 

Thank you so much for reading!

 

--Phil.

[Dutchpen]

Hi,

 

Could You post a picture of The complete pen, section and cap?

[samuraicat]

[samuraicat]

For some reason the full pen picture is too big to upload. Will these 2 be sufficient?

 

Phil.

[Ron Z]

These pens use a clutch that is part of the plastic inner cap that grips the end of the section. Over time this wears and lose their grip. There is no way to repair it short of replacing the inner cap. The next iteration of the pen had metal pressure tabs down low on the section that grabbed the end of the cap.

[samuraicat]

Ron -

 

Im just wondering if the inner caps are around or are findable? Do you have any idea of the scarcity of them?

 

Phil.

[Ron Z]

I have not looked into the matter. I really don't need to. In general, the only source for parts like this is from the manufacturer. Designs like this that fail, and the lack of replacement parts to independent pen mechanics are two of the more common issues with modern manufacturers.

 

This cap clutch design is used by many pen manufacturers, and they usually fail sooner or later, and we can't fix it. The 600 isn't alone - the Phileas, Cross Century, Cross Townsend, and many, many other pens do as well. I'm not going to get into trying to machine a cap with a clutch inside to duplicate what was a injection molded part.

 

The Parker 75 is one exception. The long inner cap with the integrated cap clutch often fails, but for now we have a good supply of short inner caps and metal spring clutch fingers to replace it.

[MYU]

As I understand it, the cap can become loose for 2 reasons:

1) The inner cap becomes loose and doesn't anchor the end of the section, and

2) The pressure tabs (or "clutch bumps") on the section eventually wear down as the metal cap slides against them over a long period of time.

 

I think I found a solution that sort of works for the second case, where the pressure tabs become worn and the metal cap can no longer grip it well enough. It's not particularly elegant and I can't say for certain at this point that it'll last for the long haul, but I think it has promise.

 

Aluminum tape.

 

I recently started employing this wonderful DIY material in a variety of circumstances to solve physical problems. With it, I thickened the shoulders of a substitute refill that was on the border of working in a vintage pen, and this combined with a plastic spacer made it feasible. On another pen, the substitute refill was almost perfect, except for some slight tip wobble when extended. A tiny bit of the aluminum tape wrapped around the shaft at just the right point mitigated the wobble by over 75% (enough not to be noticed any longer).

 

I've got a rOtring 600 rollerball where the cap is heading in that dreadful direction of becoming loose. It would stay in place generally, but wouldn't take much effort to dislodge it. Not "pocket clip friendly" any longer. Mine is the 1st generation where it's a metal cap against clutch bumps on a metal section. The section is no longer a replaceable part... so when the clutch bumps get worn down, you're stuck.

 

So I had this idea, to cut a 3mm strip of aluminum tape and run it around the inside of the cap, near the lip. I ran the tape around the rim, using a blunt narrow tool to press it up against the inner side as I went along and cut it just before it would overlap. It made for a tight fit, and took a few on-off maneuvers to get it to an acceptable level. The cap no longer "clicks" into place, but it does hold quite well. Posting is a little troublesome, as it takes a little more force to coax the cap into place (that part wasn't a problem for me before--not loose, not extremely tight). I tried this again and on the 2nd try, I applied it for about 40% of the surface area (touching 2 pressure tabs). That was just enough to eliminate the little wobble and the cap holds better than previously, while still able to post easily.

 

So bottom line, this technique seems to work. The aluminum tape has a very strong adhesive, but it's not permanent. After I toyed with this solution for a while, I was able to pull the tape out, after sufficient scraping with a tool. What helps the adhesive adhere is that the tape is a pliable metal, so it will conform to a shape forced by the cap and clutch points on the section. Sticky enough that after a little shifting, it won't slide any further. I don't know how it'll wear over the long haul, but if I'd have to replace the tape once or twice a year, that wouldn't be too much of a bother. So, for anyone having a really loose 600 cap, I think this could be a workable solution.

Edited January 30, 2018 by MYU