Cracked Vac 700R Cap

[stauffert]

Unfortunately, my beloved Vac 700R has given up the ghost. The cap has cracked where the metal ring is glued to the plastic.

 

Has anyone else seen this particular failure scenario before? If so, did you replace the part or repair the crack in some way?

 

 

The view from the inside:

 

The view from the outside:

 

 

[stauffert]

I emailed the LA office for TWSBI and someone contacted me immediately to ask for my address to start the replacement process. TWSBI has absolutely fantastic customer service.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Mine did that on a 580. That's why I'm not buying anymore.

[jchch1950]

Replace the cap it may last longer than a repair. Twsbi has a good after sales service and you will have no problems.

[langere]

Agree. Get a new cap.

 

Erick

[katerchen]

This is pretty annoying that after all these years they *still* haven't figured out their material problems.

 

On a totally different note : Orange kitteh!

[stauffert]

$10 USD and the replacement cap is on the way.

 

I think that there are two problems. One is a design issue and the other one is a manufacturing issue.

 

The metal cap might be adding stress to the cap. Certainly it adds nothing positive beyond aesthetics. It is pretty looking though.

 

The other issue is that the plastic is probably not being cooled slowly enough in the manufacturing process. This could lead to stress fractures in the future.

 

To continue the orange cat theme. Here is my favourite photo of Gizmo (who is my icon):

 

He was 11 when I took the photo (over 10 years ago).

Edited March 30, 2020 by stauffert

[NobleDel]

A couple of years ago my Vac 700 cap cracked in the exact same spot. At the time I was aware of this failure mode, so I didn't tighten the cap on the pen at all, and it STILL cracked. I put the pen away after I got the replacement cap. Looks like they continue to crack in the same spot.

Edited April 1, 2020 by NobleDel

[stauffert]

A couple of years ago my Vac 700 cap cracked in the exact same spot. At the time I was aware of this failure mode, so I didn't tighten the cap on the pen at all, and it STILL cracked. I put the pen away after I got the replacement cap. Looks like they continue to crack in the same spot.

 

I will probably do the same. The replacement arrived today, but I have no plans to re-ink the pen right now. It is unfortunate because I love the system that TWSBI created with the ink bottle that you can screw your pen into to simplify filling.

[seoulseeker]

That's exactly how my 580 broke.

 

I just replaced it with an Opus 88 which seems to have less brittle plastic