OMAS 1937 Lucens, plunger filling system stiff

[pen tom]

A year ago I bought an OMAS Lucens from about 1937 with the stantuffo tuffante, or plunger filling system. It was working fine, however when I cleaned it yesterday

the plunger was very stiff. Pulling it out and pushing it in was difficult. I had to give it a bit of a twist to even move the piston.

 

What can be done to make the piston move easier ? Any help would be appreciated

[Christopher Godfrey]

Tom, I'm interested in the answer to this, also.  I don't have that problem...yet; but who knows?

[Dillo]

In the past, I have used pure silicone oil and grease (not in the spray) and it worked to help things move smoothly

[pen tom]

Thank you Dillo, so do I just spread the silicone grease on the exposed piston?

 

and thanks to Christopher Godfrey for having the same type of pen. When the piston was not still I thought that this pen was easier to clean than many of my pens. But this last

cleaning It felt as if I was going to break the piston mechanism. Not good

[pen tom]

I smeared a thin coat of silicone grease on the barrel. It worked. It slides much easier.  Thank you Dillo

[VacNut]

The silicon grease may lubricate the washer, but doesn’t it contact the ink? I think there is another option. Perhaps a replacement washer is required.

[Dillo]

13 hours ago, VacNut said:

The silicon grease may lubricate the washer, but doesn’t it contact the ink? I think there is another option. Perhaps a replacement washer is required.

That's the same stuff we use in piston filled pens and other pens that have sliding, moving parts to lubricate the parts. It's fine if it contacts ink. It also extends the life of these parts. Most pens with pistons or piston converters come with this on the pistons. The same is true for modern pens that use a reciprocating piston system (same principle as the Omas Extra Lucens) such as the Wing Sung 601. Many of these even come with some extra grease should it be needed.

[pen tom]

I'm far from an expert, but if the ink came into contact with the outside (exposed) side of the piston (the place where I put the silicone) wouldn't there be lots of ink being exposed when I pull out the piston?

The exposed piston is a bit dirty but there is no ink

[Dillo]

Generally speaking, because of the way it is designed, you should not see a lot of ink there necessarily, assuming that the piston seal is doing its job.

[pen tom]

right. I was just commenting on a statement by VacNut, above

[Christopher Godfrey]

<The silicon grease may lubricate the washer, but doesn’t it contact the ink?>

 

Why might that matter?  I feel certain that ink will not mix with or be contaminated by silicone grease...

Anyone else?

[VacNut]

Just curious. The pen and filler predate silicon. How would Omas originally fix the problem?

[Dillo]

Other lubricants, but in today's world, silicone grease tends to work better and is relatively inert, so we use it now