LUXOR "grand visible" German piston filler

[fountainbel]

Hi all,

I'm working on the piston filling mechanism of a beautiful oversize Luxor "Grand Visible"

The system features a 2 stages telescopic aluminum lead screw, which was seriously corroded;

This is a big pen, piston diameter is 10 mm,external barrel diameter is 13.4mm

I've managed to clean the threads of the 2 screws & get them moving again.

However the largest (primary)aluminum nut bushing ,which should rotate in the HR filler unit housing, activated by the HR filling knob- is still stuck.

The bushing is rather long supported in the HR housing so the corrosion fit is very thight

US cleaning , heating up the housing :no success at all.

Even a 2 hours US cleaning cycle "au bain marie" in a small container with penetration oil & a consecutive overnight soaking did not help.

Avoiding any risks for deformation though allowing applying a rather high loosening torque , I've made me a nylon screw insert in the nut & slitted peek ring to grip on the external diameter using a bionic wrench :again no success ! (tools shown in right upper corner)

Problem is that I can't find a way to disassemble the primary aluminum nut out of the HR housing.

I can't see any axial fixation system which keeps the nut axially in place during rotation.

Is there a knock through press fitted enclosure ring, and if yes, at which side?

I'm really stuck in both senses now, any suggestions to get the primary nut loose & rotating again?

Thanks, Francis

 

 

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/foun...bel/luxorOS.jpg

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h89/foun...uxordetails.jpg

[MYU]

Beautiful pen! I know so little about the Luxor brand. I have one Luxor pen (not your model, unfortunately) from the lower tier, that I happened upon by accident in a grab-bag lot of German pens. When you get your pen fixed, please do a review of it. We don't have even one review of the Luxor brand.

[mimsdad]

Hi Francis, did you ever get the piston working? I have just received a Luxor grand visible very similar to yours in the post but silver and black rather than gold. i have to admit it was an ebay punt, but i think (after three slightly disappointing purchases to date) i think i may have made up for my losses as the pen seems to work beautifully as delivered. I am slightly concerned that the piston fit may be a little loose as it didn’t want to pick up ink or water at first but now suddenly seems fine. I do have a question if you don’t mind because having bought something good (for me as i’m just dabbling around the edges at present with what i would describe as starter pens) i don’t want to wreck it. Does the piston assembly screw into the body if so is it left or right hand thread and do you have any tips on removal? As my piston assembly seems to work if i get it apart and you never resolved your question i would be happy to try and help in any way i can.

 

Ps my pen has a duofold nib fitted

 

regards dave

[fountainbel]

Hi Dave,

 

Congratulations with this pen, I'm really impressed with its mechanical design, although I would never use aluminium nuts!

 

Unfortunately I've not been able to get the primary nut rotating in its hard rubber housing.

I even soaked the assembly in penetration oil for a week, soaking "au bain Marie" in the US cleaner for hours, applying heat, no reveal, no movement at all ![/size]

The "corrosion fit" of the aluminium in the long supporting housing is solid as a rock.

The only solution I could think off was in cutting the housing axially so it came off the nut in 2 shells & making a new HR housing.

However the owner of the pen did not want to spend the extra $50 do do so, so he took the pen back with him.

 

Now on your pen .

As far as I remember the piston assembly screws in the barrel with RH threads.

Using pliers -or better a bionic wrench- & a rubber ring you can grip on extending threads for the blind cap to get the piston assembly out. Try this first.

This will mostly work, since the mechanism is not secured with shellac ( at least on the pen I've worked on).

Using a special screw driver tool ( middle part cut away, centering on the primary nut bushing) you can get the piston mechanism out if the first approach would not work

When the filling knob is removed (by knocking the small transversal dowel through) you get access to the axial screw driver slot in the housing,

I hope this will be clear for you when looking at the pictures on my initial post for reference

Once the mechanism is out you can easily install a new cork, screw the cork enclosure nut off - after applying some heat to weaken the shellac- make a new cork with slight pretension on the shaft, install the enclosure nut & then carefully sand a concentric outer diameter of 10.2mm ( providing 0.2 mm radial pretension)

Afterwards I would disassemble the cork again & soak it a few hours" au bain Marie" in liquid made parafin or bee wax, filling irregularties in the cork ,perfect sealing and a smooth movement

Install the cork secure nut with shellac clean the 2 stages screws and apply some silicone grease on them, reinstall the assembly and you should be ready !

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Francis

Edited May 9, 2009 by fountainbel

[newlife]

Hello!

 

Right now I have the same problem Francis described above. A wonderful green Luxor Grandvisible came with the piston stuck, just the thinner first part of the telescope moves, the other is corroded and does not move. Has anybody already tried using citric acid in the US or different stuff to help remove the oxidation? Any further clues will be welcome!

 

Thanks to all of you!

 

Klaus

[Don Jr]

Hallo Klaus!

 

I have not tried citric acid, but have had luck breaking lose a plastic piston shaft that was frozen onto the metal screw.

 

I got a small ziploc baggie (maybe 3cm x 4cm, placed the piston shaft & frozen screw into the bag, filled it with penetrating oil, let it soak for a day, then place the entire sealed baggie into the ultrasonic cleaner for a long cycle, then removed it and tried to turn it. This involved sticking a long pin in through the pinhole for the piston knob, clamping down the shaft, and trying to apply enough torque on the pin to get the screw moving in the shaft. This took about a 10 days; each evening after work, I'd run a few cycles of the ultrasonic, then remove the baggie, pull out the frozen shaft, applied gentle heat, then attempted to "free" the frozen piston shaft. I was very careful; one thing that all the experienced repairers on this forum preach is "take your time - don't rush"... so I followed they're advice, and purposely limited myself to only do a few attempts each evening. When I was done messing with it, I placed it back in the baggie to soak (again!) overnight in the penetrating oil before trying again the next day. It (finally) broke free, thanks to the patient approach.

 

--Don

[fountainbel]

Hi Don,

Thanks for shearing your successful experiences.

Your idea of placing the piston unit soaked with penetrating oil in a small ziplock bag in the US cleaner looks excellent the me, well done !

I'll surely use this approach for future repairs of these nice pens!

Francis

[newlife]

Hi Don!

 

Sounds good to me! You're surely right taking your time with a task like this, I'll try your method too. Thanks for your suggestion!

 

Klaus

[eckiethump]

Hi Don,

Everyday is a school day, a wonderful example of technique, which if circumstances require I will use.

I use Balustol as a penetrating oil when required at present.

Eric

[Wile E Coyote]

Hello!

 

Right now I have the same problem Francis described above. A wonderful green Luxor Grandvisible came with the piston stuck, just the thinner first part of the telescope moves, the other is corroded and does not move. Has anybody already tried using citric acid in the US or different stuff to help remove the oxidation? Any further clues will be welcome!

 

Thanks to all of you!

 

Klaus

 

Phosphoric acid based aluminum wheel cleaner.

[newlife]

Hello Wile E Coyote!

 

Is your suggestion approved or do you just believe it might work? But, since this seems to be a cure for aluminium on cars, it should work on aluminium in pens too, depending on how aggressive it turns out.

 

Klaus

[Wile E Coyote]

I don't know who could approve it. Try it and you could be the approving authority. I've used it on bare aluminum automobile rims in the past and it worked where nothing else would.

 

Not sure about German product availability, but they also sell a similar solution for cleaning aluminum truck trailers.

 

You could always dilute the cleaner with water to make it less aggressive if your concerned with the strength.

[newlife]

Success! Being with my friend over the weekend I soaked the piston in my small US lodging there using about two tablespoons of citric acid powder for about 300 ml of water. Two days of soaking with intermediate hairdrier heating did not show much of a result, but I knew I was on the right trail because tiny air bubbles came up all the time. I had read that aluminium hydroxide would solve in either acid or alkaline solution, so I tried two tablespoons of baking soda too. No bubbles, back to acid. I came home a little frustrated and decided to dump the piston in my high power US and add temperature too, 50°C it was and did two cycles of US with 20 minutes and forgot about it until I stopped watching TV, the piston still in its warm bath without further US treatment. Right now, three hours later I took another look and - the piston moved!

 

So - for all of you desperate Luxor owners - this is the ultimate solution for those corroded aluminium pistons. I did not believe in WD40, although I tried that too, but - why should some kind of oil solve stuff that is not even soluable water? I thought a chemical approach would prove best, which it did.

 

Klaus

[sztainbok]

Hi Don,

Thanks for shearing your successful experiences.

Your idea of placing the piston unit soaked with penetrating oil in a small ziplock bag in the US cleaner looks excellent the me, well done !

I'll surely use this approach for future repairs of these nice pens!

Francis

Hello Francis,

I am coming back to this old post, hoping I can reach you. I am attempting to repair a Luxor Grand Visible and i am facing the following problems.

1. The filling unit housing does not have a tight enough fit when the filling unit is inside it, and when I turn the filling knob, the whole filling unit rotates inside the housing and the piston doesn't advance.

2. If I turn the top of the filling unit holding the piston, only the inner rod extends, as shown in the picture and then it stops. The inner tube does not extend.

 

I am attaching two pictures showing the situation. The end of the filler unit opposite to the piston, appears to have a white nut that seems to be solidly attached. I don´t know how to take it apart.

 

I would greatly appreciate your advice. Thank you. Victor.

 

 

[sztainbok]

With Francis' help, I was able to complete the repair of the pen. After several days of immersion in WD-40 and the use of ultrasound cleaner, I was able to free up the mechanism. Then I removed the old cork seal from the piston and I replaced it with three o-rings.

The o-ring size I used is US #9 (1.78x5.28 mm) made of Viton Shore 70.

The OD of the piston in this pen is 5.67 mm and the ID of the barrel 8.98 mm. I calculated the compression ratio of the o-ring to be 2.7%.

I lubricated the o-rings and mechanism with solid Vaseline.

The mechanism is now working smoothly with little effort on the turning knob and producing a proper vacuum.

I hope this pen will not require servicing for a while.

Perhaps the o-ring information is useful to others.

[fountainbel]

Congratulations Victor, well done !

Francis