Vacumatic Leaking On My Fingers

[GOB Bluth]

I recently received a 1946 Parker Vacumatic from another member, Seen here and I am having a lot of ink leak onto my fingers. It seems to be coming through the gap between the nib unit and the pen, which can unscrew. Is there any reason for this or any way for me to fix this?

 

The pen writes great, I just have ink on my fingers!

 

Thanks!

[Ron Z]

The most likely cause is that the section threads were not sealed when the pen was repaired. The best way to seal it is with a rosin based thread sealant, which is what Parker used. This softens at a relatively low temperature so that the pen can be taken apart in the future without risk of damaging the pen. It's all that I use on Vacumatics when I restore them.

 

I sell small jars for $10 each, Giovanni Abrate sells a similar product.

[wekiva98]

I once had a leak from a section that had an odd crack in the threads. But the seal -- or the lack of it -- is the much more likely culprit.

Edited July 28, 2010 by wekiva98

[NABodie]

Yep sealing the section is the likely cure.

Edited July 28, 2010 by NABodie

[GOB Bluth]

Is this something I can do easily, as someone who has NEVER done any work on pens? Are there any home remedies for sealant that I may already have around the house? I don't meant to sound cheap, but I'd prefer to not spend money!

[NABodie]

Yes it is an easy fix, you can do it!

[rhr2010]

There is a very cheap remedy, if sealant is all you need. You take a dry soap tablet and you file the threads of the section so that a bit of dry soap stays in the threads. You then screw the section to the barrel. If the threads are not too worn out or you do not have a crack, you have now a perfect seal and you can take apart the pen any time just using your fingers. I would guess that there should be no harmful chemicals on a soap tablet, but best to choose one "neutral" with no color and odor.. Anyway, I am not an expert, but this seem to work for me.

 

 

[Ernst Bitterman]

There are some home remedies, but they're really not a good idea. I believe this is one of the various things Dubiel suggested rubber cement would work on, although it's the wrong consistency and likely to leave gaps. Better to either buy a little bit of the proper stuff (if not Ron's then the similar material from Tryphon), which won't cost any more than sending the pen off to someone who already has some. Of course, you could likewise see about arranging to get someone who already has some to do the job for you-- dab o' sealant and back in the mail shouldn't cost a lot. The main question is whether you want the pen hanging around waiting for the mail at your place, or whether you want to hang around your place waiting for the pen in the mail.

 

edit (and you get a sense of how long I take in typing these things)-- the soap thing is interesting, although I'd expect that eventually the seal will dissolve. No problem with removing it to put the right stuff in later, though. My only misgiving is possible stress on the barrel from the extra thickness of the soap-- the mating threads should drive most of that out of the way, I guess.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Ernst Bitterman

[rhr2010]

Yes, very little amount of soap so that there is no stress to the barrel and yes the mating threads drive out most of it, but it looks like enough stays in the threads to seal the pen. I have treated this way a vacumatic and filled it with MB black ink. It is about a month and my hands are clean when I use it. If the threads are not too worn out, you can imagine that only a microscopic part of soap is in contact with the acid ink and it can take ages to dissolve it all.

[John Danza]

I've used silicone grease for sealing the threads where I didn't want to lock in the section with a sealant that hardens. This can be purchased for a couple of bucks at the local hardware store. Get pure silicone grease.

[jniforat]

I've used silicone grease for sealing the threads where I didn't want to lock in the section with a sealant that hardens. This can be purchased for a couple of bucks at the local hardware store. Get pure silicone grease.

 

huh, i may have to try this.

[Ron Z]

I've used silicone grease for sealing the threads where I didn't want to lock in the section with a sealant that hardens. This can be purchased for a couple of bucks at the local hardware store. Get pure silicone grease.

 

huh, i may have to try this.

 

 

NO, you really do not want to try this. This is one case IMPO where you don't want to use silicone grease on your pen.

 

The topic of sealing threads came up in another forum on FPN just a few days ago. Here are my comments (using shellac was suggested) The part about using silicone is in bold type here to make it easy for you to find. They weren't in the original post.

 

The problem with shellac is that it makes it more difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, to unscrew the section later because it sets hard. It takes much more heat to soften it. The barrels on Imperials and Parker Vacumatics and 51s are tough enough to handle this. The barrels on the vacuum fillers and snorkels/TD pens on the other hand, are not. Use shellac on one of the vacuum filled Triumph nibs, and you could end up shearing off the barrel or breaking the nib the next time the pen has to come apart. (and it could be sooner rather than later if there is a problem)

 

Sheaffer used a rosin based thread sealant. I saw it, and saw it in use when I visited their repair department a couple of years ago. The stuff that I sell, which is made using the same formula, softens completely at about 95 F, VS shellac which softens up around 130 F. That's a big difference, and could make the difference between a pen that opens up easily, and one that breaks.

 

For the record, I started recommending a rosin based thread/section sealant long (as in 2 - 3 years) before I started making it. I started making the Sheaffer formula stuff just because I could see that it was much better than anything out there.

 

The reason that I hesitate to use silicone grease is that because it is a lubricant, it doesn't fill the threads, and counts on the it's water repelling properties to prevent a leak. Because it's a lubricant, it can also make it easy to over tighten a section, which in turn can produce stress cracks in a barrel.

Edited July 28, 2010 by Ron Z

[John Danza]

I've used silicone grease for sealing the threads where I didn't want to lock in the section with a sealant that hardens. This can be purchased for a couple of bucks at the local hardware store. Get pure silicone grease.

 

huh, i may have to try this.

 

 

NO, you really do not want to try this. This is one case IMPO where you don't want to use silicone grease on your pen.

 

The topic of sealing threads came up in another forum on FPN just a few days ago. Here are my comments (using shellac was suggested) The part about using silicone is in bold type here to make it easy for you to find. They weren't in the original post.

 

The problem with shellac is that it makes it more difficult, sometimes nearly impossible, to unscrew the section later because it sets hard. It takes much more heat to soften it. The barrels on Imperials and Parker Vacumatics and 51s are tough enough to handle this. The barrels on the vacuum fillers and snorkels/TD pens on the other hand, are not. Use shellac on one of the vacuum filled Triumph nibs, and you could end up shearing off the barrel or breaking the nib the next time the pen has to come apart. (and it could be sooner rather than later if there is a problem)

 

Sheaffer used a rosin based thread sealant. I saw it, and saw it in use when I visited their repair department a couple of years ago. The stuff that I sell, which is made using the same formula, softens completely at about 95 F, VS shellac which softens up around 130 F. That's a big difference, and could make the difference between a pen that opens up easily, and one that breaks.

 

For the record, I started recommending a rosin based thread/section sealant long (as in 2 - 3 years) before I started making it. I started making the Sheaffer formula stuff just because I could see that it was much better than anything out there.

 

The reason that I hesitate to use silicone grease is that because it is a lubricant, it doesn't fill the threads, and counts on the it's water repelling properties to prevent a leak. Because it's a lubricant, it can also make it easy to over tighten a section, which in turn can produce stress cracks in a barrel.

 

I can understand the comment about silicone grease being a lubricant and making it possible to over-tighten the section. However, I like the fact that it's a lubricant because it makes it easy to tighten the section without tools or assistance like rubber, so I find it less likely to cause over-tightening.

 

However, the comment about the grease not filling the threads is pure BS, and anyone who has spent any time at all with eyedropper-fill pens knows better. Silicone grease fills the section threads perfectly, which is why it's been used to prevent leaks at the joint of the barrel and the section of eyedropper pens for years. That part of the "advice" is just plain unfounded.

[wvbeetlebug]

I'm thinking $10 for a tub of sealant versus a repair bill sounds much better.

[GOB Bluth]

Okay, from what I can tell, this parker vacumatic has essentially four pieces to it.

 

1) The Cap, which obviously screws off

 

2) The nib unit, which does screw off, but, if I am understanding correctly, SHOULD NOT screw off because that breaks the seal.

 

3) the Body of the barrel, which up near the top, has a diaphragm, which I still do not quite understand how it works, but that doesn't matter.

 

4) The Top cover which screws off to uncover the plunger of the body.

 

So, I now have two questions.

 

First Question: I just unscrewed the nib unit, which apparently from comments I should not be able to do, and cleaned the pen out. Is the ink simply stored in the body piece? Not the diaphragm?

 

Second Question: If I am suppose to be unable to unscrew the nib unit, how am I to clean out the pen if I want to say change ink colors?

 

Thanks!

[FarmBoy]

Okay, from what I can tell, this parker vacumatic has essentially four pieces to it.

 

1) The Cap, which obviously screws off

 

2) The nib unit, which does screw off, but, if I am understanding correctly, SHOULD NOT screw off because that breaks the seal.

 

3) the Body of the barrel, which up near the top, has a diaphragm, which I still do not quite understand how it works, but that doesn't matter.

 

4) The Top cover which screws off to uncover the plunger of the body.

 

The filler is removable and is somewhat more complicated that it may appear. Lets call the filler a 5th major assembly.

 

Your number 2 is comprised of the section, feed, breather tube, and nib.

 

Your number 4 is referred to as the blind cap.

 

First Question: I just unscrewed the nib unit, which apparently from comments I should not be able to do, and cleaned the pen out. Is the ink simply stored in the body piece? Not the diaphragm?

 

The ink is stored in the body. The diaphragm is the filling mechanism. By depressing the filler air is expelled from the barrel via the breather tube and out the feed. When the filler is released, a vacuum (therein the Vacumatic) is created as the diaphragm retracts and ink is sucked into the barrel. Without a good seal at the section threads, the filler will not generate enough vacuum to bring ink into the barrel.

 

Second Question: If I am suppose to be unable to unscrew the nib unit, how am I to clean out the pen if I want to say change ink colors?

Cleaning a Vacumatic can be a pain but you expel the ink, fill with water, expel the water and repeat. Parker dealers had a centrifuge to help expel the ink through the nib via centrifugal force.

 

Todd

[drdad]

The quest for something that will seal threads, serve as a minimal lubricant when "screwing" things together, remain relatively easy to undo without damaging the pen has gone on for more than a hundred years. Some have been very good while others really disasters. Parker encountered that with their Vacumatic Sealant which worked well for a couple of years but then became impossible to soften so that you could remove fillers or sections. Likewise silicone can have some nasty effects on rubber if the solvent reacts to soften or dissolve the rubber.

 

I'm intrigued by Ron's comment about Sheaffer's sealant and the low release temperature. I've tried to avoid shellac except for sealing ink sacs and have gone to another natural product - pure bees wax. Pens repaired 10 years ago using bees wax on the threads went back together easily, haven't leaked, show no damage to the component parts yet come apart easily when necessary. That works on the threads of eyedropper fillers with slightly loose threads as well as on Vacs, Parker 51s and threads on other pens with screw fittings.

 

Does anyone else have any experience with waxes?

[rhr2010]

My use of natural soap is in the same spirit of bees wax. As a matter of fact, I think now that bees wax could be even better. By the way, where do you buy your bees wax? I wanted to buy some for the leather bands of my watches and so far I was unsuccessful to find pure one. I sent money to a website called "Pinnacle Supplies", my money was gone, I never received any communication and no reply to my inquiries and no product.

 

[OldGriz]

The quest for something that will seal threads, serve as a minimal lubricant when "screwing" things together, remain relatively easy to undo without damaging the pen has gone on for more than a hundred years. Some have been very good while others really disasters. Parker encountered that with their Vacumatic Sealant which worked well for a couple of years but then became impossible to soften so that you could remove fillers or sections. Likewise silicone can have some nasty effects on rubber if the solvent reacts to soften or dissolve the rubber.

 

I'm intrigued by Ron's comment about Sheaffer's sealant and the low release temperature. I've tried to avoid shellac except for sealing ink sacs and have gone to another natural product - pure bees wax. Pens repaired 10 years ago using bees wax on the threads went back together easily, haven't leaked, show no damage to the component parts yet come apart easily when necessary. That works on the threads of eyedropper fillers with slightly loose threads as well as on Vacs, Parker 51s and threads on other pens with screw fittings.

 

Does anyone else have any experience with waxes?

 

Those of us who do professional restoration have not found what you are speaking about....

Some gentle heat and the section of virtually all Vacumatics come out with no problems.. the section of the pen was not meant to just unscrew like a C/C filler.

Parker DID NOT use a sealant to put the filler units in Vacumatics... they use a bit of a lubricant on the diaphragm and the seating of the diaphragm against the taper in the body of the pen kept it from leaking, not a sealant...

 

I have been using Ron's sealant since he developed it and it works like a dream... easy to apply and easy to undo the sections when used as recommended..

Prior to that I used the sealant developed by Tryphon and that works also....

Edited July 29, 2010 by OldGriz

[jar]

 

Second Question: If I am suppose to be unable to unscrew the nib unit, how am I to clean out the pen if I want to say change ink colors?

 

Thanks!

 

Just like you flush many pens, fill and empty with water in the normal manner. Repeat.