Snorkel Admiral

[pen lady]

If I never saw another Snorkel, I'd be happy. I have been trying to restore an Admiral today and I can't get it to fill. I've replaced the "O" ring, the point seal, checked the barrel for cracks, and made sure that the snorkel tube isn't blocked.

 

Can anyone help please? This isn't my first Snork restoration, but it has been challenging right from the get-go, I even had to simmer the sac guard for a while to soften up the ossified sac. Could the problem be with the sac section? It did get a bit chewed up when I was opening up the crimped top part of the sac protector.

 

Snorkels and Vacs are why I LOVE lever fill pens.

[Florida Blue]

Sometimes cracks can be elsewhere and hard to see. I once had an Admiral with a hairline crack in the section.

 

Recently, I finished my first successful Snorkel restoration. I accidentally placed the point holder gasket on the wrong side and couldn't get it to fill. I disassembled it and realized what I did wrong. Perhaps it is that.

[Ron Z]

You have to have a good seal in the blind cap as well. Sometimes the rubber washer is missing or doesn't seal well. I occasionally use two between the end of the TD tube and the blind cap. The screw needs to be quite snug too - it doesn't take much to lose the necessary pressure.

 

I also use thread sealant on the section threads. It does give you a better seal, and it was recommended by the folks at the Sheaffer service center when I was there just before it closed.

 

Another comment - expect to see me saying this often. Whether it's the ink or the sacs is irrelevant. I am seeing more and more early sac failures, and it seems to be even more common in the Sheaffer pneumatic fillers. Therefore I have been, for over a year, both using and recommending the use of a synthetic sac. Take your pick, the silicone sacs from Vintage Pens (David Nishimura) or PVC sacs from Woodbin. Useful in the TD pens, good in the PFM, but absolutely mandatory in snorkels. When the sac fails in a snorkel, ink and/or water gets into the barrel and can cause the carbon steel spring to rust with amazing speed. I've seen springs rusted to the ring on the sac guard, rusted to the barrel wall, and a general and expensive mess. Using a synthetic sac prevents all of this. I will not, can not, in good conscience use a latex sac in a snorkel because of the risk of damage when it fails. You shouldn't either.

[pajaro]

When I was reading about resacking TD pens, I remember reading that some of the silicone sacs were too stiff to work in a Touchdown, because the pen couldn't compress the stiffer sac. So, if you are recommending them, there must be sacs pliable enough.

[pen lady]

Thanks Ron. I don't have any rubber gasket material to cut a second washer. Can I improvise something, say using the wide rubber band that comes round supermarket produce? Also, is thread sealant available widely, maybe from an auto parts or hardware store and is that what I'd ask for? I need some synthetic sacs from Woodbin for some recent buys, so your advice is timely. Thanks again.

[Chi Town]

I was just going to mention the blind cap issue and Ron already said it :-) as I. Have run into that one before.....

Edited August 5, 2014 by Chi Town

[Ron Z]

A piece of left over sac can be used...

[pen lady]

Oh ho! Good to know people who know things. Thanks Ron and anyone else who has contributed.

[pen lady]

Well, THAT was fun, and I probably should have waited till my hands stopped shaking from my morning coffee, but it worked! Thank you Ron. BTW the original rubber washer fell in half when I was trimming the new bits of latex to match. It's a pretty burgundy Admiral set, boxed, and I've already restored the pencil so I'm happy. OK on with the laundry now. Cheers all.

[Ron Z]

 

 

When I was reading about resacking TD pens, I remember reading that some of the silicone sacs were too stiff to work in a Touchdown, because the pen couldn't compress the stiffer sac.

 

One of the things that Richard and I received from the Sheaffer service center were OEM sacs for snorkels. I imagine that the modern ones were made by the Pen Sac Co, or they could have been originals from the White Rubber Company, which is where the PSC got their machines. At any rate, the sacs were not super flexible sacs. Not even close - they were standard wall, ordinary sacs, and they worked just fine. Actually, they work better than super flexible sacs. There is plenty of pressure to compress a regular latex sac, or one of the silicone sacs. But a thin wall sac isn't thick enough to return to shape to draw enough ink into the pen. I use the PVC sacs though because you gain the long life without the gas permeability issues that come with silicone sacs.

 

See my blog post "No Silver Bullets" for more discussion on sacs.

[Chi Town]

You have to have a good seal in the blind cap as well. Sometimes the rubber washer is missing or doesn't seal well. I occasionally use two between the end of the TD tube and the blind cap. The screw needs to be quite snug too - it doesn't take much to lose the necessary pressure.

 

I also use thread sealant on the section threads. It does give you a better seal, and it was recommended by the folks at the Sheaffer service center when I was there just before it closed.

 

Another comment - expect to see me saying this often. Whether it's the ink or the sacs is irrelevant. I am seeing more and more early sac failures, and it seems to be even more common in the Sheaffer pneumatic fillers. Therefore I have been, for over a year, both using and recommending the use of a synthetic sac. Take your pick, the silicone sacs from Vintage Pens (David Nishimura) or PVC sacs from Woodbin. Useful in the TD pens, good in the PFM, but absolutely mandatory in snorkels. When the sac fails in a snorkel, ink and/or water gets into the barrel and can cause the carbon steel spring to rust with amazing speed. I've seen springs rusted to the ring on the sac guard, rusted to the barrel wall, and a general and expensive mess. Using a synthetic sac prevents all of this. I will not, can not, in good conscience use a latex sac in a snorkel because of the risk of damage when it fails. You shouldn't either.

 

 

Ron, I went looking for Thread Sealant today and all I found was the kind that said "do not use on Plastic"! May I ask what brand and maybe where did you get your's from?

 

Thanks Ron :-)

[Ron Z]

Ron, I went looking for Thread Sealant today and all I found was the kind that said "do not use on Plastic"! May I ask what brand and maybe where did you get your's from?

 

I make it. Nothing like what Sheaffer used is commercially available. Mine is an exact duplicate of what Sheaffer used to use, even to the consistency and color. You'll find it listed on the "stuff" page of my website. No checkout, so email is the best way to order.

[Chi Town]

Thank You Ron, I placed an order

[Komitadjie]

That section sealant is awesome stuff. Goes on really easy with a warmed host, and comes apart again just as smoothly when you need it to! Right now, I actually have one of my Preppy eyedroppers closed with it, in place of the usual grease-and-o-ring. Mostly just to see how it works out.