Sheaffer Snorkel Issue And Question

[gweimer1]

I have an older Admiral (actually, it's two now) that I have replaced the sac, gasket and ring on, but I am getting no vacuum. Everything seems to right, but I have noticed one little detail. The very first snorkel I repaired was an early one, where all the metal ribs were the same width, as was the feeder and nib assembly. They lined up and fit perfectly. I've noticed on the two pens I have that the grooves in the feed seem to be the newer models (maybe I have the ages reversed) where there is a single groove/rib that is larger than the other three. The sac protectors on both pens are all the same size. That leads me to think that I'm not getting vacuum because I actually have mismatched parts. I did a water test, and found a little water inside the barrel of one.

 

Thoughts? Should I be on the look-out for the correct sac protector?

[GG917]

Except the nib and section of the first year model, all other parts are exchangeable. I have made a pen from spare parts of at least 3 differents pen, it works perfectly.

 

All the sections have the "one large/three thin rails" so it doesn't matter what kind of sac proctector you have. If no ink goes into pen it indicate that you have a leak somewhere. Snorkel are great pen but temperamental, finding the real cause of some problems can be tricky sometimes... Water inside the barrel seems to indicate that the sac is somehow leaking.

[gweimer1]

Thanks. I'll do a sac replacement to be safe. I did a quick check and it not only looks nearly new, but the vacuum check with plugging the feed hole also seemed to work. The snorkel repair itself I find pretty easy, but I agree that the troubleshooting can be tricky.

[kirchh]

Presumably you are withdrawing the plunger prior to immersing the Snorkel, yes?

 

After withdrawing the plunger, immerse the entire front in water so that the section/barrel joint is below the waterline, with the feed side of the nib generally upwards so the Snorkel hole in the feed is visible, then depress the plunger PARTWAY and observe where the bubbles emerge -- Snorkel tube tip, hole in feed where Snorkel tube emerges, section joint, nowhere...

 

--Daniel