Kaweco Sport V16 Piston Repair

[majorworks]

Guys - do you know anywhere I can buy a tool that will fit the Kaweco v16? I just got one with a REALLY tight piston, and I don't like the idea of endlessly forcing it whenever I use it. I deifnitely need to take it apart and clean and relube it.

 

But where can I get a tool to open the back? I don't have a Dremel to modify a pre-existing TWSBI tool.

 

Nope... but if you get a serviceable answer, please by all means share it here!

 

So did you pick up one of the (other) Sports I'd been watching on the bay?

[saskia_madding]

Yep. I got an OB on ebay. The piston works but it's just way tighter than I'm comfortable using. If I low grade force it from now to eternity, then it will eventually break.

 

I've got to find a tool that fits. SOMEHOW.

 

ETA: I just saw a youtube video where a guy used a metal file on a clip from a tape measure. I've got a metal file around somewhere, so tonight I'm going to see if my metal file will work on a TWSBI wrench. I'll keep you posted!

[Tweel]

IIRC, Hari317 took the mechanism out of an M800 using a "wrench" that he made by cutting a square notch into the edge of an old credit card, using a utility knife.

[hari317]

A little thread necrophilia... thanks, Hari, for the details and great photos of the innards of a V16 Sport. I just acquired one from the auction site (my second). This one's a V16N with OB steel nib. It doesn't fill as well as it ought to, but enough to write with for now. At some point, I'll want to remove the piston mechanism, have a look at it, grease it up, etc. So this thread will definitely be a resource for that.

 

 

Thank you. The pens take in very little ink(they are very tiny after all), I got 0.65ml which is roughly equal to what a short international cartridge holds.

Edited June 12, 2019 by hari317

[majorworks]

IIRC, Hari317 took the mechanism out of an M800 using a "wrench" that he made by cutting a square notch into the edge of an old credit card, using a utility knife.

 

This right here is a pretty good idea... an old credit card is certainly thin enough and should have the requisite rigidity. Not to mention that the price is right...

[Tweel]

I'm not sure how the Sport piston is structured, but I think that if you can get the card in place on the flats, then turn the knob down on it, that would help keep the card from flexing and twisting off the flats.

[whych]

Before trying to take the pen apart, if the piston is stiff, immerse the WHOLE pen in water and work the piston, filling and emptying the pen under water.

This will get rid of the dried ink that has collected behind the piston and free it up.

 

Don't worry, soaking the entire pen will not ruin anything.

[majorworks]

I'm not sure how the Sport piston is structured, but I think that if you can get the card in place on the flats, then turn the knob down on it, that would help keep the card from flexing and twisting off the flats.

 

 

Before trying to take the pen apart, if the piston is stiff, immerse the WHOLE pen in water and work the piston, filling and emptying the pen under water.

This will get rid of the dried ink that has collected behind the piston and free it up.

 

Don't worry, soaking the entire pen will not ruin anything.

 

Good advice from both... thanks!

[saskia_madding]

I'm very comfortable with knowing how a piston works, and I much prefer lubing the barrel. I use highly pigmented inks and sometimes the ink itself can strip the silicone, and often the repeated flushing required to clean a pen afterwards can put strain on an already tight piston.

 

Here's my update - DO NOT do what I did. It was a pain in the butt AND using a nail file was not at all exact. I got to a place where the tool was too small, filed it once, and then it was too big. UGH. I went downstairs and used pliers to pry the space closed a smidge ... it was too tight. On and on and on ...

 

Eventually I got a hideous looking tool but at least it fit. However, once I slotted it onto the flat bits, the tool just spun on the plastic and did not even pull out the piston. I think I scored away a bit of the plastic, and now the flat bits are super hard to see. I made some adjustments and eventually got the tool to work, but I'm worried I'm making small gouges in the plastic of the piston and that's why the tool is holding at all. UGH.

 

I guess it's not the end of the world. Now that it's relubed, it will be good to go for a long time. Next time, I'll try using a credit card that expires, but given how undefined the flat bits are now, I'm not sure that will work.

 

Either way, at least it's working. That's better than where I was at before!

[majorworks]

I'm very comfortable with knowing how a piston works, and I much prefer lubing the barrel. I use highly pigmented inks and sometimes the ink itself can strip the silicone, and often the repeated flushing required to clean a pen afterwards can put strain on an already tight piston.

 

Here's my update - DO NOT do what I did. It was a pain in the butt AND using a nail file was not at all exact. I got to a place where the tool was too small, filed it once, and then it was too big. UGH. I went downstairs and used pliers to pry the space closed a smidge ... it was too tight. On and on and on ...

 

Eventually I got a hideous looking tool but at least it fit. However, once I slotted it onto the flat bits, the tool just spun on the plastic and did not even pull out the piston. I think I scored away a bit of the plastic, and now the flat bits are super hard to see. I made some adjustments and eventually got the tool to work, but I'm worried I'm making small gouges in the plastic of the piston and that's why the tool is holding at all. UGH.

 

I guess it's not the end of the world. Now that it's relubed, it will be good to go for a long time. Next time, I'll try using a credit card that expires, but given how undefined the flat bits are now, I'm not sure that will work.

 

Either way, at least it's working. That's better than where I was at before!

 

Did you file down a TWSBI wrench as you'd mentioned you might in a previous reply?

[saskia_madding]

Yep! I think if someone had the proper tools to do it with, this would work perfectly. All I had was a metal file, and it was imprecise, took a long time, needed tons of tweaking, and also didn't end up working too well. All in all, I wasn't thrilled, but I'll have time to try to figure something else out now that I've relubed it once.

[Tweel]

Yep! I think if someone had the proper tools to do it with, this would work perfectly.

 

This is what I did for my Pelikan M101N when the piston suddenly unscrewed from the barrel. I did have a better selection of tools, and worked carefully.

[majorworks]

OK... success! Got the piston out of one of my V16s by fashioning a wrench out of an old United luggage tag I found in my desk at work. I eyeballed the span from flat to flat on the piston at about 7mm and cut that width out of the card. It fit tight and could be a tad wider but it worked.

 

Dumb question... how does the nib and feed come out of the barrel of these pens? Pull out the front? Or push in and bring it out the back?

[zchen]

For the V16, you need a wrench to get the piston filler out. Look closely at the threaded portion and you'll see two flat sides. You will have to grind a small ignition wrench thin enough to get in there, or fabricate one. I used a feeler gauge (one of the thickest on the set) and cut a corresponding notch into it.

 

Note that the trim ring is not affixed, and you can move it toward the cap or toward the barrel for easier access to the flat portions of the piston mechanism.

 

I just disassembled my V16 and want to add a note here for posterity, as dneal stated here, the notch is revealed when you move the trim ring up. It is MUCH easier for the tool you fashioned(I cut a gift card with $0 balance) to grab hold of if you move the trim ring up. Once the tool is fitted to the notch,screw the piston knob down and tighten the tool against the barrel, then turn the barrel clockwise to loosen, this way is easier than turning the tool.

[OCArt]

On 8/20/2015 at 5:09 AM, whych said:

Don't force the piston.

Throw the whole pen into a dish of water and let it soak - if you have a U/S cleaner, cycle it.

Try and get water into the barrel which should loosen the piston.

Another way of getting water into the pen is by putting the pen nib up into a plastic coke bottle with enough water to cover the nib.

Cap the bottle and then squeeze the bottle to get water into the pen.

 

There is a thread on the Pelikan part (I think) by TorPelikan with pictures of this method.

 

You may be lucky after a good soak to be able to unscrew the piston, but don't worry if you can't. Just keep soaking the pen and work the piston while the pen is submersed and you will get rid of any ink at the back of the piston.

Nice tip! This is such a good suggestion that I felt the thread deserved to be revived.