Sailor Inner Cap Replacement?

June 28, 2019

I have a Sailor 1911 large I bought used on eBay. I lost the inner cap. Is just a clear plastic inner cap that friction fits inside the cap to keep the nib wet and ink contained inside the cap. Any ideas where I might be able to pick up a replacement?

June 29, 2019

As far as I'm aware, Sailor Pen does not offer replacement parts for retail sales, so if you specifically do not want to contact the company (or its authorised local agents) to arrange a repair on its terms, then you (or someone else) will have to harvest the inner cap from another Sailor Profit21 (aka 1911 Large) pen, maybe one that's otherwise broken and just being sold for parts.

June 29, 2019

Twice I have sent damaged fountain pens to Sailor's representative, Itoya, in California. Both times, the replacement parts were installed fairly quickly, even when one of the pens had to travel to Japan for service. There was only a small charge for the work each time. In both cases, I was totally satisfied with the work done on my KoPs. One had a cracked section; the other which I had purchased used, had a missing metal section ring. It is possible to call the Itoya office and talk to customer service. Even though I did not request it, I received periodic progress reports. I highly recommend Sailor's US repair facility and customer service. Good luck with your inner cap problem.

June 29, 2019

Thanks, folks. I'll definitely get in touch with Itoya next week and see what they say. I'm certainly open to any other ideas anyone may have. Thanks, again!

July 3, 2019

Thanks again for your help, folks.

Just in case someone checks out this thread to know how it works having a Sailor pen serviced by the factory...

First, I contacted returns@itoya.com. They got back with me in about 24 hours.

Here is the reply I received from Itoya:

Hi Jonny,

We can help facilitate the repair with Sailor. We as the distributor is not allowed by Sailor to do any sort of repair. All repair work has to be done at the factory in Japan. It is also Sailor policy not to send just parts for replacement. The entire pen has to be sent to Japan for evaluation. Even if you are just missing the inner cap. This is to ensure that the pen is in perfect working condition once the parts are replaced and repair is completed.

Below is our repair process.

You will be shipping your pen to our facility in California. Once it arrives, we will send this to SAILOR Japan. Once the evaluation is completed, SAILOR will contact us with a cost estimate which we will forward to you through email. If you authorize us to have SAILOR proceed, you are responsible for this amount plus a $20.00 shipping & handling fee (these charges are typically handled by credit card - we accept Visa, MasterCard or Discover). The entire process typically takes 10-12 weeks. If you decide not to proceed with the repair, the pen will be return unrepaired and your cost will only be the $20.00 shipping and handling.

Please send the entire pen to ITOYA, at the address below. Reference on the outside of the package ######### for easy identification.

Itoya

800 Sandhill Avenue

Carson, CA 90746

I guess I will give the process a try. I'm a little frustrated that they can't send me a 10 cent friction-fit inner cap to fit inside my cap (especially, since it came out every time I cleaned the cap), but I guess they are just looking out for their own reputation by wanting to handle it themselves. (Although, I'm a little torn about just going without the inner cap due to the expense of replacing a 10 cent item.) I guess it says a lot about how I feel about this pen if I'm willing to go through this hassle to get the inner cap replaced. Great pen!!!