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What did I buy and how do I use it?

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
When you pull the plunger out it collapses the bladder, when you push it back in the bladder expands.... once you have it pushed back in count to 10 and let the bladder suck up the ink. then screw the snorkel back in.....also make sure the snorkel is completely submerged or you just suck air.
Actually, the bladder collapses when you push it in, it expands while you wait.

From PenHero.com:

Sheaffer introduced the Touchdown filling system in 1949. This was a unique filling system using pneumatic air pressure in the down stroke of the cylindrical plunger to compress the sac inside the cylinder and fill the pen. A similar system was employed by Chilton in their pneumatic self-filling pens introduced in 1924.

How It Works

When the plunger is pushed back into the barrel, the air pressure generated compresses the ink sac, expelling its contents. As the sac reinflates, if the nib is inserted into ink, it will fill with ink. On early Touchdowns only one down stroke is necessary to fill the pen. Interestingly, on the modern Touchdown Legacy, Sheaffer describes the pen needing two downstrokes to fill. As the pen is a cartridge / converter pen with a removable Touchdown sac unit, it is likely that the modified Touchdown system is not air tight enough to generate enough pressure to fully expel and inflate the sac, needing two strokes to do the job.
 
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In the first pic the snorkel looks more like a hollow needle.

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In the next pic it appears to have a fibrous material in the snorkel as mine does.

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It would seem that it must have material in it for seepage control?

Should I decide to have it restored are there recommendations?
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Without reservations I would use Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens (no affiliation), of course there are many other good pen repairers out there.

I sold all my Snorkels except one, I just looked and the tube is wide open and I don't remember ever seeing that material in there before.
 
It's been writing good for the last 30 or so minutes. Smooth for a fine tip too. I am sure I was not letting it fill long enough earlier. I'll keep writing and see what happens.
Thanks again.
 
Without reservations I would use Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens (no affiliation), of course there are many other good pen repairers out there.

I sold all my Snorkels except one, I just looked and the tube is wide open and I don't remember ever seeing that material in there before.

I heartily second Ron Zorn for Snorkels.

I used to restore Snorkels, and have a few left but, as Doug said, they are a complicated system. I've switched to non-Snorkel Touchdown fillers as they have all of the advantages of the TD fill but none of the idiosyncracies of the Snorkel. If you decide to try to restore it yourself, you'll need a #14 sac, a point seal, and a barrel o-ring. One of the most common maladies in a Snorkel is a blocked snorkel tube. Those can be a bear to clear. If the tube is clear then it's pretty straightforward. The ink is fed by a very tiny slit on top of the snorkel tube, not by the large hollow end. If your snorkel tube doesn't have the black insert in it then it will not work very well. It may be that the insert is not at the end of the tube, but may be pushed back some. The insert acts as the capillary to feed the nib.
 
I am sending the pen to a recommended pro because I really like the mechanical aspect and want it to work perfect.
 
Cool. Will you show it to us when it comes back all nice and restored?

Most definitely! I wasn't sure about spending the money on a $12 find but after seeing what restored snorkels get on eBay, my investment looks like a bargain!
 
Whoa, stop for a second
IIRC, a snorkel will "fill" even with a dead sac and unfortunately, this may move ink into the metal sac guard and spring, rusting it
Get it done professionally and you'll have a pen better than most modern pens
 
Whoa, stop for a second
IIRC, a snorkel will "fill" even with a dead sac and unfortunately, this may move ink into the metal sac guard and spring, rusting it
Get it done professionally and you'll have a pen better than most modern pens

The "O" ring in mine is likely original and being 50+ years old wasn't creating enough suction to do anything. Luckily the pen is pristine inside so I did indeed send it to a pro to have it fully restored and polished.
 
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