"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."
~ Benjamin Franklin
I have reversed the less than optimal feedback and everything is back hunky dory.
Chrissy (March 22nd, 2015), Jon Szanto (March 21st, 2015), mhosea (March 21st, 2015), Ste_S (March 23rd, 2015), View from the Loft (March 25th, 2015)
"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."
~ Benjamin Franklin
You know, I was thinking I could answer that, but I can't, and it is clearly stated in a lot of places to simply DON'T DO THAT! Probably one of the clearest text descriptions of how to fill a Snorkel is on this page at Richard Binder's site; just scroll down to "Touchdown and Snorkel" fillers. You'll also find links to some good diagrams and whatnot about how this filling system works. It isn't called the most complex filling system ever for no reason!
"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."
~ Benjamin Franklin
Flushing a "regular" Snorkel suffers from the same issue insofar as the primary feed and sac are easy to flush, but the secondary feed is bypassed by flushing. If one plays by the rules, a regular Snorkel does indeed take a good long while to clean. But the Snorkel feed isn't as big as the PFM, and moreover, if you really wanted to, you could just unscrew the Snorkel nib and feed assembly from the grip section and then flush the secondary feed, toss it in the ultrasonic, and/or soak it, then screw it back on. The PFM isn't built like that.
If you draw up on the plunger while the secondary feed is below the surface of the water, negative pressure in the barrel could suck water into the pen barrel where it can make the spring rust. Nothing like that is possible with only the Snorkel tube immersed, but it's still best to get into the habit of drawing back the plunger with the nib and Snorkel tube in open air and then immersing the end of the tube before pushing down on the Touchdown tube. Note that if the pen has been inked, it will usually squirt a little bit out as the the Touchdown tube reaches full extension. Consequently, always keep your Snorkel tube pointed in a safe direction while it is extended.
--
Mike
Jon Szanto (March 21st, 2015)
See the above message with the added warning that if there is a leak in the sac or anywhere else for that matter it will also pull ink into the body that can rust the spring.
This does drive home the point that buying at retail prices from reliable retailers is not always such a bad thing and that eBay bargain sometimes are not such bargains.
This is true to an extent, but in the course of the last year from well known, reputable dealers I have had: a Waterman 52 with a crack through the barrel thread, a P51 vac leaking though 'with new seals', a Conway Stewart with 'rare right-foot oblique' that was actually a horrible foot worn by a very heavy hand, an Esterbrook 'Transitional' where the J-bar had been displaced and punctured the new sac.
I have had stuff from general eBay sellers meanwhile with no comparable unnoted faults. At least there expectations are not too high, unlike with the preceding examples from vintage pen specialists.
Kind regards
Timothy
Edited for typography.
Last edited by checkrail; March 22nd, 2015 at 04:48 PM.
Reading that stuff about the Sheaffer's vacuum system serves to reinforce my favouring my Onotos: The original (1905) and the best!
Cob
Pens can degrade, and the most serious dealers can miss things. "Reliable and reputable" in my view is not meant to convey perfection of skill. It is meant to convey how those so labeled deal with adversity. And of course, even in the retail setting some do better than others.
I do note tangentially that firing off negative feedback on ebay should be a last resort.
regards
david
David R. Isaacson, MD
http://www.vacumania.com : Sales site for guaranteed, restored collectible pens.
The Fountain Pen Board /FPnuts : Archived Message Board with focus on vintage.
The Fountain Pen Journal: The new glossy full-color print magazine, published/edited by iconic fountain pen author Paul Erano.
Facebook pen group "Fountain Pens"/FPnuts: Davey's casual Facebook group for collectible pens.
31000 members and growing. World's heftiest daily vintage pen eye candy
mustud52 (March 25th, 2015)
I think the point is well taken with respect these competing strategies:
1. Buy an unrestored pen from eBay, send it to a restorer, and then have a restored pen.
2. Buy an unrestored pen from eBay, restore it yourself, and then have a restored pen.
3. Buy a "restored" pen from a random eBay seller, an individual who restores their own pens.
4. Buy a restored pen from a reputable dealer (can be on eBay--it's about who the seller is, not where they sell) with a warranty.
I have generally been a strategy #2 guy. If I have sold a pen that I restored, I was selling to a #3 guy (or #1 or #2 who simply discounted my restoration efforts), typically at a marginal improvement over the #1 or #2 price.
Anyway, if you are a strategy #2 person, you learn pretty quickly, and often the hard way, how to see the pictures in an auction. There is a learning curve, and you will end up buying "parts" instead of "pens" here and there. Buying on strategy #3 often leads to the discovery that things have not been done quite right (sometimes not at all). Strategy #1 carries all the same risks as strategy #2, so the idea of going in with a "surgical strike" and grabbing a bargain is a roll of the dice, except that a newbie buyer on surgical strike mission doesn't have a sense of the probability of different outcomes, and they lack the experience needed to analyze all the information that is available to them in the auction. In the best case you will get your bargain. In the worst case you will get parts that you have no use for. Most cases will work out to a restored pen at a total cost that may or may not compare favorably to strategy #4. But Strategy #4 has the virtue of everything being up-front. With the others, you don't really know how much the working pen actually costs you until the dust settles.
In this particular case, I saw a PFM-I on vacumania.com that might have been comparable in final cost when one ignores the customs charges (which must be present in both cases to one extent or the other because the buyer is importing the pen).
Consequently, as I said, the point is well taken that, if you are just looking to buy a particular vintage pen, you should give serious thought to buying from a reputable restorer, or retailer who works with such restorers, bearing in mind that it is hard to compare these numbers up front unless you really know your stuff.
Last edited by mhosea; March 23rd, 2015 at 09:24 PM.
--
Mike
fpquest (March 23rd, 2015)
BTW, while I am an at least poseur pen dealer, I have bought thousands (no joke) of pens on ebay.
I just advise being cautious.
regards
david
David R. Isaacson, MD
http://www.vacumania.com : Sales site for guaranteed, restored collectible pens.
The Fountain Pen Board /FPnuts : Archived Message Board with focus on vintage.
The Fountain Pen Journal: The new glossy full-color print magazine, published/edited by iconic fountain pen author Paul Erano.
Facebook pen group "Fountain Pens"/FPnuts: Davey's casual Facebook group for collectible pens.
31000 members and growing. World's heftiest daily vintage pen eye candy
I am not an expert on the pen side of things but I think you have done the right thing in the end.
I would suggest writing a letter with proof of purchase, repair receipts and proof of postage to yourself to customs and asking for a refund of the import duty and vat you might just get your money back.
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