Snorkel Tube Feed Pushed Too Far Inward

[RayCornett]

I have a Snorkel tube I was flossing on a working pen. Being that it was working I did not want to disassemble it and remove the sac to floss from the back end. So, I flossed through the tip. The wire hit a clog and as a result the tube feed was pushed deep into the tube.

Any suggestions for getting it back out without have to disassemble and remove the sac?

[penwash]

Hi Ray, I'm not too clear on the situation, you mean the metal tube got pushed into the pen?

If that's the case, the metal "snorkel" tube goes through several rings into a dense rubber seal that packs the end of the metal casing where the ink sac is contained in. It's easy enough to disassemble the pen to get to the end of the snorkel tube and pull it out of the rubber seal gently (be careful not to rotate the tube when pulling it, otherwise it'll become tricky to line up the end with the nib), then reverse the assembly.

The metal casing has a square-ish end which will only fit a certain way into the nib unit, so it's easy to line up the snorkel tip with the nib (unless you have a round snorkel tip that doesn't need to be lined up).

[RayCornett]

Hi Ray, I'm not too clear on the situation, you mean the metal tube got pushed into the pen?

No, the black feed piece inside the tube.

[D Armstrong]

Heat is your friend here. The plug will soften quite easily with some dry heat (about the same amount as is required to soften shellac, or a bit more) and the tube will move quite easily. When it all cools again it will stiffen up again. The only twitchy thing is to be sure that the tube's orientation is the same as when you began, as gentle rotation is usually what works to get it moving.

Don't, for heaven's sake, be tempted to use pliers or anything other than finger pressure to move the tube! It is so thin it will collapse if you use anything rigid.

At the end of the process we sometimes use a touch of shellac at the joint to keep a looser tube in place.

The black tube insert (the skinny little feed) is hard rubber, so it won't be affected by the heat.

[kirchh]

Heat is your friend here. The plug will soften quite easily with some dry heat (about the same amount as is required to soften shellac, or a bit more) and the tube will move quite easily. When it all cools again it will stiffen up again. The only twitchy thing is to be sure that the tube's orientation is the same as when you began, as gentle rotation is usually what works to get it moving.

Don't, for heaven's sake, be tempted to use pliers or anything other than finger pressure to move the tube! It is so thin it will collapse if you use anything rigid.

At the end of the process we sometimes use a touch of shellac at the joint to keep a looser tube in place.

The black tube insert (the skinny little feed) is hard rubber, so it won't be affected by the heat.

The feed shifted, not the Snorkel tube.
--Daniel

[D Armstrong]

Heh. Notwithstanding my not reading carefully, the solution is similar. You have the option of heating the plug and snorkel tube. The tube will be loose enough to pull out entirely, at which point you can re-seat the feed to the proper alignment. Then re-heat the plug to replace the tube. I use a piece of bicycle inner tube to grip the tube with my fingers.

In fact, it could be argued that using this method is less invasive, and easier on the housing, than fully removing the plug and the sac.

[kirchh]

Triumph nib, or open?

[RayCornett]

I just decided to go ahead and remove the sac. But then I noticed the feed was broken which explained a couple things. Luckily I had a spare complete unbroken tube on hand. I just didn't want to have to use it

[RayCornett]

I seriously don't know why I didn't think of doing this while still in the sac protector although I have done it plenty of times while out of the protector. #feelingdumb

[RayCornett]

Here is one last question. Does anyone know the inner diameter of the PFM tubes? The one that is now without a feed has a slight bend inward on the underside of the tip. I figure if I can get piece of hard wire just big enough to perhaps slip in through the back and and nudge that bend straight.

[Farmboy]

I would think finding a replacement snorkel tube would be on the easy to find parts list.