Just because a new sac looks perfect, that does not mean it is perfect.
I had a favorite big Sheaffer EF flex Lifetime nib and an over-size ebonized pearl Balance to put it in. Because of delicate circumstances surrounding this beloved nib over the previous year, I decided to let a penmeister do the reassembly and select from among feeds and sections that would best serve this nib, regardless of factory "correctness." Fantastic! Job done seven months ago, and this favorite pen resumed its place of pride, always inked and ready to write. Alas, since that time, ink flow seemed to get progressively more generous. I tried to control it by switching to another ink, and in December, I was advised in our Ink subforum to switch from my MB Toffee to dry Kaweco Caramel Brown. Today, with Caramel brown collecting on the underside of the feed and dripping onto my paper, I gave up on ink being the solution.
I suspected the sac was at fault. I pulled the section and examined what appeared to be a perfect No. 20 sac, perfectly installed. I tried a couple tricks to see if I could get a droplet of water to migrate through the sac and form on the outer surface. No dice. So I pulled it off, cleaned up the section and installed a replacement sac. I let the shellac cure, filled the pen with Kaweco Caramel, and wrote. And wrote. I warmed the pen in my hand to force increased flow like an eyedropper pen, but no drips. More test runs....
Problem solved.
Lesson learned: like bicycle tubes, sometimes you get a sac with a tiny leak that cannot be seen. There's no point in anguishing about it, because that's just the way sacs are. Best to replace it, and if symptoms do not reoccur, celebrate! (I should have filled the new sac with my favorite MB Toffee ink, but I'll use up this fill of Kaweco Caramel, first.)
I hope there'll be no drips...tomorrow.
Bookmarks