Disassembled with the TWSBI wrench and silicon grease.

I use my TWSBI Vac 700 for my ink sampling and with all the different inks, and multiple nib changes for each ink, the pen gets filled and emptied a lot. The Vac mechanism has easily gone through over 100 cycles even without considering pen cleaning. The filling rod was getting very stiff and sticking. I was afraid I’d break the pen or slip and send an ink bottle across the table or crush a nib.

I had put the pen aside until I had proper time to tackle the issue. In retrospect it wasn’t such a big issue. But it was the first time and I was hesitant.

First issue, what happens if I get the silicone grease in the pen? In a round about way it came to me that nothing would happen. A recent Goulet Q&A included a question about why metal pens couldn’t be converted to an eye drop filler yet the Vac 700 had a metal filler rod. I’d never though about it myself and basically the answer was what I expected. The metal used is picked to not react with the ink. What’s this got to do with silicone grease? Well, a bell went off and I realized silicone grease is used exactly because it’s inert when mixed with ink. While I wouldn’t want to shove it into the feed, or pour it over the metal rod there wouldn’t be a problem with just enough to loosen things up.

I used the included silicone grease and applied a little to the rod and worked the mechanism without taking the pen apart and that helped greatly, but it still stuck a little. So I opened the pen with the included wrench and applied a little silicone grease below the rear cap and worked the mechanism a few more times. The included silicone grease (from TWSBI, received with the pen) was in a dropper bottle so it was easy to just apply a little.

The only catch is to extend the plunger about half way and insert the seal into the pen before screwing on the rear cap. I screwed on the cap with the seal right against it and the seal was wedged into the top of the pen. No sense having to force it.

Insert the seal into the pen body before screwing on the rear cap