PSI Duraclick Slim Issues

[mastory]

I tried to put together a PSI Duraclick Slim this weekend and the click mechanism wouldn't work. I remeasured the tubes/blanks - they're within .003. I changed out the refill and the Schmidt 88 mechanism - no luck. When I unscrew the cap about 1/8", it works, but the refill doesn't extend out far enough.

I talked to another expert in the area - he's had the same issue. It's also been reported on several Facebook groups.

Has anyone else had this problem? More importantly, has anyone come up with a solution?

 

[egnald]

Check for obstructions and that the spring is not bound up somehow. I've heard that the wrong spring or that a spring that is too strong can prevent the clicker from working properly. - Dave

 

[mastory]

Check for obstructions and that the spring is not bound up somehow. I've heard that the wrong spring or that a spring that is too strong can prevent the clicker from working properly. - Dave

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out tonight. It appears that the spring is supposed to sit on/in the centerband. But now that you mention it, if that spring is too long, it could compress all the way before the mechanism can operate. Hmmm. That would also explain why shortening the refill or the mechanism wouldn't solve the issue. By jove, you may have it.

 

[Darios]

re : "the click mechanism wouldn't work."
Is it getting stuck out? If so, check for binding at the end of the tip. I've other kits where I've had to ream out the tip a little bit as the ink cartridge would get jammed on the side of the hole. And it would only do that when it's assembled and when the spring is in.

 

[Woodchipper]

Did you remove the plastic bead on the tip of the refill? Is it stuck in the pen body? I came close to assembling a pen with the bead still on the refill.

 

[mastory]

No, the refill is fine. When I unscrew the cap an 1/8", the pen works.

 

[Darios]

Keep it in mind - what you describe is similar to what I was seeing with PSI's steampump - no problem at half a turn out. Also good if there is no spring. Just something about having the spring in, fully assembled and/or a Schmidt cartridge just causes mine to catch on the edge.

The attached pics show a steampump post filing/reaming. You can still see how the ink is off to one side. Without filing it would deploy out and catch.

Obviously, this only counts if, by "does not work" you mean it won't retract after clicking.

 

[mastory]

Check for obstructions and that the spring is not bound up somehow. I've heard that the wrong spring or that a spring that is too strong can prevent the clicker from working properly. - Dave

You my friend are a steely eyed missile man. I cut about a 1/4" of the spring off. Then placed back on the refill and stretched it back out to the original length. It works! Thank you.

 

[NJturner]

BAD INSTRUCTIONS FROM MANUFACTURER - BEWARE
I just ordered the starter kit for these pens from Exotic Blanks - 5 pens plus the bushings. I made my own blanks and proceeded to pull a random instruction sheet out of one of the kit bags. Following the instructions, I drilled, trimmed and glued in all the tubes. Then, following the instructions, I pressed in the first component, the cap section then the tip section on them all. Went to the next step which was screwing in the click mechanism - no dice. Seems there is a batch of bad instruction sets that reverse the picture and description of the tip and cap sections and I had a bad one! If your instruction set is titles EDC Dura CKick (SP) Pen Kit, you have a bad one. If it says Every Day Carry Dura Click Pen, they should have the right parts indicated.

I had to disassemble all the pens and reverse the section pieces, unfortunately ruining a blank along the way and requiring me to CA a few sections into the tubes because the brass had expanded from the first install. I've been in touch with Exotic Blanks and PSI about this - but if you have kits in your stocks and have never built this pen before, check your instruction sheet BEFORE pressing anything in.

 

[NJturner]

I wrote an email to Penn State Industries regarding the bad instructions for this pen kit error, as I am struggling to hold Exotic Blanks responsible because all they did for this was fulfil my pen kit order. The pen kits were packaged at Penn State and shipped to Exotic Blanks, where they simply moved them from their inbound product to a box that got shipped to me. I expect, as I am sure Exotic Blanks expects, that the sealed product kit from Penn State would be complete and correct. Penn State doesn't seem to agree. I got the following response from them -
****************************
SUBJECT: EDC DURA CLICK PEN KIT INSTRUCTIONS ARE INCORRECT

MESSAGE FROM THE TECHNICIAN:

We are aware of a batch of kits that had bad instructions. All current inventory was pulled, checked, and corrected as necessary.
Sincerely,

The Penn State Industries Technical Department
This message has been generated by the Ticketing System.
***************************
No offer of replacing the ruined tubes, no offer of replacement of the blank I destroyed in mechanically removing the pressed in parts called out in error in the instructions, just a statement that said they fixed their problem. What about my problem??? This was a starter set for people who have never made this pen before (like me), so I would think everyone would follow the instructions, but I guess that Penn State thinks that education should be at my cost.

Odd in that their fix still got me 4 instruction sheets that were bad in my $80 order of 5 pen kits. Great customer service. Last order from Penn State product for me.

 

[Brian G]

Back to mastory's issue with the Duraclick Slim: did you happen to mistakenly install the centerband the wrong way? The instructions note there is a wider opening (hole) that goes toward the upper barrel (click end), and a narrower opening (hole) that goes toward the tip.

The spring fits in the larger hole. It doesn't fit in the smaller hole. The depth of the larger hole is about 0.27" based on my measurement of a component set I have. That seems to be about the distance you clipped off.