Uggh. Thread failure on Jr. Gen

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Carl Fisher

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Well, my own personal carry pen is a titanium Jr. Gent with the plastic threads. I have only been carrying it for about a month now and the threads in the cap just disintegrated on me when I opened it to use this morning.

Should this concern me for the ones I've already sold or have in inventory?
 
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jd99

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Well, my own personal carry pen is a titanium Jr. Gent with the plastic threads. I have only been carrying it for about a month now and the threads in the cap just disintegrated on me when I opened it to use this morning.

Should this concern me for the ones I've already sold or have in inventory?

Had that happen also, had another where the threads (plastic part) came loose in the cap and would just spin, I stopped buying the Jr Gents for a while because of it.
 

Smitty37

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Hmmmm

Well, my own personal carry pen is a titanium Jr. Gent with the plastic threads. I have only been carrying it for about a month now and the threads in the cap just disintegrated on me when I opened it to use this morning.
Should this concern me for the ones I've already sold or have in inventory?
You bought the kit from me and I have not had this reported as happening before but I will replace the centerband (I don't have just the threaded plastic) if that will solve your problem. I have had broken threads reported but it has been due to misuse.
 

jd99

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Smitty:

I bought mine from you also, maybe you got a batch made on a Friday at 4:30 :wink:, I scraped the one that the threads came apart, the other where the plastic spun I was able to use a toothpick with some CA on it and glue it to the tube. and it's the one I carry right now.

Learned a lesson if you glue something in the inside of the cap with CA, make sure you let the CA completely cure before you put the cap back on the pen. It may discolor the plating... DAMHIKT. :redface:
 

OKLAHOMAN

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I have made and sold hundreds of Jr. Gents ll and never had this problem, are you speaking of the Jr. Gent l or ll ?
 

arioux

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Whenever plastic thread are pressed in a tube, insert block should be used. Drill a hole just a little larger than the tread but smaller than the coupler shoulder in a scrap peice of wood. Put the thread part in the hole, the shoulder of the band will rest around the hole. This will prevent from "stressing" the plastic when pressing the part together.
 

Smitty37

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Hmmmm

Smitty:

I bought mine from you also, maybe you got a batch made on a Friday at 4:30 :wink:, I scraped the one that the threads came apart, the other where the plastic spun I was able to use a toothpick with some CA on it and glue it to the tube. and it's the one I carry right now.

Learned a lesson if you glue something in the inside of the cap with CA, make sure you let the CA completely cure before you put the cap back on the pen. It may discolor the plating... DAMHIKT. :redface:
You didn't tell me - I do stand behind what I sell. I'll replace the kit you scrapped. Use epoxy for that kind of gluing.....
 
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Smitty37

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Right

I have made and sold hundreds of Jr. Gents ll and never had this problem, are you speaking of the Jr. Gent l or ll ?
To my knowldge Smitty has never sold the II's, so I assume they are talking about the Jr. Gent I's with the plastic threads on the body of the pen.

AK
Yep....the threads that they mentioned the problem with are a plastic piece inserted and glued inside the centerband. A number of people have reported them breaking when a strong person pulls the cap off instead of unscrewing it., but that's been reported with most kits that use similar plastic threads.
 

jd99

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Smitty:

I bought mine from you also, maybe you got a batch made on a Friday at 4:30 :wink:, I scraped the one that the threads came apart, the other where the plastic spun I was able to use a toothpick with some CA on it and glue it to the tube. and it's the one I carry right now.

Learned a lesson if you glue something in the inside of the cap with CA, make sure you let the CA completely cure before you put the cap back on the pen. It may discolor the plating... DAMHIKT. :redface:
You didn't tell me - I do stand behind what I sell. I'll replace the kit you scrapped. Use epoxy for that kind of gluing.....
Don't worry about it Smitty, it was one of the ones I would carry, so it's not a big deal. I will say this though; the one that the threads came apart on was always a little stiff when I tried to thread the cap on (thats why I kept it as my carry pen), like the two threads didn't quite match, maybe something went wrong in the mold cavity, when it was made.

Not to worry.
Thanks
 

ed4copies

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Edit in: this was originally posted as an answer to the prior poster--but he edited his post, so it is no longer "in context". But the statements are accurate, so I am leaving it here.



The Jr. Gent II has a plastic insert with the threads, as do most of the "better" capped pens. From time to time there have been threading issues, when it appears they had a "burr" in the threads.

I BELIEVE what is being said here is that the Jr. Gent (we refer to as Jr Gent I, but the maker--Rizheng-- just says Jr. Gent) has a plastic that is failing in some instances.

This is another case where using the same name does NOT mean the same components.

The Jr Gent II is NOT perfect (let me know when you find a perfect "kit" in this price range), but it has not had threads "disintegrate" that I have ever heard of.

If you still don't want to take that chance, look at the Triton. Different manufacturer, same size pen. To date, no problems that I have heard of, of any kind, but it has only been out about a year.
 
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Xander

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Edit in: this was originally posted as an answer to the prior poster--but he edited his post, so it is no longer "in context". But the statements are accurate, so I am leaving it here.



The Jr. Gent II has a plastic insert with the threads, as do most of the "better" capped pens. From time to time there have been threading issues, when it appears they had a "burr" in the threads.

I BELIEVE what is being said here is that the Jr. Gent (we refer to as Jr Gent I, but the maker--Rizheng-- just says Jr. Gent) has a plastic that is failing in some instances.

This is another case where using the same name does NOT mean the same components.

The Jr Gent II is NOT perfect (let me know when you find a perfect "kit" in this price range), but it has not had threads "disintegrate" that I have ever heard of.

If you still don't want to take that chance, look at the Triton. Different manufacturer, same size pen. To date, no problems that I have heard of, of any kind, but it has only been out about a year.

Thanks Ed. After I posted I realized the discussion was about the threads in the cap, not the threads on the barrel. My mistake, sorry.

My head is in another place, have to take a friend to hospital for surgery in about 45 mins.
 

Carl Fisher

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Yes, it was a Jr. Gent I as many call it. Since it is my carry pen, I am fairly certain it wasn't abused. I also typically take care never to put any unnecessary pressure on the cap when opening or closing and to my knowledge it has never been pulled.

It was very strange. I opened it and several long thin sections of thread fell out of the cap.

Also I was in no way slighting Smitty or his product. In fact just the opposite, I'm getting ready to order a bunch more kits once my customer decides on plating. I have faith in Smitty that he stands behind is product, so please don't take my questioning the kit as anything against him or his business.
 

jd99

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Also I was in no way slighting Smitty or his product. In fact just the opposite, I'm getting ready to order a bunch more kits once my customer decides on plating. I have faith in Smitty that he stands behind is product, so please don't take my questioning the kit as anything against him or his business.

I also want to say the same thing, all my dealings with Smitty have been top notch, and i will be ordering more kits from him.
 

monark88

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I have been absent for almost a year, only visiting every 3 or 4 months. This problem is the main reason I have quit, temporarily, making "mid range to higher end" pens. I had to share some of my own experiences and frustrations over this happening.

I also have had this happen on cap post models-from PSI and others. (Not from Smitty)

It seems to me that some of the cap thread inserts may have the threads cut a little deeper. These are the ones that seem to 'disintegrate' or unravel. It also may be a technical design problem mating steel threading to soft plastic threads. I have had to replace approx. 10-12 high end pens.

Someone's suggestion about using glue seems to have worked for me, to some degree, in the past.

Also, the plastic threads disallow one to be quick about unscrewing or screwing back on, the cap. I have mine that I have used for the past 4 years with no problems. But I am over cautious and very, very slow in making sure everything lines up properly before screwing the cap back together. Not the way it should have to be done, but probably necessary.

I have many kits that are still in the drawers gathering dust, waiting for a good fix.
 

Smitty37

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nope

Smitty:

I bought mine from you also, maybe you got a batch made on a Friday at 4:30 :wink:, I scraped the one that the threads came apart, the other where the plastic spun I was able to use a toothpick with some CA on it and glue it to the tube. and it's the one I carry right now.

Learned a lesson if you glue something in the inside of the cap with CA, make sure you let the CA completely cure before you put the cap back on the pen. It may discolor the plating... DAMHIKT. :redface:
You didn't tell me - I do stand behind what I sell. I'll replace the kit you scrapped. Use epoxy for that kind of gluing.....
Don't worry about it Smitty, it was one of the ones I would carry, so it's not a big deal. I will say this though; the one that the threads came apart on was always a little stiff when I tried to thread the cap on (thats why I kept it as my carry pen), like the two threads didn't quite match, maybe something went wrong in the mold cavity, when it was made.

Not to worry.
Thanks
My guess is that it was a TN gold kit. There were a small number of them that when the centerbands were assembled they used too much glue and did not properly clean the threads so there was probably some set glue on the female threads inside the centerband. I inspected all of the kits when this was discovered but it's possible that I missed seeing a couple. I found it on about 2 or 3 percent of the kits in that batch - it is an easy fix.
 
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