Parker Vacumatic Pellet Retainer

THE EBONITE BUSINESS END OF THE VACUMATIC FILLING UNITS. This is the piece that keeps breaking while you're trying to remove the little ball inside it leftover from the last rubber diaphragm. Just glue it onto the bottom end of the button shaft and you're ready for a new diaphragm and 75 more years of service. Pellet retainer only.

Notes:
Changing pellet retainers on a Vacumatic..
The pellet retainer is glued on with a very strong glue.  It is tough to get off and if you manage to get it off, you put the new pellet retainer on with super glue;  shellac won't hold it.  And you need to relieve the spring pressure so the new pellet retainer doesn't get pushed off while the glue is curing.  This is made simpler if you use an accelerator to harden the new super glue instantly.  But watch your fingers with the glue.  
To get the old pellet retainer off I usually try to pry small pieces of the old pellet retainer off with an X-acto knife, carefully.  you can't use heat because the plunger is celluloid and it will bend (warp) easily with heat.  A Dremel with a tiny sanding drum may also help at getting the old pellet retainer off.  It isn't an easy job and sometimes you luck out and the old pellet retainer pops right off.

Parker had special tooling for putting the little balls in the diaphragm into the pellet holders. (We sell a tool, D15, for pushing the ball into the pellet holder. See the Tools for Parker Filling Units page.)

If you have trouble popping the new combined ball/diaphragm combination into these (or original Parker black hard rubber or celluloid versions),Start out going into the opening GENTLY with a #39 drill bit and work your way up to a #33, turning them with your fingers.(and don't push it too far in; you only need to do the opening). Make sure the plunger tip is cleaned off (remove the old pellet from the tip of the shaft) before installing a new pellet. See the last 2 photos below. If parts off the old pellet are still stuck to the shaft, the new pellet may not go onto the tip of the shaft. Notice the slot in the tip of the shaft. That holds the spring.

We sell diaphragms!  Our D15 Pellet Pusher is very useful in installing your diaphragm into the pellet.