Repairing a cracked pen

Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 09:36:25 -0400
From: Randal McLaughlin <rmclaughlin@voyager.net>
To: Toby Reed <toby@eskimo.com>
Subject: DTR-1 RUMOR & Re: DTR-1 Pen repair

John T. Tran wrote:
> 
> Randall
> 
>         I would like to have your instructions on salvaging the pen.
> 
> John Tran

John,

I had a couple of DTR-1 pens with cracked, broken, or even missing ends
where the battery and cap are positioned.  This is the opposite end from
the sylus.  I went to a local 'home improvement store' - [ Home Depot, H.Q., Builders Square] and bought some heat shrink tubing from the
electrical department.  Bring the pen along.  I found some heat shrink
tubing that fit very snug around the pen barrel.  [It must fit tight to
hold the battery cap in place without glue].

I cut off about 2 to 3 inches of the tubing and placed it over the end
with the cap, secondly I inserted the cap itself, since the end of the
pen was too broken to hold it in place.  I left about a 1/4 inch of the
tubing extending out over the cap.  I then heated that 1/4" with a match
while gradually turning the pen with my fingers of the other hand.  This
distributed the heat evenly so the tubing would 'grip the cap'.  You
might want to practice on this because the tubing shrinks very fast. 
The tubing can still be removed or adjusted to replace the batteries if
needed.  I haven't needed to do this yet, my batteries are still good.  
I did need to readjust or push the tubing back into place so the battery
contact was reestablished.  This tubing will slip a little with time,
but the tubing was a tight enough fit so I didn't need to shrink the
tubing over the barrel portion of the pen at all.  [It could crack the
barrel- so heat just the end!] 

I hope this can help you, John.  I will also forward a copy of this to
Toby Reed for his web page.