Faber-Castell TK-Matic troubleshooting

I got this rather cheap from Vinted, 17 euros shipped. When it arrived it did not work. A full click pushed about 1,5 mm of lead but when I tried writing it slid back inside at the slightest pressure. Auto advance did not work. I put one of those rubber gaskets between the cone and the rest of the mechanism, no result.

Than I ran a cleaning rod a few times trough the cone and the cylinder thing behind it. No obvious debris. When I put it back together the lead no longer slides. Now it works like a normal pencil, albeit with a mushy click which dispenses too much lead, 1,5 mm as above.

Auto lead advance still not working. Any ideas how can I get it going?

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I would suggest checking if this part is in the right position. It is possible to reassemble the pencil with this part upside down. I did that once…

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From the pics, this looks like one of the later tk models where they have replaced both the metal in the nose piece and the clutch with plastic.

My guess:

The nose piece has a build of lead dust and other stuff in it that prevents its from functioning properly. In the first pic it seems like the white cone is not flush? Are you able to get it flush? It definitely should be!

Or if 1. doesn’t apply

the 2 inner jaws, from the clutch assembly have gotten dull/clogged/?etc maybe the mechanism itself is gummed up

My honest recommendation would be to clean both parts in an ultrasonic cleaner (water and soap) I had dozens of matics and was always able to get them working again with this. also it’s quite safe.

You could theoretically disassemble the clutch and clean it manually. The nose pice is fixed and cannot be disassembled

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At least on my example it can be installed only in one position, as in the picture. The other way around it does not fit.

Yes, the plastic piece in the cone was not flush with the brass. I pushed it in, still wont work.
I’ll have to look for someone with an ultrasonic cleaner in my city. Thanks for the detailed explanation.