Answer: Montblanc 342 Nib And Feed Removal

June 5, 2013

Time to give back.

I've been working on a Montblanc 342 that I love but would write fine and then stop after a page until I forced more ink into the feed by a small turn of the piston. Soaks and flushes of the nib and feed didn't help, so I decided it was time to disassemble the nib and feed and do a proper cleaning.

First problem was how to remove the nib and feed. After a bit of googling, it *seemed* that this vintage of Montblanc had a nib and feed that unscrewed from the front. So grabbing the nib and feed in my right hand (with a paper towel to try and protect the nib and my fingers) I tried to turn the barrel. Success ... sort of. I little screwing and then nothing. Took about ten minutes of working it back and forth before I was able to completely unscrew the nib and feed. The difficulty in unscrewing it can be seen in the images below -- years of dried, gunked up ink.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1831_zps4137a5a6.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1836_zps2b0fa638.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1832_zps9f79063a.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1838_zps0253696b.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1830_zpsb0cbf7f2.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1829_zps9f547eaf.jpg

Then, it seemed I needed a knockout block (which I don't have) -- but I do have a small vise and I closed the jaws just so the threaded ring was resting on the jaws with nib down and GENTLY tapped the feed with a flat punch. Worked great! So after a half dozen very light taps, I had the nib and feed removed from the threaded ring.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1843_zpsfe0126b2.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1840_zpsbbe5f188.jpg

Notice the mass of dried ink clogging the entire channel in the feed. I guess this was the cause of the problem.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1849_zpsaaa68363.jpg

So a bit cleaning with a dental pick, soap and water and we had something a bit more presentable.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1853_zpsb60e332d.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1855_zps51080be3.jpg

Pushing the nib and feed back into the threaded ring, it was then time to screw it back into the section.

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1864_zpsc5c48c2c.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1857_zpse137838a.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/MB%20342%20nib%20removal/IMG_1861_zps5c1ddeeb.jpg

Since I cleaned the threads, the assembly now easily screwed into the section by hand.

Unfortunately, It continued to behave "not right" ... better, but it would still stop flowing after a bit.

Next step was to try a different ink. I completely cleaned out the Noodlers FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown and replaced it with Waterman Serentity Blue. Presto -- been working great for days now!

June 5, 2013

Congrats on the repair! You're a braver man than I...

June 6, 2013

Nice write up and photos! It's great when it all comes together!

Linda

February 22, 2016

Sorry to hijack this thread but I´m dealing with a similar issue. Got a 3-42G off the brazilian ebay, later model, cleaned it inside and out. Unscrewed the feed/feedholder unit and gave that a through cleaning as well. The inkflow channel is clean as a whistle now. Cleaned the nib, it seems to be ok.

However, after reassembly the pen continues to write very dry, as if not enough ink is coming towards the nib. I didn´t disassemble the feed from the feedholder unit. Did I miss some air flow channel somewhere? What could be the reason? Should I give it some more days, maybe change the ink (it has a regular pelikan blue in it, shouldn´t be a problem ..).

Thanks in advance. I really like this pen.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Wouter_van_Oosterhout

February 22, 2016

Sorry to hijack this thread but I´m dealing with a similar issue. Got a 3-42G off the brazilian ebay, later model, cleaned it inside and out. Unscrewed the feed/feedholder unit and gave that a through cleaning as well. The inkflow channel is clean as a whistle now. Cleaned the nib, it seems to be ok.
However, after reassembly the pen continues to write very dry, as if not enough ink is coming towards the nib. I didn´t disassemble the feed from the feedholder unit. Did I miss some air flow channel somewhere? What could be the reason? Should I give it some more days, maybe change the ink (it has a regular pelikan blue in it, shouldn´t be a problem ..).

Thanks in advance. I really like this pen.

check to see if the nib slit is correctly gapped and that the feed channels are clear.

February 22, 2016

...

wonderful post, Thanks for sharing.

February 22, 2016

check to see if the nib slit is correctly gapped and that the feed channels are clear.

the nib seems to be ok, channels are clear. I was thinking about air flow - ink comes out, air must go in right? Could something be wrong/clogged in that part? Should I take the section/feed apart?

February 22, 2016

the nib seems to be ok, channels are clear. I was thinking about air flow - ink comes out, air must go in right? Could something be wrong/clogged in that part? Should I take the section/feed apart?

absolutely correct and air enters the reservoir through the channels on the feeder, so you must check to see that the channels on the feeder are perfectly clear and unobstructed. Too tight a nib slit would also not allow ink to flow to paper, even if a good path for air exchange exists. HTH.

February 22, 2016

Let me elaborate on this. When you say ´channels´ this means there is more than one channel? I cleaned what I think is the main ink channel. But there are more channels? I see there are slits located on the outer sides of the feed, but these seem to be dead-ended? To clean these I´d have to separate the feed from the section, I think, right?

Thanks for your advice thus far HARI317.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Wouter_van_Oosterhout

November 2, 2016

I made a hasty and clumsy attempt at removing the feed holder in my MB 342, ending up in a broken feed-holder (see picture). Has anyone an idea where I could find a replacement? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Piero