Taking apart a 146 nib assy.

[hari317]

Preamble:

 

I received this modern 146 a few weeks back. Bought it from a reputed ebay dealer and it was all the more attractive to me because of the 18K two tone nib fitted to it. The pen was in pristine condition when I received it, except that the dealer had not flushed the pen before sending it to me. Despite cleaning the cap, I was still getting inky fingers of the previously filled ink, Ink had seeped between the section and the nib carrier, necessiating its removal and refitting. The Indian MB service wanted too much money to do this, so I set out to buy the tools to do this job, I looked at the usual sources, but then discovered that the slot on my latest 146 was diffrent from the slots on my 80's 146, MB had changed the slot design in its modern 146 nib carriers and the older extractors did not fit, this was confirmed to me by our ever helpful FPNer Niksch who patiently answered all my questions. Thanks Niksch!

 

However I could figure out the new slot position geometry and then got in touch with our pen wizard Francis Gossens aka Fountainbel. He immediately set out to design a nib removal tool from the very rough sketch that I had drawn up and had the prototype ready to ship the very next day. Well it arrived today at my home and yes the tool worked very well. Thanks Francis!

 

The slots on an old 146:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3178.jpg

 

The slots on a newer 146:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3180.jpg

The Fountainbel 146 tool:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3208.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3209.jpg

 

The tool slid onto the nib carrier:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3210.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3211.jpg

 

The nib carrier unscrewed halfway:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3212.jpg

 

The nib unit completely removed:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3213.jpg

 

Thread details:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3215.jpg

 

The MB "bubblegum" sealant remains:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3216.jpg

 

The original sealant comes out like pencil shavings as you unscrew the nib carrier, I am pretty sure it is a Sil-RTV kind of sealant.

 

The section without nib carrier:

you can see the step that holds the threads for the nib unit. There is no sealing between the nib carrier lip and the lip of the section, ink can seep in into the annular gap while filling the pen and slowly leach out.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/MB146/IMG_3219.jpg

 

I hope this photo guide will be helpful in case any one wants to re-seal their nib units and always consider myself lucky to have found and joined FPN where everyone is so eager and free to share knowledge.

 

Cheers,

Hari

 

 

[Michael W]

Awesome Photography!!

[Wideguy]

waiting for the happy end to this open heart surgery Hari !!

Wonderful stuff

best wishes

Adam

[Soulmaker1]

Great pictures! what kind of sealant will you use?

 

A

[fountainbel]

Glad to hear the tool works well Hari !

Very professional pictures, congratulations !

Francis

Edited September 10, 2009 by fountainbel

[Michael R.]

Wow, this is great!

 

...I need to get one like that.

 

 

Also I think it would be interesting if it would be possible to design a tool which will allow to remove nib and feed only. This way you would not have to re-seal the nib carrier when putting everything back together.

 

I was thinking about a tool which whill grip both nib and feed very tightly (...gripping the feed in a small gap) so you could pull them out together from the carrier.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

 

 

[Blade Runner]

Hari,

Awesome DIY thread! Kudos to you and Francis! I'm impressed.

[msilbernagel]

Great post! Great pictures! Thanks for the info.

[scutterdav]

Where do you get a new seal?

[dandelion]

Great thread, great photos - thanks!

[soapytwist]

Where do you get a new seal?

I did one for the first time a couple of months ago and niksch recommended clear silicone bath sealant when I asked for advice. I went ahead with the white stuff I had in the shed (after all MB used pink!) and have no problems six months on.

 

Edtied to say thanks for the photos - I forgot to take any when doing mine; I was frustrated that every person asking about disassembly was told that MB service would be a better route for repair.

Edited September 11, 2009 by soapytwist

[BrandonA]

Don't think I've got the stomach to perform DIY on my pens.

 

I trust the result was what you'd hoped for?

[jigesh]

Thanks, Hari; nice pictures and very informative post. Impressed by the ingenuity of your and Fountainbel's customized solution....

[Multiechelon]

Hari, this is a great post and precisely why I frequent FPN. Where else would one get this kind of information? Like BrandonA, I am not sure I would feel comfortable doing this myself, but it is very cool to see others do it successfully.

 

Sean

[hari317]

Thanks for all the comments! For now, I have used a generous amount of silicone grease, but I plan to use a locally made single part Silicone RTV sealant called Anabond 666 available in 100gm tubes. Pls take care not to overtighten the feeder case while refitting, high likely hood of it breaking.

 

Best,

Hari

 

[jigesh]

A summary of this and the "piston-lubing" threads by Hari can be conveniently found in the attachment posted/attached here.

[KenS]

A summary of this and the "piston-lubing" threads by Hari can be conveniently found in the attachment posted/attached here.

 

 

In the FWIW catagory; Two or three years ago, I used Tryphon section sealant on a 146 and I have had no problems since.

Best regards, Ken.

[jigesh]

A summary of this and the "piston-lubing" threads by Hari can be conveniently found in the attachment posted/attached here.

 

 

In the FWIW catagory; Two or three years ago, I used Tryphon section sealant on a 146 and I have had no problems since.

Best regards, Ken.

 

 

Thank you, Ken. If these two threads populate more with useful information (like you just added), I would be happy to re-compile/update the PDF attachment.

[niksch]

Also I think it would be interesting if it would be possible to design a tool which will allow to remove nib and feed only. This way you would not have to re-seal the nib carrier when putting everything back together.

 

I was thinking about a tool which whill grip both nib and feed very tightly (...gripping the feed in a small gap) so you could pull them out together from the carrier.

 

 

Michael, since the feed and nib are friction fit into the feeder case, I'd be concerned about damaging either the feed or nib. Particularly the most modern/current feed because the fins are so delicate. Using section sealant from Tryphon or Pendemonium or an equivalent product is the way to go if the nib assembly must be removed from a pen.

 

Eric

[georges zaslavsky]

thanks for sharing