Pelikan M800 B nib issues

[LinusL]

Hello FPN,

 

A little more than a month ago I bought what I thought would be my holy grail of FPs, a Pelikan M800 Blue with a broad nib. I was overjoyed when I received it, never having held and used such a beautiful pen before. This joy was sadly enough replaced with frustration.

 

The problem at hand is that it has everything from starting to skipping to ink flow problems. I've used 5 different inks in it and had the same problem with all of them. Iroshizuku Kiri-same, Tsuki-yo and Waterman South Seas Blue, Florida Blue. Florida blue has so far provided me with the best results, although the pens performance is far below any and all of my other pens. Funny thing is, if I write with the nib upside down, it works better. Then I have no issues whatsoever with starting or ink flow. Just that it is a bit scratchy and that it feels so horribly wrong and unnatural that the pen writes better when you write with it the wrong way.

 

So I think the nib suffers from some kind of baby bottom syndrome. I have no idea how a B nib on a M800 should work, this being my first M800 and my first B on one at that. By the looks of it, it seems just like a stub nib. It's VERY close to the MS nib I have on my Sailor 1911 Demonstrator, both in looks and in line width.

 

I have not tried to perform any sort of nib repair on my own other than cleaning the pen and the feed. I've used simple water and dish-washing liquid when flushing it out. For cleaning the feeder I've used the same water & liquid combination as well as using a very thin piece of thin foil and ran it up and down the ink feed channels to clean out anything that might have messed up the flow. This little quick fix did increase the flow, but did nothing to the starting and skipping problems that I have.

 

I've contacted PenGallery (which is where I bought the pen). Daniel Seow from PenGallery has responded to me and said he would send me a signed warranty booklet as the first one I received with the pen wasn't stamped. Problem is that I haven't received it yet and it has taken exactly 3 weeks now since he said he would ship it with express delivery. I've sent another email last week on the 29th but have yet to receive a response. I'm starting to feel like I've been screwed over since I don't get any response from them and that booklet is never showing up in the mail.

 

Pelikan said they would fix the nib, but they need the booklet. PenGallery said they would send me the booklet, but it's never showing up. Talk about Catch 22.

 

So, fellow FPNers. Do you have any tips on what to do?

 

EDIT: I will post pictures later on the nib.

Edited April 5, 2010 by LinusL

[gyasko]

I have had a couple m800 B nibs from Pelikan. The first did not write at all. I sent it back (This was a few years ago and not in the US). The one i received in return skipped at first, but i was able to adjust it to write very smoothly and consistently. To answer your question about how your B nib should write, i'd say smoothly and consistently from the moment it touches paper.

 

Incidentally, both of mine were early 14k nibs, which just goes to show that Pelikan has had QC problems with these from the very start. The 18k nib with the magic PF mark i had didn't write properly out of the box, either.

[LinusL]

I have had a couple m800 B nibs from Pelikan. The first did not write at all. I sent it back (This was a few years ago and not in the US). The one i received in return skipped at first, but i was able to adjust it to write very smoothly and consistently. To answer your question about how your B nib should write, i'd say smoothly and consistently from the moment it touches paper.

 

Incidentally, both of mine were early 14k nibs, which just goes to show that Pelikan has had QC problems with these from the very start. The 18k nib with the magic PF mark i had didn't write properly out of the box, either.

 

Thanks for your answer. Yes, the reputation of all Pelikan nibs and their performance was one of the very reasons why I got one, since you always hear the comment "Starts first, every time". That and I wanted to try a B nib for once. By the way, are they supposed to be more like stubs compared to regular nibs which are more rounded?

 

Anyways, I'm just wishing that this warranty booklet would arrive so that I can send the pen off for nib replacement. I'm thinking of having it swapped out for a medium nib.

Edited April 5, 2010 by LinusL

[Koyote]

This doesn't help you, but may help others who read this post: Your story is a good example of why it may be best to spend a few bucks extra to buy a pen from an authorized dealer in your home country. Assuming you are in the US, you could have just sent the pen to the distributor, Chartpak, and you would now likely be happily writing with the replacement nib. Wouldn't it have been worth a few bucks to avoid this hassle and frustration?

 

Edit: I see that you are in Sweden. Still, buying from an AD would have given you very easy return rights.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Koyote

[LinusL]

Here are some pictures. I hope the quality is satisfactory with these macro shots. Sorry if the lightning is a bit off, all I had was a window as light source.

 

 

These two pictures show what I believe to be a slight misalignment of the tines. The right tine raises itself slightly above the left one. It's hardly noticeable, but it's there. However I don't think that this is the main reason for the pens writing performance (or rather, lack thereof).

 

 

This is just an up & down view of the nib in case any of you more knowledgeable in the field of Pelikan 18k B nibs can spot any issues with it.

[LinusL]

This doesn't help you, but may help others who read this post: Your story is a good example of why it may be best to spend a few bucks extra to buy a pen from an authorized dealer in your home country. Assuming you are in the US, you could have just sent the pen to the distributor, Chartpak, and you would now likely be happily writing with the replacement nib. Wouldn't it have been worth a few bucks to avoid this hassle and frustration?

 

PenGallery is an authorized dealer as far as I know, so the booklets should be stamped. They reason they can get such good deals on their pens is because they have their store more or less next to one of Pelikans offices or service centers. This is why I went to them in the first place. That and they had a M800 in blue with B nib available.

 

The reason for them not sending me a stamped booklet in the first place escapes me though.

 

I'm from Sweden by the way. Getting a Pelikan here would have cost me around another 200 bucks.

Edited April 5, 2010 by LinusL

[Koyote]

A little tine misalignment might make it feel scratchy when writing, but I think it would not cause such skipping and such. Your best bet is a nib replacement or to have the nib reworked by a nibmeister. Even the latter option will be far less than $200, so you would be ahead on your purchase.

[razr]

Send it back to Pelikan. I've sent nibs back to them before and they've done a great job fixing them to my satisfaction.

[gyasko]

I agree that the tines are out of the alignment. Just a little bit can make a big difference. I'd be hesitant to say that this has baby bottom until you try it with its tines aligned.

[Feanor]

I say keep bugging PenGallery for the warranty booklet, or see if Pelikan Germany will take a copy of your PenGallery receipt.

[LinusL]

I say keep bugging PenGallery for the warranty booklet, or see if Pelikan Germany will take a copy of your PenGallery receipt.

 

Yeah, I was in the process of writing another email to them. I'm going to ask Pelikan Germany as well. I've already talked to Pelikan here in Sweden and they suggested that I should contact them.