Pelikan Leaks In The Cap... I Think

[Woodie]

Hello FPN community. Although I have been a member for a while I haven't been very active. I am pretty naive when it comes to fountain pens. I love writing with them and even refilling them.

I have a Lamy Safari which writes great, but is difficult to carry bc it's too long for my shirt pockets, and the clip is loose. But I recently purchased a Pelikan MK10 from ebay. It was great for a while, but now every time I take the cap off there is ink on the grip part (sorry, I don't know the lingo). I tried cleaning it with a damp rag and it seems to draw more ink onto the surface instead of clean it.

I was just going to toss it and get something else, but after cruising the forum a bit I wondered if there was diagnostics I could do to find the problem and maybe repair it.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Clean it out and dry it first, of course, then have a hard look with some magnification at the section for cracks. Also look very hard at the border of the section and the ink window-- I understand that this is a threaded joint, and it's possible that it needs resealing (the MK10, M20 and M30 I've got are all very firmly attached, but it's not impossible). Cracks would be a problem, but resealing is fairly straightforward.

 

The other thing I've found with this family of Pelikans is that there is very little buffering involved in the feed, so when you fill it's of paramount importance to finish the process by ingesting a little air. They're very sensitive to temperature and pressure variation even with this precaution, and given to eye-dropper style blurps, so keeping an eye out for overloading of the feed is wide.

[Woodie]

Thanks Bonum,

 

I disassembled it and cleaned it and I found a tiny hairline crack on the ink window (sorry if use the wrong terminology, I am new this stuff). Is that end of story for this pen? Maybe that's why it was a good prince and came from Croatia.

 

Being that i am a fountain pen novice and certainly do not know much about thier repair yet I do not know if this crack could cause such a leak. It is barely visible. the ink does seem to settle around the ridge on the bottom of the viewing window where the cap seats. At first I thought the leak may be there, but I guess that is one peice and if this crack is the leak then it would settle on that ridge as the pen sits in that position in my pocket.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Chances are that the lag before you noticed the leak was the ink slowly creeping its way up that crack. Since it's not a load-bearing structure, it's not too much of a thing to seal up a really wee crack in that window with the right materials on hand, but I'm hoping others will stick an oar in to comment on my suggestion if it sounds amiss.

 

What I'd do, if it were my pen, would be to apply a little Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure to it, after dismounting the point, feed and filler to avoid getting them Cured in the process. I might suggest something like Tenax to actually fuse the crack, but it tends to get out of hand and is apt to haze out the window (something I was forever cursing over when solvent-welding model aircraft together) while Tolley's dries clear and is a lot easier to clean up from clear parts. What you need for this is the Tolley's and the right sort of wrench to undo the piston; having a look at the threads here, here and over there will help.

 

It's also possible that plugging up the leak with wax by the simple expedient of rubbing a candle over the affected area would work, but the problem with that is if it doesn't work there's a bunch of wax in the way of the Tolley's.

[Woodie]

Thanks Ernst.

I wonder if anyone knows of any other cements that would use similar capilary action that I could lay my hands on more readily, something I could pick up at the hardware store or hobby shop?

 

Also, I would like to know how to clean up the ink viewer after I have applied the solution. I suppose it depends on what I actually use, but say I used the Capt Tolley's. How do i clean it up? Also, how can I buff out some minor scuffing...ok pretty good scuffing, to the pen?

 

thanks in advance

[whych]

Use the large Parallel/serial edge from an old computer blanking plate for a wrench to undo the piston. Soak the whole pen in water to get rid of any dried ink in the threads first. It's a left hand thread.

There is a thread with pics if you search for Pelikan Silvexa or MK10 on what the pen looks like dismantled.

 

To clean the scuff marks, I would use a soft cloth with silver polish to clean up the worst of them. Just a good clean in soapy water even makes a difference to the looks of the pen.

 

Don't know about the Capt Tolley's though.

[Woodie]

I've seen the computer plate technique mentioned in other threads, but I admit I have no idea of how to use it. I was able to dismantle it without any tools, but the piston proved problematic going back in. I suppose this is what I need a wrench for, but again, I don't know what to do with it.

 

Silver polish is a good idea. I will have to try that.

[whych]

The bit the blind cap screws into to raise/lower the seal has 2 flat edges. Put the plate over the cap and use the edge of the plate as the wrench/spanner.

 

Fit the piston before putting it back into the pen. Make sure it can travel freely and is at the top when the blind cap is fully screwed in. Undo it a bit till there is enough space to engage the spanner and then screw it into the body. don't over tighten - finger tight is fine.