Lamy 2000 Limited Edition Piston Sticking

[Fausto]

I have a Lamy 2000 Limited Edition--been using it steadily for about 14 years. Lately, the piston's been sticking when I try to screw it down while inking; and the problem has progressed to such an extent that I can no longer really use it. I've seen the Goulet video of using silicone grease, but he uses a cue-tip which looks to me like he'd be leaving all kinds of cotton fibres in the piston.

 

Would love some advice on how to re-lube the piston and get my pen back on track.

 

Thanks in advance...

[Randal6393]

Sorry, you have just rejected the best advice on re-lubing the Lamy 2000 on FPN. I used the process, followed it carefully, my five-years-never-been-lubed-and-getting-sticky Lamy now works like a charm.

 

Best of luck to you.

[jochums]

I've always used a q-tip, but i suppose a toothpick would work too.

[dali3464]

Depending on the q-tip, if the cotton fibres are sufficiently packed, no fibres will be left in your pen (and the silicone grease tends to compact the fibres together anyway). That said, a few stray fibres are really, really unlikely to hurt your pen. Nonetheless, a number of users (as jochums noted above) use tooth picks. I personally use toothpicks - not because they don't leave any fibres - but because it's easier to pick up the smallest bead of grease, rather than a big glob of it as with q-tips.

[PAKMAN]

I use a tooth pick to lube my piston fillers.

[KBeezie]

You could also completely disassemble and clean it if you wish to get at the piston assembly itself without having to use a q-tip or toothpick.

 

 

Your choice.

[Flounder]

Depending on the q-tip, if the cotton fibres are sufficiently packed, no fibres will be left in your pen

 

This. I just take the view of, why introduce the possibility when there's no chance of stray fibres using anything else?

[Fausto]

Thanks everyone for your advice--very helpful indeed.

[twdpens]

I always advise the use of a toothpick or cocktail stick for the reasons stated above. This is also what I use myself, BTW.

As an aside, when it comes to servicing piston converters, a toothpick is much easier to use.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

[KBeezie]

I always advise the use of a toothpick or cocktail stick for the reasons stated above. This is also what I use myself, BTW.

 

As an aside, when it comes to servicing piston converters, a toothpick is much easier to use.

 

HTH,

 

Martin

I like those plastic uncoated toothpicks, especially the ones that have the 5 or 6 fined 'brush' on one end, good for brushing something like silicone grease where needed without risk of a strand of something coming off.

 

Q-tips are nice for getting inside of a barrel or cap, or around an exposed section to scrub down some loose ink after an ultra-sonic cleaning, and mainly only those parts because you can just rinse them right thru afterwards.

[Ron Z]

There's very little chance of fibers coming off if you twist the end of the swab to wrap it tighter before applying the silicone grease. The grease, being thick, tends to hold the fibers in place.

 

The problem with using other things like a toothpick is what you apply much too much grease, and may end up with grease in the ink and then in the feed of the pen, which is much more of a problem than a possible random fiber. Lamy Bob (the repair guy for Filofax who was the distributor for Lamy until this year) didn't like to use ANY grease in the barrel because of the risk of it getting in the ink. Properly applied, I haven't had a problem in 20 years.

 

Properly applied means that you need very little grease to sufficiently lubricate the wall of the pen. If you see more than a film of it on the swab, you have too much. Rotate the barrel as you apply it to the barrel wall, then work the piston up and down a couple times. You'll feel it loosen up very quickly.