Bubble Gum Pink Sealant Mystery Solved ?

[Bringiton]

Surely if the nib unit can be left dry without fear of leaking then i would imagine the same can be said of the section to barrel joint. Unless the tolerance is different? I leave the nib unit of my mb344 dry and it hasnt leaked so far... granted i had it for less than 3 months and the nib unit is removed and cleaned nearly every other fill.

[TLMG]

I think that the problem might be that shipping a liquid internationally actually has a lot of regulations, etc. and extra fees tacked on if you are doing things the way you SHOULD be doing them.

With that said, if $20 is what it takes to reseal ~10 of MBs properly, it doesnt seem like TOO bad of a deal.

[jamesgibby]

But no one has reported on the results having actually used the product.....anyone?????

[dneal]

Being new to this stuff i have a quick question. Why does sealing mont blanc necessitate the use of sealant when its ok for pelikan to leave it bare when screwing in the nib unit?

 

Because a MB will leak if you don't use a sealant. Their design is different than Pelikan's.

 

Rosin / Castor Oil is too easy to make yourself, and you can buy it if you don't want to experiment. You can mix it to the consistency you want (or several), and it releases with moderate heat. My water heater is 160* or so, and hot water out of the tap is more than enough. I use a firmer mixture on the MB's and a softer mix on the section threads of the Omas'.

[Chrissy]

I think Mb pens are designed to be sealed with some sort of sealant, unlike Pelikan pens which aren't. I don't suppose it makes that much of a great difference which sealant is used.

[Pen Nut]

I think Mb pens are designed to be sealed with some sort of sealant, unlike Pelikan pens which aren't. I don't suppose it makes that much of a great difference which sealant is used.

 

Ding Ding round 24

[mikeg]

But no one has reported on the results having actually used the product.....anyone?????

Just before Christmas I was offered a second chance offer, but not had chance to try this yet as in the middle of decorating my den, the pen I need to repair a late sixties 149 is in a box somewhere. So hopefully sometime in the next two weeks will get a chance to try this out.

[KenS]

The last time one of my MB's needed servicing, I used the section sealant Tryphon used to sell. I believe that is a rosin/wax mixture. Several years have gone by with no leaks, and I know that if I need to remove the section, a little heat will do the trick.

[jamesgibby]

I'm waiting for mine in the post so if no one else has by then i will update

[jamesgibby]

Ok, so the product arrived today. i carefully cleaned and removed the section and dried it carefully. i then mixed the compound as instructed and applied it.

http://i.imgur.com/YEBuDRt.jpg

so far so good looks the part anyway!

 

after a short period of time i took a cloth and wiped away the excess sealant. what i ended up doing was spreading it over the threads where the cap screws on meaning i had to spend some time with a film negative cleaning out the grooves! once done everything looked...well normal. i checked the inside with a small LED light and no sealant has seeped into the barrel so looks like a job well done

 

http://i.imgur.com/B8OvDCJ.jpg

 

i will let it cure overnight and test it in the morning with some water and see if anything leaks. i will report back!

Edited January 16, 2015 by jamesgibby

[Flounder]

Bravo!

[Paul Raposo]

Great update James. Thanks very much for not only buying the product, but testing it

[sd10521]

Thank you for sharing your findings with us.

[jamesgibby]

Quick update

 

The 149 has troubles taking in ink (the issue to begin with) I thought it was the section but it may be that I need to grease the piston and then seal the piston to the barrel with the goo.

 

I will see and revert

[Pen Nut]

"and then seal the piston to the barrel with the goo "

 

I dont get that statement, could you please explain what you mean ?

[fountainbel]

Quick update

 

The 149 has troubles taking in ink (the issue to begin with) I thought it was the section but it may be that I need to grease the piston and then seal the piston to the barrel with the goo.

 

I will see and revert

The sealing compound looks like the real thing, well done !

Cleaning and greasing the piston sealing lip with a minor amount of silicone grease is surely recommended.

However the problem could be triggered by a damaged piston seal sealing lip.

In the later case replacement of the piston seal is the only alternative

 

There is no need at all to seal the piston housing in the barrel, just screw it firmly in.

 

Francis

[dneal]

The piston is the more likely culprit. If the nib is submerged up to (and including) the section, then a fault in the section wouldn't be the reason the pen isn't taking ink. Also, don't use that stuff on the piston housing (like fountainbel said). Silicone grease, if anything.

 

I'm kind of on the fence about this stuff, assuming it's genuine MB bubblegum. On one hand, I'm a fan of using the same thing the manufacturer uses - but this is also the stuff that seems to lead to a lot of leaking sections.

[jamesgibby]

All it took was a little but if Vaseline around the piston lip and just a tad on the threads and it draws in flawlessly. I had thought that the problem may be the 2 piece barrel and that air my be escaping from just below the ink window but now that I greased the piston it's smooth and working in a+ manner.

I do like this bubblegum stuff I didnsome playing around with cheap pens and it seals a treat and is just more elastic than the MB version which seems more rubber like

[jamesgibby]

Pen Nut

 

I meant sealing the piston housing to the barrel as it is from the factory. When I took the 149 apart the piston housing also had some of this bubblegum goo on there to keep it sealed.

 

I was wondering if that was where the loss of suction was coming from but after taking some advice from Max I used a very tiny bit of Vaseline around the piston lip and it worked a treat so I didn't use the bubblegum to once again seal the piston housing to the end of the barrel

[dneal]

I just posted this on the "Sweaty 149" thread, but it really belongs here.

 

A friend brought me his 146 that he had dropped. The ebonite feed broke where it meets the section. Luckily, the nib was unharmed (other than being a little out of alignment). I ordered a feed from Tom Westerich, and fixed the pen.

 

So now he's happy his pen is in one piece again, but ink is seeping at the section where it meets the lip of the feeder case. I pulled the piston to knock out the old feed, so there shouldn't be any reason for it to be leaking past the feeder case threads. I took the section apart, and saw it was sealed with teflon tape (ugh). Took that off and used some rosin thread sealant. No way it can leak now. I filled it up, wiped it off, started writing and there's ink on my fingers. Hmmm.

 

I couldn't find any cracks, and wrapped the section with a paper towel. There's not a lot of ink being soaked up, and after about 10 minutes it stopped. Then it dawned on me (a face-palm moment) that the ink was seeping past the section/feeder case joint during filling, getting into the section. Thinking about this thread and the picture of the bubblegum oozing out of the same area, that had to be the problem and fix.

 

But I had no bubblegum...

 

So I used a little more sealant just around the lip and reassembled the pen. Refill and test - no inky fingers. Must be the reason MB uses that stuff. I wonder how many "leaking sections" are really from the filling process and not leaking threads...