Pelikan 120 Problems

[SaintLoup]

Hi all,

 

I'm having a problem, and am hoping to receive some advice. I just received a Pelikan 120 (the older, non-M&K model) in the mail, and after flushing it with water filled it with ink. It was skippy and dry, so I flushed it with water again and, for heaven knows what reason, I thought to take the nib unit out of the pen. I had read that Pelikan nib units simply unscrew much the way Soenneckens and Reforms do. Imagine my surprise when instead of the nib unit unscrewing, the feed and nib came loose in my hand! It appears as though the base of the nib unit is stuck to the barrel.

 

So my questions are:

 

(1) Did I do wrong in attempting to unscrew the nib unit?

 

(2) What would it take to fix this problem, as well as the problem of the dry and skippy writing?

 

(3) Failing a quick, home fix, to whom should I send the pen for repairs?

 

I thought this would be a nice introduction to Pelikan pens. I'm worried I have asked for a headache instead!

 

Best,

 

[sargetalon]

1) Your mechanics are correct. The nibs are designed to unscrew. Age and ink can cement collars in place making removal challenging and can damage the assembly if not careful.

 

2) The nib and feed should not have pulled out. It's a sign of collar failure. Likely a crack in the collar. I would soak the section to try and loosen dried ink and then use a small, sharp knife or similiar implement to attempt to unscrew the collar. It will need to come out of the section.

 

3) Ron Zorn is just one person capable of repairing this but there are several out there that others may be able to recommend.

 

I'm sorry that you ran into this. The old collars and feeds can become fragile over time. A loose collar with a shifting of the nib on the feed may have resulted in your writing issues. This is fixable but you'll have to get the collar out of the pen to assess what the issue is. Pictures always help troubleshooting if you have more questions along the way. Good luck with it. Hope you get it sorted out with relative ease.

[SaintLoup]

1) Your mechanics are correct. The nibs are designed to unscrew. Age and ink can cement collars in place making removal challenging and can damage the assembly if not careful.

 

2) The nib and feed should not have pulled out. It's a sign of collar failure. Likely a crack in the collar. I would soak the section to try and loosen dried ink and then use a small, sharp knife or similiar implement to attempt to unscrew the collar. It will need to come out of the section.

 

3) Ron Zorn is just one person capable of repairing this but there are several out there that others may be able to recommend.

 

I'm sorry that you ran into this. The old collars and feeds can become fragile over time. A loose collar with a shifting of the nib on the feed may have resulted in your writing issues. This is fixable but you'll have to get the collar out of the pen to assess what the issue is. Pictures always help troubleshooting if you have more questions along the way. Good luck with it. Hope you get it sorted out with relative ease.

 

Thank you for your very detailed response. I think I may have learned my lesson about purchasing from sparsely worded ebay offerings. I will be sure try to post photos later if necessary.

 

ETA: It looks as though Ron Zorn is momentarily not accepting new repairs. Oh well.

Edited March 19, 2015 by SaintLoup

[sargetalon]

You may find this link useful as the 120 did have occasion to be equipped with a polystyrene collar;

 

http://thepelikansperch.com/2014/10/03/polystyrene-what-is-it-good-for/d

[whych]

It could be that the collar is just stuck with the ink that has dried over the years. Try soaking the pen overnight or a day or so to see if there isn't any dried ink holding it in.

I have come across one early Pelikan 120 that has a push fit nib and feed.

[kaushla]

It would appear that the plastic collar has cracked and is stuck inside the section. You can buy a replacement collar from Custom Pen Parts, a FPN member. Searching for Custom Pen Parts on the internet will lead you to his website.

I had plenty of patient coaching on a similarly afflicted Pelikan 400NN from FPN member Christof . No harm in messaging him as he is a confident and capable instructor.

The residual ink has to be removed by soaking the section in water. Thereafter insert the blade of a pen-knife into the section till the lip of the section stops it moving further inside. Turn the section gently counter-clockwise with the knife-end inside and the plastic collar should unscrew. Please be gentle and do not force anything if it does not yield. Generally, the plastic collar is broken in the 1950-60s Pelikans which employ them.

 

Clean the nib and feed and push-fit it into the new collar. Screw in the now complete nib-unit into the section. Having just replaced the collar in a Pelikan 120, I have pasted the exchange with Custom Pen Parts below:

 

Best wishes,

 

Kaushla

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

 

Custom Pen Parts, on 10 Dec 2014 - 18:30, said:

I think there is a slight difference between feeds and nib diameters on these pens!........
As a solution rather than remove plastic just apply a bit of heat which expands the part so the nib etc fits perfectly. ........

Ta
CPP

I had seen the that thread earlier. There the problem was sticky threads whereas mine is probably nib and feed beeing slightly larger than the collar. I prefer your solution of heating gradually and will try it out.

Thanks,

1Kaushla

I applied heat to the collar with a hair dryer. As I had warped more than one celluloid barrel in the past by injudicious application of heat, this time I used David Nishimura's tip of applying higher heat for shorter periods. The nib and feed now fit very well. Thanks CPP. It was also a pleasure to deal with you while buying the part.

The M400 nib which came with the Pelikan 120 is a stub. Someone ground an F nib into a stub with the result that there is no hard metal tip, The gold edge writes softly but is not likely to last long without a tip of harder metal.

Kaushla

[Bo Bo Olson]

Old screw out nibs have to be soaked a day or so...to get rid of the dry ink.

But it sounds like the problem was there before.

 

The 120 has a very nice regular flex nib with some spring....a worth while pen.

[SaintLoup]

Thank you all for your advice! It was very helpful

 

Old screw out nibs have to be soaked a day or so...to get rid of the dry ink.

But it sounds like the problem was there before.

 

The 120 has a very nice regular flex nib with some spring....a worth while pen.

 

Judging by the ease with which the nib/feed dislodged from the pen and, upon close inspection with a flashlight, the cracked nib collar, this seems to be, as it were, a pre-existing condition.