Jump to content

Is This Pen Broken?

chromantic

By chromantic
in Pelikan

 Share

Recommended Posts

chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
Posted

Quick question for those more familiar with the mechanics of these pens than I - does the cap coming off like this mean that the piston mechanism is necesssarily broken? Or possibly that someone turned the knob too hard and it now comes off but that the piston may still operate properly? Any ballpark estimate of how much a repair might cost? Pen appears in reasonably good shape overall so trying to determine if price of pen + possible repair is worthwhile.

 

fpn_1493725226__m400_knob.jpg

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 15
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • chromantic

    7

  • Bo Bo Olson

    4

  • Sasha Royale

    2

  • BillH

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Sasha Royale Museum Piece

Sasha Royale

Posted
Posted

It is undesirable to activate the piston mechanism unintentionally. Therefore, the black cap protects the piston mechanism. The cap generally "screws" on and off. If the threads are stripped, some repair is possible. The function of the pen should not be affected.

 

Which pen is it ?

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Which pen is it ?

 

Um ... just something I saw for sale.

 

Haha, it's an M400. I'll try for it but I'll no doubt be sumgai'd, that happens most of the time. Thanks for the info.

Edited by chromantic

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

Buy and have Pelikan fix it for free...............Ship to Hannover.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

Ransom Bucket cost me many of my pictures taken by a poor camera that was finally tossed. Luckily, the Chicken Scratch pictures also vanished.

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Buy and have Pelikan fix it for free...............Ship to Hannover.

 

Really? I seem to recall seeing this mentioned before. How does it work, I just ship it to them? Only to Hanover, though, right? Not the US service center?

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sasha Royale Museum Piece

Sasha Royale

Posted
Posted

 

Um ... just something I saw for sale.

 

Haha, it's an M400. I'll try for it but I'll no doubt be sumgai'd, that happens most of the time. Thanks for the info.

This is a good sign. I have won seventy or eighty fountain pen auctions. I lose auctions 80+% of the time. This tells me that I am not overbidding. I am comfortable that most of my pen buys are bargains. There is no reason to assume that there is breakage. The blind cap may be removed to show that the pen is a piston-filler.

 

M400 means a Pelikan piston-filler of generous, medium size, with a gold nib. Very nice !

 

Let us know how the bidding goes. Good luck !

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BillH Collectors Item

BillH

Posted
Posted

I understand the hesitation though. It always makes me nervous to see pictures in a listing of the pen taken apart further than most of us ever need to take them down for normal maintenance or cleaning. I've seen an occasional M200 and M400 with the whole piston assembly popped out... just what those sellers are trying to show I have no idea. Those get no bids from this addict.

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." -Pablo Picasso


Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks for the encouragement, I will definitely bid for it and keep my fingers crossed.

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

The pen is a M400 no piston cap ring, so is '82-96. (tortoise stopped in '96...green stripped stopped in '97. Your nib is IMO better than the modern M400. It is a 'true' regular flex a 1/2 a width narrower than modern, which is a fat and blobby semi-nail. The nib is as good as a 200's ...which is good. I have five Pelikans from that era.

It is a good pen to buy....first a tortoise, second a nice springy nib.

 

So if you send to Chartpack you pay.

Write Pelikan in Hanover....as far as I know they will fix it.

They want you to buy a new one some day.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

Ransom Bucket cost me many of my pictures taken by a poor camera that was finally tossed. Luckily, the Chicken Scratch pictures also vanished.

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Unbelievable! This auction was scheduled to end Sunday morning so you can imagine my surprise when I checked it this evening and saw that it had been sold! Not only that, the selling price was half the starting bid amount! Not sure how eBay allows this. I'm very disappointed but I guess the lesson here is to not wait until the end to put in a bid.

 

ETA: Sometime today, he revised the description on the item to read "It does not seem to close properly when the piston is in. Feel free to make an offer.", someone made an offer and he sold it. Grats to the person who got it.

Edited by chromantic

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

OK, look on German EBay....look for a seller that takes Paypal and ships out of Germany. There are folks so cheap they won't pay for paypal and don't trust any but German mail.

 

I think you can find a '80's-97 M400 (no gold piston ring...better nib than modern) for E/$70-90 if you hunt. Mailing is relatively cheap, in the German Government didn't gut their post office like the US one when cut free.

 

If you are ready for semi-flex a 140 goes now for E/$90-110....which is the range of the '50's 400's and the 400nn. ...up to 120. There is no reason to pay more...you do have time to hunt.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

Ransom Bucket cost me many of my pictures taken by a poor camera that was finally tossed. Luckily, the Chicken Scratch pictures also vanished.

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks, Bo Bo, I'll check that out. Perhaps the seller did me a favor.

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

Tortoise runs the same price as normal green stripped. If you hunt.

 

Half the fun is in the hunt....................do not throw your money out the window....by Buy Now pricing.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

Ransom Bucket cost me many of my pictures taken by a poor camera that was finally tossed. Luckily, the Chicken Scratch pictures also vanished.

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fountainbel Antique

fountainbel

Posted
Posted

It looks to me the cylindrical friction fit part on the screw spindle - behind the screw threads - broke off and still sits in the filling knob.

So installation of a replacement screw spindle will be needed.

Francis

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chromantic Antique

chromantic

Posted
  • Author
Posted

The seller confirmed it was broken - "this did not work properly". Got an offer, took the money. I have my eye on another one.

It's hard work to tell which is Old Harry when everybody's got boots on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sargetalon Antique

sargetalon

Posted
Posted

Sometimes its best that these things slip away from us. Can be more of a headache than their worth. Good luck on tracking one down.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

fpn_1508261203__fpn_logo_300x150.jpg

THE PELIKAN'S PERCH - A growing reference site for all things Pelikan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing






×
×
  • Create New...