Pelikan M400 Broken Piston

[frr149]

Hi,

 

I have a vintage m400 whose piston is broken. The casing of the piston is in 2 pieces.

 

How can I fix this? Can I buy a new piston casing?

 

Thanks!

[TimeoDanaos]

Do you have a picture?

[frr149]

Yes, here is an Imgur album with two images.

 

 

I left the pen soaking for several hours and I found it almos disassembled. I'm starting to believe that's the way casing of the piston might be, as it's too Smoot and symmetrical to be broken. However, I can't reassemble it: the blue outer casing won't get in from the back.

 

Any suggestions on how to put it back together? It's one of my favorites... :-)

[Tweel]

Yes, your barrel is definitely broken, no mistake. Possibly it could be solvent-welded back together, but I don't think I'd trust it to be able to take the strain of piston operation. Probably, the pen will need to be sent to Pelikan for a new barrel.

[Mr.Rene]

Yes, here is an Imgur album with two images.

 

Ostias !!!

[FountainNewbie]

Hi,

 

from my own point of view... if you think sending it to fix will cost too much money you could do:

1.- slightly sand the edge of the barrel so the binde fits in. once it happened to me, if the binde didn't shrink you should be able to put it back although would be tricky as it fits very tight. (apply some light glue for it not to rotate once in place)

2.- I think gluing the edges of the barrel only on the broken part won't have enough strength, so you could glue the outer side of the piston to the inner lower part of the barrel (avoid touching the moving parts)

 

Doing the previous will have enough strength but you wont be able to service the piston anymore. So I would recommend before gluing to lubricate and *maybe change the gasket.

 

It's not an elegant solution but you will be able to use the pen for some years more. BUT as I mentioned, after this you won't be able to disassembly nor repair the piston in future, so it's kind of a 'last resort' solution

 

Good luck!

[Honeybadgers]

send that girl back to pelikan for a new barrel. Unfortunately that's likely not fixable. I certainly wouldn't try.

 

You could also just look around online for an m400 that is hooped in some other way.

[Erik Dalton]

Sorry to hear of your problems. I know what it is like to feel the loss of a favorite pen.

One positive in this is that most of the writing quality of a pen is in the nib and ink delivery system. Pelikan nibs are easy to remove and screw into another M-400. I have seen pen bodies without nibs on sale, might be an option for you. Good luck.

[amk]

New barrels do turn up on ebay from time to time. That might be worth a look.

[inotrym]

If you don't mind, let us know what Pelikan charged you to fix that. (planning on buying a M405 myself, so I would like to know service costs)