Help with stuck piston on a 146

[Emver]

I've just bought my first Mont Blanc, a 146 which arrived this morning.  I've spent the first 2 hours convincing myself that it's not a fake - it has a monotone gold nib and no serial number on the clip, but the fact that it has W.-Germany on the clip suggests that it is of an age before MB started having serial numbers on the clip. Am I correct?

 

The pen appears to be pristine and the seller told me he hadn't used it in over 20 years.  My problem is that when I try to fill it I can only rotate the end cap by around 3/4 of a turn before it gets too stiff to turn.  I daren't try too hard in case something breaks. I suspect that the piston has stuck and that the first 3/4 anticlockwise turn is just taking up the slack in the mechanism.  What should I do please?

[Dione]

W. Germany on the clip suggests it was made prior to the Berlin wall coming down and pre serial numbers as you suspect. You need to get some liquid into the barrel before attempting to unstick the piston some more. A few drops of dish soap in a glass full of warm (not hot) water might help. Just leave it nib down to soak for a while with water half way up the barrel and see if that helps.

[gyasko]

I would use the piston wrench from pentooling or ebay sellers to remove the piston mechanism, then clean & grease the barrel & piston before re-installing the piston.

 

Alternatively, you can try to get water in the front end.  There are various methods.  I like to squirt the water at the feed with a syringe, but you can sometimes get it to creep into the pen just by letting the front end sit in water for a while (days or weeks).  Once you have water in the barrel, turn the pen nib up and let soak for a while.  With luck, you should then be able t o move the piston and flush normally.  

[Emver]

Thank you for those 2 replies.

The pen is now soaking in a jar of warm water so I'll let you know if that works.

The problem with using a tool to unscrew the piston assembly is that I can only unscrew the blind cap by less than one turn, which means that there wouldn't be enough room to get the tool into position.

[Dione]

1 hour ago, Emver said:

there wouldn't be enough room to get the tool into position.

Just so. That's the main reason you need to get liquid into the barrel first. Then fingers crossed you might not need to buy a piston tool

[maclink]

I had a similar problem with one in that the piston was very stiff.  I purchased a wrench off ebay and unscrewed the piston mechanism.  I them used a syringe to instill a couple/few drops of soapy water and moved (vertically jiggled) the piston.  With each movement, it became looser and looser until it popped out easily.  I then washed out the barrel and lubricated the piston with some silicone grease.  It's been grand since.  Good luck!! 😁 

[CS388]

Patience is key. The water will go into the barrel via capillary action - it can be a very slow process.

Put it nib down in a glass of water (as others have mentioned) then forget about it for a day, or two.

Once you can see water in the barrel, you can take the pen out of the glass and stand the pen nib-up, so the water gets to the cork/seal. Again, this could take a couple of days.

A gentle screw back and forth motion, has helped me free stubborn stuck pistons. Even when it has started to move, use the back and forth, until it's fully extended

You're doing the right thing in not forcing it.

Fingers crossed that it frees up easily.

 

My favourite era of the modern 146 pens, well worth the effort to get it working.

 

Good luck

[Emver]

CS388, thank you for your words of encouragement - I promise to be patient.  I'm buying it from a gentleman from whom I've bought some other nice pens, and this time he has sent it to me to see if I like it before paying him his very reasonable asking price.  So I'm anxious to find out whether or not I can fix it as quickly as possible.  But when I received it this morning I dipped the nib in some Watermans Serenity Blue, and it does write absolutely beautifully. Added to that, it still looks like brand new despite its 40 year age, so I can't imagine returning it, even if I have to return it to MB to fix it.  I wonder how they would tackle the problem?

 

Your approach seems logical CS388, but I'm not sure how I can see water through the ink window. I've had to shine a strong light through it to even discover that the window exists!  Anyway tonight I'll leave the pen completely submerged in water, with the nib uppermost, and I'll look forward to trying it again in the morning.

[Dione]

8 hours ago, Emver said:

I can't imagine returning it, even if I have to return it to MB to fix it.  I wonder how they would tackle the problem?

They don't mind what breaks when they try to move the piston as they will just replace everything with new parts as a normal service.

[gyasko]

Keep soaking until you know for  sure there’s water in the barrel. Once water enters the barrel, it should begin to dissolve the dried ink.  It can take days if not weeks to get a decent amount in.  

 

The piston wrench is pretty flat.   3/4 of a turn may be enough to get it in engaged.  Some people report success with homemade tool fashioned from a bent paper clip.  That may be easier to get under the piston knob than the proper tool.  

[meiers]

This is wonderful advice. Patience is key. 

[bunnspecial]

I agree patience is best, but rather than removing the piston I might be inclined to remove the nib instead.

 

With the nib out, you can more directly get water down into the barrel.

 

SOMETIMES you can unscrew the nib unit by hand, although it's best to use a wrench. A lot of the wrenches I see are made for the piston on one end and the nib on the other.

[CS388]

5 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

I agree patience is best, but rather than removing the piston I might be inclined to remove the nib instead.

 

With the nib out, you can more directly get water down into the barrel.

 

SOMETIMES you can unscrew the nib unit by hand, although it's best to use a wrench. A lot of the wrenches I see are made for the piston on one end and the nib on the other.

 

Yes.

If the soaks didn't do it, this would be my next course of action.

 

Tool would be best, of course but I agree. Many nibs will come out by hand. A bit of heat and a rubber glove helps.

If you do use heat, you'd probably be taking the whole section and nib case off. Remember that the threads you're warming are close to the bottom of the barrel - but, warming the whole section can help loosen sticky old ink and crud, too.

If you do go by hand, you'll likely be removing the nib and feed only, from the case.

Be very careful not to to crush the feed. Or nib.

If there's no movement and full resistance - back off. Try another method.

 

I've snapped old feeds, in my clumsy hurry to dismantle pens.

One of the feeds I snapped, took me nearly a decade to find a replacement for.

Hard lesson!

 

From my limited experience, I still have hope that soaks and persuasion may get it working again.

 

Good luck.

[gyasko]

If nothing is happening after a day of soaking, soak another day.  Repeat as necessary.  If after a week nothing is happening, i might wait another  whole week before trying again.  I’ve had to soak more than 3 weeks to get the desired effect.  
 

Going in the front end is riskier with older MBs.  Best to avoid if possible.

[Emver]

Progress report  (or lack of).

 

I'm starting to get despondent now.  It's been soaking for around 55 hours without success, so I'm starting to think that returning it to MB in Germany might be the only option. I spoke to a local MB agent who told me that apart from the cost, the delay is now an absolute minimum of 3 months as a result of Brexit.

 

Perhaps it now unscrews by one complete turn rather than 3/4, but that gives a gap between barrel and cap just about wide enough to squeeze in a fingernail - nowhere near enough to get any kind of tool in there.  I don't have a tool to remove the nib and ebonite feed, and I'm not going to risk damaging them with too much force, especially since the pen doesn't really belong to me yet.  

 

The piston is clearly stuck at the top of its stroke, so I've considered immersing the top end of the pen in WD40 or similar in the hope that it will find its way past the threads of the end cap and on to the piston.  No doubt somebody will be along in a minute to warn me that WD40 will dissolve the barrel, but I would have thought that the resin is quite resilient. Has anybody tried?

 

But I'll give it another couple of days of soaking in water before trying anything more drastic. At the moment it's sitting in my ultrasonic cleaner with the a very occasional 3 minute blast.

[mizgeorge]

I would persevere with the soaking. I've had pens that have taken weeks before they've let any water in, but once it's there, the magic happens fairly quickly. I wouldn't use WD40. Ever. 

 

Have you tried a syringe to get some water past the feed from the nib end?

[CS388]

I agree with mizgeorge. Keep soaking. I have high hopes.

 

! don't know where you are? I may have missed that.

There are independent repair people who can probably sort this for you quicker and better than a MB service. (f it is truly broken, then yes a MB service is recommended.)

But, if it's just stuck from lack of use, an independent repair person may be your best bet.

Plenty in Europe/USA etc.

 

Tell us where you are and other members will probably know someone.

Hopefully, the pen will have worked its way free, by then

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

[Emver]

I'm in Warwickshire, England.  If it were a simple piston removal and lubrication then I would agree about finding an independent repair person. But since it appears that the piston removal tool can't be used in this case, it seems likely that some parts could be broken in the process of taking it apart.  And if MB don't supply parts to independent repairers, it could easily end up costing more than a MB service.  I'll explore the possibilities after the Bank Holiday.

[mizgeorge]

and I agree with CS388! Sending it to MB would be my last resort - not least because they don't repair, they simply replace parts and that destroys the integrity of the pen, often unnecessarily.

 

Whilst it might not be possible to remove the piston from the back, it should be possible to remove the nib assembly with the right tool, which would be the easy way in to get some water/grease onto the piston. An independent will have this - why not have a word with someone like Eric Wilson @eckiethump who should be able to either fix it and have it back to you a couple of weeks rather than months, or tell you that it needs to go to MB to be rebuilt. 

[CS388]

Second vote for Eric Wilson.

He's a member, here. You often find his posts in the repair Q&A forum.

Excellent work.