Pelikan 100 Repair

[Lam1]

Hi all,

 

I have a (late?) Pelikan 100 (picture below - sorry for the bad pic) that is in great shape, but I suspect it has one of the "black elastometer" pistons (I don't know much about the 100s).

What are my options for repair on this one? From what I have gathered there are no replacement seals available and I don't have a lathe.

 

I hope it is ok to post this here. I figure there would be a better chance of responses than in the "Repair" forum.

 

 

[stoen]

Yes, that’s the one.

🙂

You don’t need a lathe. You have few options:

1. Leave it as is if the piston works. Some still do, after more than 70 years, surprisingly. I have one such pen, and prefer not to “make it better” for as long as it works.

2. In case it failed, you can replace the elastomer gasket with a plastic one (if you have access to old parts). The piston rod need not be replaced. It snap-fits.

I’ve recently shared a post on pistons in “Adding to the flock” thread.

3. You can probably get a spare gasket from Mr. David Nishimura. He sells them on eBay. You only have to specify it is for a 100, not a 100N.

4. Send your pen to a trusted repairperson.

 

Hope this can help.

[Lam1]

Thank you so much, @stoen!

 

Unfortunately the seal failed. 

And I didn't realize that it was snap fit!

 

When you mention David Nishimura's seals, you mean these ones

https://shorturl.at/X5vbH ?

 

Those seem to be the only ones (except for the o-rings) that David sells. 

As luck would have it, I have some (of all colors) at home and just tried them out, but they are all too big for the barrel. 

In any case, if those are the ones that you are referring to, I will try to sand them a little bit until they fit (they are only about 0.2-0.3mm too wide).

 

 

[stoen]

These come in three sizes. The green ones are replacement for pre-war 100N and are the widest. I knew they also had ones which could fit a wartime 100, even without sanding. Why mind asking them?

 

Of those you already have, I believe the black ones are the closest choice. Concerning the tightness, please be aware of the special internal conical construction of the barrel that narrows toward 1” below the the top end. There is a discrete step that the piston seal has to overcome on installation. It is often so, that a piston that can hardly go through happens to be too loose, once past this step. For more details, it would be good if you could open a topic in the “Repairs” thread.

 

The o-rings are replacement for pre-war cork, and require a different piston shaft and head (please see my other post). Thanks.