Pelikan M150 nib stuck, too deep?

[perakesson]

Greetings! I just got my first Pelikan, an M150 old style. I noticed that the nib seems to be too deep into the section. The M is barely visible.

I tried to unscrew the nib, but impossible. I tried heating with hairdryer, ultrasonic cleaning, and 5-56 lubricant. Soaked in water overnight.

 

But the nib is really stuck, even using force and rubber gloves.

 

Perhaps I should leave the nib permanently fixed. The pen writes really well.

But what might have happened to this pen?

 

 

Edited January 28 by perakesson
new headline

[Bo Bo Olson]

Leave it be.

Sounds to me like your collar is broken.

[stric75]

To get it out of the collar, you’ll need a knock-out block and a couple of other tools. But I’ve had a case where a M600 nib was stuck so badly that it could not be knocked out of the collar. In some cases, Pelican nibs can be pulled from the collar by hand. The risk with that is that the thines can get bent and out of the alignment. M100/150 nib units (nib, feed, collar) can be found cheaply online. Get a new unit and screw it in. That may be the most viable and feasible option if you don’t have tools 

[perakesson]

Solved. My ultrasonic cleaner is a small cheap USB-charged version. Now I visited a friend with a high-power ultrasonic. The nib with collar released easily and the pen is now fine!

Edited January 30 by perakesson
more text

[Bo Bo Olson]

Great....

[carlos.q]

  On 1/30/2025 at 7:22 PM, perakesson said:

Solved. My ultrasonic cleaner is a small cheap USB-charged version. Now I visited a friend with a high-power ultrasonic. The nib with collar released easily and the pen is now fine!

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We all love happy endings!  And we also love pictures.... 😉

[perakesson]

  On 1/29/2025 at 7:50 AM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Leave it be.

Sounds to me like your collar is broken.

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Update: After loosening the nib, I thought that was the end of the story. The nib with collar would easily unscrew and re-screw in position and the pen wrote perfectly. But looking closer, I realized that part of the feed was left inside the pen body. The remaining 15mm length of the feed was broken off below the collar and stuck. To get it out, I first drilled a 1-2mm diameter hole in the center of feed bit. Then I inserted a wood screw in the hole and screwed until it gripped, then tried to pull out with pliers. Impossible. Instead I pushed it into the pumps chamber, pulled out the piston unit from the rear, and finally got rid of the debris. A friend had an ebonite feed from an oder Pelikan that fit, he used his knock-out block and reassembled nib, collar and feed. Finally everything is working.

Meanwhile, another friend warned me against inferior quality of the entry-level M150, M200 and M250. But I really wanted a basic Pelican with steel nib. This nib feels just as smooth as other pens of mine with expensive gold nibs. Finally I have a Pelikan!

[carlos.q]

  On 2/4/2025 at 6:20 PM, perakesson said:

inferior quality of the entry-level M150, M200 and M250

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What??? Complete heresy... 

[perakesson]

  On 2/4/2025 at 6:47 PM, carlos.q said:

What??? Complete heresy... 

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I agree. That was the opinion of a friend, who only wants Pelikan gold nib pens. I think M150 is a very nice pen. Perfect size, fitting most of my shirt póckets and also long enough when posted. I don't want big pens. Another medium-size pen I like is Pilot Prera, having same size as M150.

[Bo Bo Olson]

  On 2/4/2025 at 6:20 PM, perakesson said:

against inferior quality of the entry-level M150, M200 and M250. But I really wanted a basic Pelican with steel nib. This nib feels just as smooth as other pens of mine with expensive gold nibs. Finally I have a Pelikan!

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Yes, the 150 (have a couple and a 151), 200 are of a cheaper plastic.....do I really notice it??? No. Not unless I was looking for it.

The balance is the same....

 

And my gold nibbed** 250...is only a gold nib instead of a gold-plated or steel 200's nib; and is as good as the grand 200's steel nibs.

 

IMO...in I can't stand the modern 'post 97 double ball nibs....in the 200 was ruined by double balling some 5-6 years ago, it's still springy regular flex nib. Still better than the gold 400 or 600's semi-nail double ball nibs.

 

I'm not going to pick nits....about how slightly more springy an '82-91 W. Germany nib is over a '91-97 nib. That is not all that important, one has to have both, and look hard to find that.

Both the teardrop tipped gold and steel nibs are equal enough.

 

I have some 35 Pelikans. A 100, 100n and an Ibis are not counted for this. Nor my 10-15 or so semi or maxi-semi-flex vintage nibs.

15-18 or so, semi-vintage, 400/small W. Germany 600/800 and 200's W. Germany pens. .......two Celebries, a gold and a steel, gold 381 and later '90's and 2010 and later 200's. The steel teardrop nib is = to the gold teardrop ones.

 

One writes with the nib, and balance....................actually the 200's are mostly more colorful than the 400's.

 

The steel/and gold-plated nibs of the semi-vintage and more modern 200's are as springy as the semi-vintage 400/600/800 gold nibs. Springy = a nice comfortable ride.

 

I have "tested" the semi-vintage springy gold nibs vs the grand steel/gold-plated 200/Celebrie's nibs and to me, they are = to the max.

** The 250 is a gold nibbed 200. For gold snobs on a diet.

 

If the tipping is teardrop tipped, the nib writes with as clean a line, as a vintage factory stubbed nib.

That is why I now only order the 200 in EF in new pens, in those fools at Pelikan ruined a grand teardrop tipped 200's nib by double balling it.

 

My suggestion is to buy older 2017 and older 200's with teardrop tipping, for a comfortable springy well-balanced ride and a nice clean line.

The double ball is the fat and blobby Pelikan nib, which does not write in a nice clean line....

Ask my 1 1/2"/2.7cm thick magnifying glass. I am AR of woolly lines.

[Bo Bo Olson]

A 150, is a medium small pen, so should be posted. Medium small was very IN, in the German pens of the '50-60's. Pelikan had the 140, Geha the 760, Kaweco the Dia.

Fits even modern too small for real use shirt pockets

 

[perakesson]

  On 2/4/2025 at 9:21 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

A 150, is a medium small pen, so should be posted. Medium small was very IN, in the German pens of the '50-60's. Pelikan had the 140, Geha the 760, Kaweco the Dia.

Fits even modern too small for real use shirt pockets

 

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Yes. I love the medium small size. I already have 2 Pilot Prera and 3 Montblanc Monte Rosa, as well as Jinhao 82. Modern shirts have small pockets or no pockets. Daytime I work as German teacher. When my pupils write exercises, I let them use my cheap pens loaded with 16 different inks. They love it. 

[perakesson]

  On 2/4/2025 at 6:20 PM, perakesson said:

Update: After loosening the nib, I thought that was the end of the story. The nib with collar would easily unscrew and re-screw in position and the pen wrote perfectly. But looking closer, I realized that part of the feed was left inside the pen body. The remaining 15mm length of the feed was broken off below the collar and stuck. To get it out, I first drilled a 1-2mm diameter hole in the center of feed bit. Then I inserted a wood screw in the hole and screwed until it gripped, then tried to pull out with pliers. Impossible. Instead I pushed it into the pumps chamber, pulled out the piston unit from the rear, and finally got rid of the debris. A friend had an ebonite feed from an oder Pelikan that fit, he used his knock-out block and reassembled nib, collar and feed. Finally everything is working.

Meanwhile, another friend warned me against inferior quality of the entry-level M150, M200 and M250. But I really wanted a basic Pelican with steel nib. This nib feels just as smooth as other pens of mine with expensive gold nibs. Finally I have a Pelikan!

Expand  

Second update:
After changing the broken feed to an ebonite feed, the pen wrote nicely again. But the slightest shake of my hand makes it drip ink, big blobs, strange! I need to visit my friend again for advice.

Meanwhile, I bought a second M150 as reference, an M150/481 from 1983-85 with M nib, which works fine. I thought I would have 2 M150 and an extra F nib for hot swapping. Thus I now have 2 M150 that I bought for about 50€ each and then I realized that F nibs for M150 cost about the same on eBay. So if I really need an F nit, it might be smarter to buy a new M200, available from Amazon for only 100€.
This really expands to a project, interesting. At least I learn something on the way.

 

[perakesson]

  On 2/4/2025 at 8:55 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

And my gold nibbed** 250...is only a gold nib instead of a gold-plated or steel 200's nib; and is as good as the grand 200's steel nibs.

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Also my experience, a good steel nib is good enough for me.

 

  On 2/4/2025 at 8:55 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

 

IMO...in I can't stand the modern 'post 97 double ball nibs....in the 200 was ruined by double balling some 5-6 years ago, it's still springy regular flex nib. Still better than the gold 400 or 600's semi-nail double ball nibs.

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I like flex! But what is a double ball nib? 2 breather holes?

 

  On 2/4/2025 at 8:55 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

I'm not going to pick nits....about how slightly more springy an '82-91 W. Germany nib is over a '91-97 nib. That is not all that important, one has to have both, and look hard to find that.

Both the teardrop tipped gold and steel nibs are equal enough.

 

I have some 35 Pelikans. A 100, 100n and an Ibis are not counted for this. Nor my 10-15 or so semi or maxi-semi-flex vintage nibs.

 

Expand  

  On 2/4/2025 at 8:55 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

The steel/and gold-plated nibs of the semi-vintage and more modern 200's are as springy as the semi-vintage 400/600/800 gold nibs. Springy = a nice comfortable ride.

Expand  

 

I know nothing about this. I really like flexy and springy nibs. Stiff nibs can be boring. But if I give up with my M150 project, I feel tempted to buy a new M200 with F nib from Amazon for only 100€.

Do you think a new M200 is bad?

 

  On 2/4/2025 at 8:55 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

 

I have "tested" the semi-vintage springy gold nibs vs the grand steel/gold-plated 200/Celebrie's nibs and to me, they are = to the max.

** The 250 is a gold nibbed 200. For gold snobs on a diet.

 

If the tipping is teardrop tipped, the nib writes with as clean a line, as a vintage factory stubbed nib.

That is why I now only order the 200 in EF in new pens, in those fools at Pelikan ruined a grand teardrop tipped 200's nib by double balling it.

 

My suggestion is to buy older 2017 and older 200's with teardrop tipping, for a comfortable springy well-balanced ride and a nice clean line.

Expand  

 

Here in Sweden I rarely see used M200, But plenty of M130 Ibis, that sell for around 100€. But I want a more moderna pen than Ibis, in medium small size. Thus I focus on M150 or M200. 

Maybe I can get M150 working. Maybe I find an older 200 eventually. Or just buy an new M200 with F nib for only 100€

 

 

  On 2/4/2025 at 8:55 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

 

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[perakesson]

SOLVED

The dripping stopped after changing to another feed, this time a modern plastic and not ebonite. 

All problems are solved and the M150 works just fine.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Double balled nib, a ball under, and a ball on top .... making for a fat and blobby nib. Not the old classic clean line teardrop tipping.

 

In 1998, Bock was given the exact spec's Pelikan wanted in its new double ball nibs.

The 400/600 were made into semi-nail from a nice springy nib, like the 200 is still today.

The 800 for a long time was made into a nail. Some of them now may also be semi-nail...like my 805. It had been a great springy nib like the 200/400/600.

The Bock made 1000 was semi-flex, when Pelikan brought its nibs back in house, it was downgraded from semi-flex to regular springy.

 

Folks had blamed Bock for the ruined Pelikan nibs, but they brought them back In House and made them exactly the way they told Bock to do. Harder to make a pretzel out of the nib, as ball point users often do.

 

IMO the double ball made so that ball point users didn't have to learn to hold a fountain pen....the object was to sell pens, and having seen a few ways ball point users grab a ball point.... I can see the double ball.

 

I like the teardrop tipping on the 200... I used to rave about that nib...until about 5-6 years ago, they ruined the 200's nib by going double ball. I only order EF in  200's now....in the double balls are smaller.

 

Teardrop tipping writes with a cleaner line.

Double ball is fat and blobby.... 1/2 a width wider....and the line is not clean.

 

I get real nitpicky with woolly lines using a big, thick magnifying glass. I have my own woolly like scale. If you want, I'll hunt it up.

 

I have an old small (400 size) W. Germany 600, with an OBB teardrop nib, and an 805 OBB(sometime in the early 2000's....looked it up once but don't have it in my mind. The 805 is 1/2 a width wider than the older 600.

Many have found that to be true in width.

 

 

What I really suggest is look for an older, used 200....something some 8 to 32 years old.

One will have to pay extra for the '85-91 W. Germany 200. I don't know how much, I more or less lucked into my two....one part of a full 200 NOS set. I do know the W. Germany 400's were 1/3 more over the '91-97 ones.

 

 

 

 

[perakesson]

  On 2/12/2025 at 1:09 AM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Double balled nib, a ball under, and a ball on top .... making for a fat and blobby nib. Not the old classic clean line teardrop tipping.

 

In 1998, Bock was given the exact spec's Pelikan wanted in its new double ball nibs.

The 400/600 were made into semi-nail from a nice springy nib, like the 200 is still today.

The 800 for a long time was made into a nail. Some of them now may also be semi-nail...like my 805. It had been a great springy nib like the 200/400/600.

The Bock made 1000 was semi-flex, when Pelikan brought its nibs back in house, it was downgraded from semi-flex to regular springy.

 

Folks had blamed Bock for the ruined Pelikan nibs, but they brought them back In House and made them exactly the way they told Bock to do. Harder to make a pretzel out of the nib, as ball point users often do.

 

IMO the double ball made so that ball point users didn't have to learn to hold a fountain pen....the object was to sell pens, and having seen a few ways ball point users grab a ball point.... I can see the double ball.

 

I like the teardrop tipping on the 200... I used to rave about that nib...until about 5-6 years ago, they ruined the 200's nib by going double ball. I only order EF in  200's now....in the double balls are smaller.

 

Teardrop tipping writes with a cleaner line.

Double ball is fat and blobby.... 1/2 a width wider....and the line is not clean.

 

I get real nitpicky with woolly lines using a big, thick magnifying glass. I have my own woolly like scale. If you want, I'll hunt it up.

 

I have an old small (400 size) W. Germany 600, with an OBB teardrop nib, and an 805 OBB(sometime in the early 2000's....looked it up once but don't have it in my mind. The 805 is 1/2 a width wider than the older 600.

Many have found that to be true in width.

 

 

What I really suggest is look for an older, used 200....something some 8 to 32 years old.

One will have to pay extra for the '85-91 W. Germany 200. I don't know how much, I more or less lucked into my two....one part of a full 200 NOS set. I do know the W. Germany 400's were 1/3 more over the '91-97 ones.

 

 

 

 

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Hi! I have no idea what a double-balled tip looks like. Do you have pictures?

What is it called in German? Ich arbeite als Deutschlehrer, kann fließend Deutsch.

I slowly learn about Pelikan. Now I have my M150 "W. Germany" and a 130 Ibis with F steel nib.

From a friend I will get next week two M200 "W. Germany" with steel nibs M and EF.

 

[Christopher Godfrey]

perakesson, if you want a flexy writer, I suggest that you stop looking at modern Pelikans and find yourself a vintage 400 or 400NN...sure, there are some <INflexible> nibs among them; but shop specifically for a flexy fine and you will be delighted.  The 400 range are tough, durable, hold tons of ink and will last your lifetime, even if they were made back in the '50s or '60s.

 

BTW, I think that Bo Bo was trying to tell you the same thing in his own way!  😉

[Bo Bo Olson]

Oh, yes the best pen is a Vintage 400nn, that centimeter of more of length, makes it medium-long.

Took me some three years to decide it was better balanced than a 400. The 400 and the 400nn, hold about 1.95 to 2.0 ml of ink.

The '82-now 400 holds only 1.25ml.

 

The 1950...400- to '65 and of the 400nn, were all (but the D and H nibs,) semi-flex.

Without doing anything but writing, one gets a very nice script because the natural pressure of how you make a letter gives line variation. Thicker where you have more natural pressure forming the letter, less when you let off that little bit.

These are all factory stubs....so you get a nice clean line.

 

The semi-vintage '82-97 are a springy regular flex nib, that is a bit drier than the semi-flex, so will be much better than semi-flex for two toned shading inks...if you have a good to better paper. These are teardrop tipping so you get a nice clean line. It is a nice, comfortable ride...better than a Pilot 'soft' nib.

That goes for the 150/200 also; whose steel nib is = to the gold of the 400. Don't let being a gold snob, in this case.

I have a whole bunch of both.

 

 

[perakesson]

  On 2/15/2025 at 1:07 AM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Oh, yes the best pen is a Vintage 400nn, that centimeter of more of length, makes it medium-long.

Took me some three years to decide it was better balanced than a 400. The 400 and the 400nn, hold about 1.95 to 2.0 ml of ink.

The '82-now 400 holds only 1.25ml.

 

The 1950...400- to '65 and of the 400nn, were all (but the D and H nibs,) semi-flex.

Without doing anything but writing, one gets a very nice script because the natural pressure of how you make a letter gives line variation. Thicker where you have more natural pressure forming the letter, less when you let off that little bit.

These are all factory stubs....so you get a nice clean line.

 

The semi-vintage '82-97 are a springy regular flex nib, that is a bit drier than the semi-flex, so will be much better than semi-flex for two toned shading inks...if you have a good to better paper. These are teardrop tipping so you get a nice clean line. It is a nice, comfortable ride...better than a Pilot 'soft' nib.

That goes for the 150/200 also; whose steel nib is = to the gold of the 400. Don't let being a gold snob, in this case.

I have a whole bunch of both.

 

 

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Interesting! But if I buy a vintage Pelikan like 100/120/140, I want to be able to switch nibs with more modern Pelikans. I tried to switch nibs between the 130 Ibis and my M150 but the screw threading seems different. They would not fit. But according to following chart, a 130 nib should fit into M150. Next week, I will get two M200 "W Germany" and do more testing. https://indypendance.com/pages/pelikan-nib-interchangeability-chart