Pelikan M400 White Tortois cap crack

[amin]

I was about to trade my Pelikan white tortoise M400 to Apollo and noticed a few mm crack in the cap lip as you have described. I wouldn't ever have noticed it except that it is marked by a tiny amount of retained ink. On close inspection, I can see similar seams/cracks on the cap lip of my new blue M605 and amber transparent M250. Personally, these don't bother me. I will probably ask Chartpak for a new cap for the white tortoise, referencing this thread; but only so I can still trade the pen.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The caps themselves are injection moulded onto the trim rings. I have noticed that the cracks appear on top of the foil that connects the top and the bottom of the two trim rings together. I will inspect my M300 tonight. I was thinking of an M400 Tortoise, but then, the M400 and M200 pens are my maximum size, and I haven't used my M200 much ever since I got an M300.

 

Dillon

[KCat]

Hi,

 

The caps themselves are injection moulded onto the trim rings. I have noticed that the cracks appear on top of the foil that connects the top and the bottom of the two trim rings together.

yes, you should only see this issue on a cap with two rings (or rather 1.5 rings)

 

And i've checked my other Pels with that configuration and they are fine. My White torty cap that I've had now for - well, whenever I wrote about this the first time, has remained crack/seam free.

[JRodriguez]

The cap of the first white tortoise I purchased cracked within a week of my receiving it. I figured I might have screwed the cap too tight, but I just don't do that. I sent it back to the store from which I bought it and they just replaced the whole pen for me. The one I currently have has the 2 chicks and has no cracks as yet. I read somewhere that these cracks were stress points of sorts - as in to allow for the expansion of the cap to accomodate the pen. But I honestly think that's hoo-ha. I'm guessing, as KCat has indicated, that there's an issue with the manufacturing process. It's a shame about this problem though with such a lovely, and relatively affordable pen ...

[wildblueroan]

Hi everyone,

 

I just purchased a Pelikan white tortoise-one chick-and when I opened the box, I saw a quarter inch crack inside the cap, staring at the lip. the pen also doesn't flow or write well-I'm quite disappointed although i will contact Chartpak and try to rehabilitate it!

 

Could my pen have come from the same faulty batch of 2 years ago??

 

Castle August, 2006

[MyriadStars]

Okay, have taken a look inside my cap. There is a line, about 1cm long, from the edge of the cap. It is parallel to the clip.

 

Should I be concerned?

Hi, all,

 

I got my new m400 white today (I ordered it online from a store in US), and it has exactly the same problem as Snowblink's pel: a straight line of about 1cm long inside the cap (not visible outside) that barely reaches the inner gold ring. I actually would not have noticed it at all were I not particularly looking for those cracks/seams after I read these posts.

 

I took out my Waterman Phileas (it has a gold-plated ring on the cap). Interestingly, there are also visible but annealled seals outside the cap, but I cannot see any line inside. There may not be any, but I doubt that I will see it if there is one since the cap is black.

 

So I am not really sure whether this is a serious problem with my m400. I'm in Canada, and international mails may take long. So I wonder, is this a problem that I should have it fixed? I would like your kind advices. I wouldn't mind if Chartpak will simply send me a replacement cap without asking me for the current one so that I can continue to use this pen while waiting for the replacement cap, but do you know whether they will do it (I could fax the receipt as the proof of the purchase)?

Edited October 5, 2006 by MyriadStars

[Mary P]

When I contacted ChartPak about the cracked cap on my Pelikan Honey, they didn't even inquire about a receipt. I packed up the pen and sent it to them as they requested. When I got my pen back, it had a new cap. That was about three months ago. I've had no problem since. I carry the pen with me almost all the time.

[KCat]

I think they may be willing to work you based on you being in Canada. Give 'em a call or an email. If you get the standard "please send the pen..." go ahead and reply or call. There is some concern that a cap they send will not thread properly, but it's a pretty low chance such that they might be okay with not waiting on the pen. If you send the pen then as Mary said, you don't need the receipt. But since you are trying to avoid that, definitely do offer the faxed receipt.

[Taki]

So I am not really sure whether this is a serious problem with my m400. I'm in Canada, and international mails may take long. So I wonder, is this a problem that I should have it fixed? I would like your kind advices. I wouldn't mind if Chartpak will simply send me a replacement cap without asking me for the current one so that I can continue to use this pen while waiting for the replacement cap, but do you know whether they will do it (I could fax the receipt as the proof of the purchase)?

If I were you I would have my cap replaced, since the crack might eventually go through the outside. Also even if it's just inside the ink might get in the crack and once it does it's almost impossible to clean.

 

I hope they will work with you so that the exchange process would not inconvenience you but Chartpak is really good about shipping your pen/cap back quick so I think it's worth getting it done. Since the exchange I haven't had any problems with the new cap and I am using the pen happily after two years

 

Also in an ealier post I mentioned Kathy as the contact person at Chartpak. A couple months ago I send an e-mail addressed to her because I needed another Pel repaired due to my mishandling of the pen. Sadly I found that Kathy has passed away in Summer 2005. Of course, there has been no change in their great service. RIP, Kathy.

[MyriadStars]

Thank you all for your kind replies! I just wrote an email to them regarding the cap since it's after their business hours now. I clicked the email link on their Pelikan Pen Repair page to write the email, which means that my email was sent to their general email address with the title "URGENT!_PELIKAN_PEN_REPAIR". Is this the right way to contact them? Thanks again for your help.

[sonia_simone]

Yes, they should get back to you shortly. They really do have very good service.

 

I agree that the cap is worth repairing--because it's white, you'll really notice ink staining in that crack. And if you wait, who knows, at some point they may not have the replacement caps readily available.

 

I love my white tortoise, it's such a fine little pen.

[Taki]

I think they will get back to you soon as sonia_simone said. The e-mail addy I have is

penrepair@chartpak.com

Edited October 6, 2006 by Taki

[bobioden]

I was very impressed with their turn around. I sent in my m400 Honey for a cap exchange on a Friday, and got the pen back on Wed. It took all of 5 days, including the weekend.

 

Bob

[MyriadStars]

I phoned their pen repair department and they said I had to mail the entire pen to them (I suggested to use my credit card to guarantee that I will return the cracked cap to them once I get a replacement, but they do not handle cash), so I mailed it out using international expediated parcel this afternoon. It is supposed to arrive in 8 business days. I didn't use courier because the cost would be $50 CDN, since money is an issue for me as a graduate student (otherwise, I wouldn't have ordered it online). The mailing instructions from Chartpak say that the normal turn around time is 1-2 weeks, so I am crossing my fingers that it will come back to me with a good cap this month.

 

I can track my package online. Do you think it is a good idea if I phone or email them to ask for an acknowledgement some time after I see it delivered online?

 

Many thanks to the warm-hearted gentlemen and ladies here!

[sonia_simone]

Most people's experience seems to be that they will send you the replacement the day they receive your package, or possibly the next day. That is what they did with mine, and I've seen the same comment many times on FPN.

 

So I think you have every reason for optimism that you'll get it back within the month. They'll send you an email when they send it out, so you'll know it's on its way.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The caps are injection moulded onto the trim rings, thus the cracks perfectly in their places. This may be of the shortcomings of the white plastic.

 

The actual name for this pen is the Tortoise-white by the way.

 

Dillon

[MyriadStars]

I just got my pen back! Chartpak indeed repaired and returned my pen on the same day they received it. It was shipped in a FedEx 2Day Box and arrived in Canada in about 45 hours. I'm truly impressed by Chartpak's service.

 

The new cap has no crack or open seam. Thank you all for advising me to return it for repair!

 

Canada Post's expediated parcel service is not good though. I will probably consider using a different shipping method next time when I need to mail a package to USA.