Pelikan Level 65 pen and bottle

[Blorgy]

"Ok, what kind of science degree do I need to understand how this pen works???"[/i]

 

Should the diagrams be preceded by a diagram of a single closed valve, and a diagram of a single open valve ? If possible, I should like to make the valve diagrams less daunting, and more appealing. Do you have any suggestions for their improvement ?

Edited November 27, 2005 by Blorgy

[Maja]

"Ok, what kind of science degree do I need to understand how this pen works???"[/i]

 

Should the diagrams be preceded by a diagram of a single closed valve, and a diagram of a single open valve ? If possible, I should like to make the valve diagrams less daunting, and more appealing. Do you have any suggestions for their improvement ?

No, no, Blorgy...the diagrams are elegant and well-drawn. It was just my initial reaction because the pen has such an unusual filling system

 

Thanks again for the pics!

~Maja

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I found that the stem snaps out of the knob, so just pull it out and you are done.

 

Dillon

[Blorgy]

Hi,

 

I found that the stem snaps out of the knob, so just pull it out and you are done.

 

Dillon

Hello Dillon,

 

I should have mentioned sooner, that after I severed the stalk of my Pelikan Level 65, my pen stayed on my desk. I don't carry the modified pen around with me.

 

I wonder if pulling out the stalk would weaken pen valves 1 and 2 ?

I suspect that cutting the stalk is less likely to damage valves 1 and 2.

Edited January 1, 2006 by Blorgy

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The valve is necessary to protect the pen from thermal expansion.

 

Your hand will cause the air in the reservoir to expand and the pen will blot.

 

Dillon

[Blorgy]

The valve is necessary to protect the pen from thermal expansion.

 

Your hand will cause the air in the reservoir to expand and the pen will blot.

 

Dillon

If my Pelikan Level 65 pen had the problems you describe, I think I would heat reset my pen's feed.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

It does not quite seem that you understand what I am getting at here.

 

Air and ink expand when it is heated (by heat from your hands). That expansion will cause the ink to blot or run too freely when the pen is near empty.

 

For eyedropper pens, this is taken care of by this ink shut off valve.

 

This is also the reason not to use too big a sac in lever-filling pens.

 

Dillon

[Blorgy]

I understand PV/T is constant.

I have not heat reset my Pelikan Level 65 pen's feed, because my pen does not have the problems which you describe. When I write with my pen, it neither drips nor blots.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Blorgy

[Dillo]

I understand PV/T is constant.

I have not heat reset my Pelikan Level 65 pen's feed, because my pen does not have the problems which you describe. When I write with my pen, it neither drips nor blots.

Hi,

 

Why would you need to heat reset the feed? Heat resetting does nothing IMO with what I am talking about. Regardless of how you heat rest the feed, it is very likely that it will do what I am describing if the pen is near empty.

 

Actually I am curious, what do you mean by heat resetting the feed?

 

Dillon

[Blorgy]

what do you mean by heat resetting the feed?

Dillon

In his book "Fountain Pens, The Complete Guide To Repair & Restoration", the late Frank Dubiel described the use of heat to set the feed. In my copy of Da Book, the "Feeds" chapter is pages 29 to 32 inclusive.

 

http://www.pendemonium.com/books.htm#dabook

Edited July 27, 2006 by Blorgy

[Blorgy]

On my 4.5 oz. eyedropper bottle of Noodlers black ink, Nathan (eternally noodling, scaupaug) wrote "Eyedropper pens should be refilled when two thirds empty, as more than two thirds air can cause expansion/excess flow from the heat of your hand."

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

That is what I do, but it is unrelated to what we are talking about here. In instructions of pens that held 4 ML of ink, they used to say, "refill when the ink runs freely."

 

Dillon

[Dillo]

On my 4.5 oz. eyedropper bottle of Noodlers black ink, Nathan (eternally noodling, scaupaug) wrote "Eyedropper pens should be refilled when two thirds empty, as more than two thirds air can cause expansion/excess flow from the heat of your hand."

Hi,

 

Exactly!

 

Removing the valve will make the pen act like an eyedropper.

 

The valve makes the pen work like it is using a pile of ink cartridges in succession. When the little tank is done, you have spent the first cartridge and you load another one. If the air in the small tank expands, the feed can hold all of the extra ink, and the pen will not run as freely. The air expansion in the small tank is not enough to cause havoc. In the big tank, when the air expands, the big tank will retain the pressure and the pen will not leak since the valves on both ends are there and close it off.

 

Dillon

[Blorgy]

Hi Dillon,

 

Did you cut the stalk of a Pelikan Level 65 pen, remove valves 3 and 4, fill the pen with ink, and then write with the pen ? If your answer is no, then our discussion is somewhat impaired, because we lack a common frame of reference.

Edited July 27, 2006 by Blorgy

[Blorgy]

It does not quite seem that you understand what I am getting at here.

Dillon

Hi Dillon,

It does not quite seem that you understand the late Frank Dubiel's chapter on "Feeds".

[2shane]

Accidental double posting....

Edited August 4, 2006 by 2shane

[2shane]

Hiya, I am a pen building genius... so there.

 

Yeah I have been wrapped ever since I bought 4 X Pelikan Level 65's. I have a few of the cartridge pens over the years and the pissingly small catridges at like $$$ for a couple, that overall held no more ink than a thimble, was just pure theft.

 

So I got into modifying the cartidge pens, by removing the cartridges and filling the bodies with ink, and then sealing the threads / joint with vaseline.

 

The modifications worked well enough, but the problems of the ever increasing internal volumes of air, and the ever greater expansion of that air whenever the cool pen was picked up with a warm hand... resulting in an ever increasingly blotchy writing - much akin to a Ralph Steadman drawing, well after much haggling and fighing with a shop, I picked up 4 of the Peliken 65's at about $10 Au each.

 

I have tried lots of pens from the super luxuary models to the dirt cheap ones, and the surprising thing that I have found is that the cheapest and (ink)tiest ones ever made, were usually the nicest, lightest and best to use.

 

However, the whole issue of cartidge pens... well if your into serious amounts of writing, and want an excellent pen - then the cartridge pens are a scam, much like the injet printers - that sell the super cheap printers, and then make their profits from selling "genuine cartidges" at $50 each.

 

So in this respect when all things were considered, the Level 65 was the singularly most oustanding pen I have ever used, both in terms of "feel" and the pure quantitiy of ink stored in the 2 chamber reserviour system.

 

If both chambers are tactfully topped up, that is a real lot of ink that does a real lot of writing.

 

And it's that cleverly designed 2 chamber system that anables a BIG reserviour to top up a smaller writing reserviour, and the smaller writing reserviour is of the proportions and with it's feeder of ink to the nib and air to the chamber, that allows it to not be affected by the heating and cooling of the pen - and so it never ejaculates all over your page.

 

It's a great pen, it stores LOTS of ink and although over priced in the retail sector, the filling system is a brilliant design...

 

I can fill it up, go away on a trip , writing like the blazes and still have ink left....

 

That's what I want.

 

 

 

I do feel that their asking price is way too high tho, but aside from this, it's my personal preference and I recomend it to anyone who wants to buy an excellent pen.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

You got exactly what I was talking about. You also nailed on the head why I like the Level.

 

I agree, the prices are too high. I am an authourised Pelikan dealer, so I prefer to cut down the retail prices when I sell them.

 

And oh, I am a pen dealer and pen repairer, so I have my little...

 

Dillon

Edited August 4, 2006 by Dillo

[theblackpen]

Hi,

I just bought a L65 on Ebay and I was wondering if this pen can be filled only from the special bottle of ink or the nib section can be unscrewed allowing an eyedropper-style filling. Thank you and I apologize if this was answered before. I am kinda slow these days :roflmho:

Mihai

Edited May 12, 2009 by theblackpen

[skipwilliams]

No, the nib does not unscrew, you have to use the special bottle and filling system. I've got one that's been filled for the better part of 3 years with zero problems. Highly recommended.

 

I store the pen upside down on my desk, very easy to do since the pen will stand on it's flat-ended cap. With that methodology, the pen always writes immediately when I put it to paper, never leaks, and never dries out. The ink chambers are kept pretty full 24/7.

 

Skip

 

 

Hi,

I just bought a L65 on Ebay and I was wondering if this pen can be filled only from the special bottle of ink or the nib section can be unscrewed allowing an eyedropper-style filling. Thank you and I apologize if this was answered before. I am kinda slow these days :roflmho:

Mihai