146 & 149 Ink Leaking Onto The Section

[Paul80]

Hi all

 

I have a couple of troublesome montblanc pens I need some assistance with, both have the same issue, one is a 149 & the other is a 146.

 

The problem is is persistent leaking of ink onto the section so that every time I go to use them I have to wipe the section clean or else my fingers get covered in ink.

 

I always thought this was the old ink seeping up the nib collar issue and have tried various sealants to combat the problem, from Silicone grease through Bees wax to Ron Zorn's Sheaffer sealant and every time the problem returns. There are no cracks in the collars or sections and the odd thing is that every time I take it apart to check the sealant there is no sign of any ink leaking past the seal so I am not even sure now that the collar seal is the issue here. I have even tried using o-rings to help the seal without any long term luck.

 

Anyone else had this persistent problem and found a fix for it., I also know a couple of other owners with the same issue and they have sent them back to Montblanc only to have the problem return.

 

Anyone offer any help with this.

 

Thanks

 

Paul

[rvthof]

Perhaps a silly question, but I assume there is no ink in the cap from an overly wet nib/feed or ink creep?

[pennamer]

Your problem suggests two possible causes, and you can test in order to determine where the problem lies.

 

First, as the previous poster suggested, the problem could be the result of ink collecting in the cap. If you jostle a fountain pen, especially a broad-nibbed pen, while the cap is on, some ink could splatter the inside of the cap. Similarly, if you keep your fountain pen in an upright pen holder, you might find ink collecting inside the holder if the pen's feeder brushes against the inside of the holder. To test if this is your problem, simply moisten (not soak) a q-tip and run it along the inside of the cap. If you find ink on the q-tip, clean the inside of the cap until there is no more ink showing on a q-tip. Test again after leaving the pen in the cap for a few hours. If the cap again shows ink, you know that your problem is with the feeder on the pen.

 

In the alternative, the problem could result from a defective seal between the ink chamber and the barrel of the pen. To test if this is the cause of your problem, clean the ink chamber by repeatedly flushing it with water. When the ink chamber is clean, insert the pen into a clear glass so that clean water covers all of the nib and at least one inch of the barrel, including where the seal would normally be. Lower the piston very slowly, while watching for small bubbles to appear along the place where the barrel of the pen meets the nib insert. You should see no bubbles. If you do, then you have a defective seal, and it is likely leaking ink into your pen cap.

 

Unfortunately, both problems require the pen to be serviced professionally, which means your pen will end up at the local MB service centre.

[Flounder]

Paul, you can pinpoint hard - to - invisible to see ink seeps with blutack. Clean the section thoroughly, then wrap a length of blutack around the section, covering the whole area of suspicion. Write for a short time, then peel off the blutack, which will have stained to reveal the size, shape and location of any tiny leak points/cracks/ splits.

[fountainbel]

Paul, you can pinpoint hard - to - invisible to see ink seeps with blutack. Clean the section thoroughly, then wrap a length of blutack around the section, covering the whole area of suspicion. Write for a short time, then peel off the blutack, which will have stained to reveal the size, shape and location of any tiny leak points/cracks/ splits.

Very good idea !

I really expect there is a minor hairline crack in the section, this is not exceptional.

Doing as Flounder suggested you will clearly see if and were the crack is situated.

i recently repaired a pen with a section hairline crack (and part of the front collar was broken) by making /installing a HR sleeve, worked perfectly.

See :https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/260481-modern-149-broken-section-repair/

 

Francis

[Chrissy]

Paul, you can pinpoint hard - to - invisible to see ink seeps with blutack. Clean the section thoroughly, then wrap a length of blutack around the section, covering the whole area of suspicion. Write for a short time, then peel off the blutack, which will have stained to reveal the size, shape and location of any tiny leak points/cracks/ splits.

What a great idea/ Thanks for the tip.

[Paul80]

Hi all

 

Thanks for all the help and tips, Some good and some bad news

 

I changed the sealant I was using to a new stock of Silicone Grease I just got delivered and its very thick and sticky compared to the one I use for lubricating the piston and that looks to have done the job on the 146 but its not good news on the 149, its leaking from two places, one is from where the section fits next to the threads (Its a two part barrel version) and the other is from a number if small micro cracks in the section radiating down from the top where the nib collar retains the section. (Only visible with a 40x loupe) This was the pen that after I bought it from a seller on the Bay of Evil I found that the nib collar had been Sealed (Glued in with Bathroom Silicone) so the seller must have known about it and bodged a fix.

 

It also looks like he has glued the section on with what looks like an Epoxy type glue so I doubt that this pen will be repairable, without a very costly repair by Montblanc and not sure how they will react to all the bodges that have gone on either.

 

Think its time to start saving for another one

 

Paul

[novarider]

Montblanc should be able to replace the barrel for the level one service. It's about $85. It will be a modern barrel and feed however

[Flounder]

Oh, that's a shame about the 149. There's some astounding lathe magic a few threads below, so never say never.

 

Blutack's great stuff, isn't it? That tip will also work using damp paper towel btw. As the paper dries, it will wick up ink spots from even the tiniest seep points.

 

clicky thumbs:

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/th_Sort017_800x600.jpg

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/th_Sort018_800x600.jpg

 

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/th_Sort015_800x600.jpg

Edited March 2, 2014 by Flounder

[macball]

I have a MB Thomas Mann Writers SE that is possibly my favorite of the series. I purchased it new, sealed, in the year of release. I have noticed that ink will get on my finger but attributed it to residue ink in the cap. It is more noticeable with Mystery Black than Royal Blue. I conducted the experiment described in this thread. I washed the cap with distilled water and dried it out completely. I rinsed the nib and section under running water, dried it off and waited for 5 min. I then took some moist paper towel and wrapped it around the section only up to the end of the section. Within seconds there is staining of the paper towel with both Royal Blue (photo 2) and Mystery Black (photo 3) exactly where the silver coloured ring meets the black plastic section. This is not residue because between tests I cleaned the pen with water until it ran clear, refilled the pen, rinsed the section with running water, dried it off, let it air dry, then repeated the test. Would I conclude that there is some internal flaw in the pen between the feed and the section, or is this a common characteristic? It seems odd that the ink would flow from inside the pen to this fine seam between the silver ring and the section.

[soapytwist]

As an aside, I've had one instance where a pen came back from a MB service still leaking from the collar (sent it back and it was right as rain the second time around). I guess even their own technicians don't always get the seal perfect, so if you're sealing your own, don't get disheartened if there's a leak the first time you do it.

[Paul80]

I am going to send mine into Montblanc to see how much they want to fix it, given the amount of previous owner bodging it's going to need a new Barrel, New Section and new nib collar, hope they don't want more than their £80 service charge.

 

Paul

[Paul80]

My 149 has been with MB for 4 weeks now and no word from them yet if they are going to charge more than £80 to repair it, I would have thought I would have heard from them by now if they wanted more so hope that is a good sign, hope I get it back soon, I do miss her.

 

Paul

[Blade Runner]

Yeah, I always mentally add about $150 to the cost of ebay pens.

[Flounder]

MB owners, I'm neither au fait nor currently interested in this brand, but if I do take a shine to them in the future, how common is this section cracking business on the 146 and 149? I was reading a post a while back with some nifty vintage era demonstrators, and they all had stress cracks where the section and barrel meet. Are the modern pens mostly okay as an heirloom, pass it down the line sort of pen?

[Paul80]

Mine is not that old and has them.

 

Paul

[Paul80]

Hi all

 

Had a call from the Boutique this morning, I had been expecting a call to say how much extra it was going to cost over the quoted £80, but no it was the call to say my 149 is done and ready to be picked up, How much I asked £53 they said.

 

Wow couldn't believe it lower than the quote, I quickly whizzed over there half expecting for it not to have been repaired or something daft gone wrong, but no, they replaced what they call the Forpart but we all call it the section, the Barrel, the Nib Collar and the Cap Top, I didn't even know there was anything wrong with the cap top, all for £53.

 

My last Montblanc repair was to a 147 that just had its barrel replaced and that cost the full £80 so well pleased that I got so much more work for less money.

 

Paul

[KAC]

I've always considered ink-stained fingers to be one of the great charms of writing with fountain pens!

[GTOZack]

they probably over tightened it and theres extremely micro cracks around it. i think

[Erik Dalton]

Learn something new every day around here.