Pelikan Broad Hard Starts. Help?

[a.zy.lee]

I've had my brand new Pelikan M200 with a broad steel nib for just over a week now.

When I first got it, it skipped quite frequently. I figured that was just because it was brand new and hadn't been flushed.

Since then it has been inked with refilled, flushed, inked with a different ink, and refilled again.

It still skips/ has hard starts quite regularly.

It's only when starting another stroke, in between writing and when starting writing after awhile. The issue was not worse when the pen hadn't been used for a day.

The inks I've used in this pen are Private Reserve Ebony Blue and Electric DC Blue, both of which I've used in another pen without issue. The paper I've used is Rhodia.

 

What's wrong with it?

Thanks.

 

Edited July 22, 2014 by a.zy.lee

[Ursus]

PS- the nib tip isn't symmetrical but there's no scratchiness whatsoever.

 

What do you mean when you say that it's not symmetrical? Have you got some pictures?

[a.zy.lee]

What do you mean when you say that it's not symmetrical? Have you got some pictures?

I have edited my post and removed the comment about the asymmetrical tip. Its asymmetricality is so insignificant it's not worth mentioning. I have also added pictures

Edited July 22, 2014 by a.zy.lee

[hari317]

clean the pen and try Pelikan ink to see how it writes...

[Ursus]

Pelikan ink is rather thick... I would suggest Parker Quink (although Pelikan's pens usually work very well with their own ink, but again they usually don't skip).

Perhaps the tines are a little tight - which can be corrected either by inserting a thin metal sheet between the tines or by bending the shoulders of the nib a little.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Ursus

[dspeers58]

Try to see if pelikan will trade out the nib...

Edited July 27, 2014 by dspeers58

[sargetalon]

Often times, this is due to a misalignment of the tines. They can be out of alignment and the eye might not even pick up on it. You really need a 10x loupe to assess this. No amount of flushing will help. This is certainly not normal behavior though and since you say the pen is new, you may still be in the window to have the nib replaced by Pelikan free of charge if this one isn't to your liking. Don't give up on it because it will be worth it once you have the nib in proper condition.

[Xqmano]

Baby's-bottom also can cause skipping and hard starts. It can be fixed, but as the others have pointed out, it might be easier to get a new nib from Pelikan.

 

Personally, I love writing with pens that I have tweaked and improved myself. Makes it a little more personal.

[a.zy.lee]

Doesn't baby's bottom cause the need to press down to get ink flowing? I don't need to press at all

[recluse]

It reminds me troubles with my Pelikan M215 with fine nib few years ago. If I were current me, I'd disassemble the nib unit and scrubbed the feed and nib with soap. What worked for me, however, was using Waterman Havana for a while. After about half a year I've realized that I've got a nice juicy writer. Now I cannot even believe how stubborn it was at the beginning. Later on I've seen a few testimonies about Havana helping to "break in" a new pen. I think people attributed this effect to the chemistry of the ink but I don't know whether those speculations were correct.

 

But since you have a broad nib it's always worth to check it for the baby bottom. It's difficult to say from your photos, but this is quite possible. Plus, alignment is very important. You were talking about some asymmetry but then said that it wasn't worth mentioning. You'll be surprised how significant may be even tiny misalignment.

[cnjackson]

Just to add some testimony to what others have already said: Last year my new M805 B nib was a hard starter. As it happened this was right before the DC pen show, and I was able to ask Mike Massuyama (a wonderful nibmeister) to look at it. He confirmed that it was baby's bottom, and he fixed it up beautifully: it now writes like a dream.

 

So--if the other suggestions don't pan out, you may find it helpful to send your pen to one of the great nibmeisters out there. I know it's not ideal... but the pen will come back working very nicely!

 

Chris