Preparing pelikan.

[Lozzic]

I have searched around a bit for a post to do with preparing a fountain pen for ink but have not found much. I ordered a Fine, black Pelikan M200 yesterday and I should get it this week. I was wondering, can I have some specific info on how I should go about cleaning and preparing the internals of the M200 before inking it up? I would greatly appreciate the help.

 

thanks.

[jmkeuning]

You don't need to do anything. You can just ink it and go!

 

However, it's sound advice to give the pen a good flushing with water, just to make sure that you rinse out any manufacturing debris. Because the Pelikan has that piston, this will also get rid of any piston grease that might be floating around.

 

Just a few fills with water should do it. You could also use some soapy water if you like. Do the flushing with the nib in the pen. You can also take the nib out and soak it if you want.

[Lozzic]

You don't need to do anything. You can just ink it and go!

 

However, it's sound advice to give the pen a good flushing with water, just to make sure that you rinse out any manufacturing debris. Because the Pelikan has that piston, this will also get rid of any piston grease that might be floating around.

 

Just a few fills with water should do it. You could also use some soapy water if you like. Do the flushing with the nib in the pen. You can also take the nib out and soak it if you want.

 

So by soap you mean the regular stuff you wash the dishes with? In a very small quantity I presume? And this wont cause any problems with ink or whatever if I seriously rinse it out and leave it to dry?

[superfly]

Just put some ink in it, and youre ready to go... The nib cleaning is only necessary if there is some problems with the ink flow.

 

I personally think it's nonsense to "flush" the nib with water and soap, because if Pelikan (or Bock, e.t.c.) didn't do that step already, i.e. washing the nib from manufacturing oils, the ink will have no chance of seeing the light of the day through the nib...

 

enjoy your pen,

Nenad

[Juan in Andalucia]

You don't need to do anything. You can just ink it and go!

 

However, it's sound advice to give the pen a good flushing with water, just to make sure that you rinse out any manufacturing debris. Because the Pelikan has that piston, this will also get rid of any piston grease that might be floating around.

 

Just a few fills with water should do it. You could also use some soapy water if you like. Do the flushing with the nib in the pen. You can also take the nib out and soak it if you want.

 

So by soap you mean the regular stuff you wash the dishes with? In a very small quantity I presume? And this wont cause any problems with ink or whatever if I seriously rinse it out and leave it to dry?

 

Just a couple of drops in a large glass of water. Stir and fill/empty the pen. Then repeat with plain water. Nevertheless, this is not necessary unless you have some skipping or poor inkflow.

Most inks have some sort of detergent in their formulation to help inkflow.

 

[FrankB]

There are always differing, and some strongly held, ideas on how to treat a new pen. I have used FP's for 50 years and I still do as my father taught me with a new pen, whether new in the box or "new to me." I alwasy flush them with luke warm water. - Remember that the nib on your new Pel is removeable and one of the benefits of Pelikan ownership. With a Pel, I remove the nib and flush it under a drizzle of luke warm water. Now, it is a good idea not to let the nib do down the drain with the water! I flush out the pen barrel with the nib removed. When I replace the nib, I draw some water up through the nib in the same manner I will fill the pen with ink.

 

This whole process takes under five minutes, but it is a great safeguard in case there really is some oil or debris in the nib/feed or something is wrong with the pen. I like the confidence I feel in knowing that "I did something" to prepare the pen.

 

Good luck. I hope you like your new pen.

 

 

[chkuo]

You should be able to use it right away, but flush it a couple times with clean water can't hurt either. I've never clean my pen with detergent before.

[arvadajames]

I'm certainly no expert, but my first experience with a Pelikan (Grand Place) was as follows: Ordered the pen from Pam Braun (great service, great price), had her dip test it, received the pen, pen was/is the most beautiful pen I own, eagerly filled it with ink, eagerly started to write (was really excited after all of the wonderful things I have read about the Pelikan nib), was greatly disappointed by the writting experience, not bad, just not good, continued to be disappointed for a couple of weeks, kept using the pen because it is so beautiful and the size, weight is just perfect for me, after about 2 weeks the pen started writing like the amazing Pelikans that I had been reading about.

 

I don't know if my experience was typical or not, my point is if the pen isn't perfect, use it for a while before you make any decisions about its future with you.

[Lozzic]

I received a black Pelikan M200 with Fine nib on Tuesday. I flushed it with water, let it dry and then carefully filled it with black Pelikan ink. At first it wrote toothy and even slightly scratchy in places. The next day however I came to it and wrote more with it and found that at a certain angle it writes very smooth. Even in this short time it seems to have improved. I do remember when I first got it the tipping was all gold plated and now that gold plating (on the tip where it touches the paper) has gone, this must surely have had an effect of the smoothness of the nib. I will follow your advice arvadajames and see what it is like in a week or two. My Pelikan does not sound to be as any where near bad as your experience was at first but I am sure there is still room for improvement on it's current smoothness. After all a fountain pen is a very delicate and precise thing and like all quality things it needs working in, just like a new pair of shoes. So far I am happy with the M200, it writes nicely and it is a very attractive looking pen. I am optimistic about how it has the potential to improve even further.

 

Thank you everyone for your replies and tips. I might write a review for this pen after a while of getting used to it.

[arvadajames]

Mine wasn't that bad, it just wasn't fantastic, which is what I was expecting. It was still better than 75% of my pens. But, now it is fantastic

 

Hope you enjoy your Pelikan as much as I have. Mine is a F nib also.