Dear Peli fans,
I have a Pelikan 1935 LE in blue. If I use this pen, then after some time invariably I get a lot of ink on the top of the nib. As far as I can determine this is caused by the low pressure during the removal of the cap.
Is this a known problem, and is there a solution known?
Enjoy,
/:) Hans.

What ink are you using?

I've never had this with a Pel. But then, I don't OWN an LE.

In this case I use Diamine Royal Blue. But it also happens with Quink.
Here is a picture of the mess.

If you unscrew the pen and then pull the pen out of the cap you get a real
piston feeling. So there is underpressure being build up inside the cap. If
the pen is almost empty and you pull the pen a little too quick out of the cap
then you can even see airbubbles at the nib slit and hole ! The mess on the
right nib point is the ink residu of these kind of bubbles.
Enjoy,
/:) Hans.

There is (or should be) a little hole in the cap to relieve the pressure caused by vacuum in the process of removing the cap. I have no idea if this exists on your pen, but if it does, perhaps it is plugged up?

If it isn't, you could probably drill a hole but I wouldn't reccommed that; I'd sooner suffer with a messy nib.

You could experiment with making sure to hold the pen nib upright when removing the cap, removing it more slowly, etc., hoping to reduce the strength of the vacuum.

Another possibility alltogether is that the ink is being deposited in the cap at some other time but you don't see it (of course) until you uncap the pen. If your pen cap is very inky you might clean it thoroughly (and might have the side benefit of reopening the clogged hole if indeed it exists.

Caveat: I'm not a real expert, just a in interested amateur. Don't drill the hole just cause I suggested it! All the other possbilities don't cause permanent change.

Andy

Hi Andy,
There is no hole in the cap. I inspected the cap. Also if I blow in the cap there is no leackage. And there is no ink in the cap itself.

Probably the only solution is a breather hole in the cap.

But the question is then: if this pen is a modern replica of the 1935 Peli, do the vintage 1935 Peli have a hole in the cap somewhere ?

Enjoy,
/:) Hans.

Greetings Hans,

I would contact any or all of the following: (alphabetically by surname)

Richard Binder
Dennis Bowden
Rick Propas

Richard, I'm sure, owns or has owned and worked on that pen. Dennis owns at least one of them, and Rick is an acknowledged Pelikan expert who has owned, sold and worked on them. Yell if you need their websites.

I'd like to have that model at least until I could find the vintage 1935 pen since that's my birth year!

Roger, thanks.
Good suggestion. I will contact Rick at PENguin.
I got the blue one as a bargain. My dream is the Toledo LE.
No such luck at a bargain for that so far
-Hans.

Let us know what you learn. the only ink creep I've seen is with Noodler's and a bit with Waterman Havana. Otherwise none of my Pels have ever shown any signs of pressure build-up in. i've only seen that on slip or snap cap pens.

one thing you can do to perhaps reduce the "impact" of uncapping - remove the cap with the same hand you hold the pen with. IOW, rather than unscrewing the cap with one hand while holding the barrel with the other, hold the pen in your dominant, and unscrew the cap with thumb and forefinger of that hand. This is actually a safer way to open any pen. Something to do with the tactile feedback of one hand vs. two. try it - especially on a snap cap if you have one. you might be surprised by the reduction of pressure and torque using this method. I doubt this is the problem but might as well give it a go.

It almost sounds like there's something growing in your pen and creating gasses that simply shouldn't be there. Or as if you're going from temperature extremes.

From my conversation with Rick Propas I concluded that the effect is related to the amount of air in the ink chamber. Rick suggests checking the seal of the ink chamber by the plunger. I will do that. Rick also spotted immediately that I had switched the nib on this pen. And he is correct. The nib on the photo is the nib of my M700 Toledo which I have installed into the LE (same size nib, different tip width). But there is no relation to the nib used since the effect happens with both the original LE nib and the M700 nib. The effect happens with either of the nibs. I do not think the problem is with the nib unit, but has more to do with pressure differentials. I notice that it only happens if the ink supply in the ink chamber gets low. Then there is a lot of air on the chamber which can expand and push the ink out when the pressure in the cap drops because I pull the cap of the pen. What I noticed is that if I move the cap up and down on the pen (treads not engaged of course) that than there is a suction effect inside the cap. I also just filled the pen again and then there is no ink pulled out of the nib. So there seems definitely to be a relation to the amount of air in the ink chamber. Anyway, everybody advises against drilling holes in the cap, so I think I will not do that So, I'll check the seal.
/:) Hans.

Interesting, Hans. Please report your findings and results.

I hate the thought that a pen representing that hotest of all years might have a clinker in the furnace. There...I've proved that I was born in 1935 because most of you young'uns don't know what a clinker is, I betcha.

It has definitley to something with the pen being almost empty. Today I used the pen all day, and when the pen was almost empty I pulled it out of my shirt pocket, uncapped, and there was a lot of ink on the nib. For the first time that day. But I'm not so sure anymore its only the pressure differential during uncapping. Now I suspect that when the air in the ink chamber is warmed because the pen is in my pocket, it expands and pushes the ink out of the nib. But then the question is; why isn't there a lot of ink in the collector then?

Still very puzzeling I have to check the piston seal soon I guess.

The clinker is called a klinker here, and people used ot put them into the middle of an oil heater to spread the flames along the side of the heater, thereby increasing efficiency. Am I warm?

Enjoy,
/:) Hans.

Does the ink present if kept on a table, out of your pocket, when it is low in the reservoir?

Yeah, we use a lot of "Cs" where you guys use "Ks".

Though I can't remember clinkers being used as "firebrick" in oil heaters, I guess it would work as the clinker is just a portion of the coal nugget that has not burned, so would offer substantial resistance to burning and force the flame to the side like "firebrick" would. The flames dispersed along the sides would heat the sides and therefore heat more of the surrounding air. In an oil furnace, of course, "firebrick" makes up the lining of the furnace.

I will check this. Good suggestion!
Oh, then we are talking about different things. A klinker is a brick which is used for pavements.
Ciao,
/:) Hans.

I'm desparately close to drilling a hole in the cap of my LE. Last week I again used op more than 75% of the ink capacity and cap started to be poluted inside with ink, and the nib drowned in it.
I have deduced the problem is that if their is a lot of air in the ink chamber and the pen is held with the nib lower than the barrel, so the ink moves to the nib, then any variation in air pressure (for instance due to uncapping) spills ink out of the pen.

Now I have had access to 2 other OotT pens, and I have doen some cross checking.

When either of the other 2 pens is screwed into the cap of my blue pen then there is progressively more force needed the further the cap is screwed on. Looks like the section rim is squeezed by the cap (innercap?). The blue cap cannot be fulle screwed onto the 2 barrels, at least I did not dare to use the force needed for this.

When either of the other 2 pens is moved in and out of the blue cap there is the dreaded suction effect.

My blue pen fits in the other 2 caps with ease, no friction, and most importantly there is no suction effect when I move the blue barrel in and out of the caps.

So my diagnosis so far is that the inside diameter of the blue cap is tapering to a too small diameter somehow.

Can it be that there is an innercap which has a fault or is wrong?

/:) Hans.

Hans,

I'm sorry to read of your problem. It definitely seems to be something wrong with your particular pen cap. I have a 1935 Lapis OoT and have gone through several loads of ink with no problem. The only thing I see on the nib sometimes is a small spot of water condensation (not ink) when it has been in my pocket and I have been through some temperature/humidity changes.

Is there any chance of you having it fixed under warranty? I'd hate to see you start drilling holes in such a beautiful pen!

Good luck!

Kent

Yes, you are right. I realised yesterday that as the first owner of this pen I have the service certificate for the pen. So this morning I composed a letter and have emailed this to the Pelikan consumer and advisory service.

But I'm glad to hear your pen does not have any of these symptoms. I also asked Pharrhesia, and he did neither.

So it definitely seems to be specific to my pen.

Enjoy,
/:) Hans.

I'm happy to report I received my pen back from Pelikan Hannover today. I do not know what exactly they have changed but the piston effect in the cap is gone. I suspect they changed or modified the inner cap.

I'm convinced the pen now works as it should.

Pelikan did not charge for the repair, the only cost for me was in sending the pen to Hannover.

Enjoy,
/:) Hans.

Glad to hear it! I need to go by Fedex this evening to pick up my M620s back from Chartpak. Can't wait.

good to hear the good news

Excellent news Hans! Glad to hear it. I hope you can now enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.

Kent