Recently I decided to clean what I though was caked ink on the gold ring at the "neck" of my Pelikan 800--that is, the ring surrounding the aperture where the nib screws in. It turned out not to be ink, though, but blotches of base metal left behind by gold that had flaked off. I tried to think what might have caused the damage. I did use an acidic ink for about a month--Diamine Registrar's Ink--but I'd have thought gold would be impervious to acid. Also, maybe I was careless in putting the cap back on, knocking it against the ring and abrading it over the years. But my other 800 shows no such damage. I'd welcome any insight into this problem, also whether it's possible to have the ring replaced.

Hiya Craig. The news, I'm afraid, is not good. Like you, I noticed what appeared to be dirt on the trim ring of my M800 which, on closer scrutiny, turned out to be pitting. Rsearch on the Pentrace message board revealed this problem to be endemic to trim rings and inevitable, though the time of decay varies. The upshot is that a trim ring right at the business end of the section is a design 'flaw', though one presumably done with the knowledge of the makers that most punters like gold all over the place and will know nothing, like me and you, about the future problem with ink corrosiveness. Sailor recently dropped the nib trim for this very reason and even said so (though I can't remember where I got that from). A wise policy, leading to my buying my first Sailor pen. In answer to your last question, someone on PT, said (I think) that the trim ring, once seriously corroded, could not be replaced, nor was a solution to the problem known. Sorry.

Hi,

It's actually caused by the Diamine registrar's which is VERY acidic.

Do NOT use acidic inks in Pelikan pens, it could lead to corrosion.

Dillon

Dillon,

What other inks do you recommend NOT using in a Pelikan 800 or other pen with a trim ring as described? The ink I usually use is Waterman Florida Blue or Waterman Blue/Black.

Jeff

Hi,

I'd recommend measuring the ph level of the ink.

Anything acidic should be avoided.

Dillon

Glenn Marcus briefly describes the pH of ink. His information is taken from Greg Clark who recently discontinued his Ink Sampler website. Glenn's link is as follow:

http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/ink/index.htm

Hope this helps. It was an eye opener for me.

Oh nuts! I like metal trim rings on the section. They tell me I've dipped my pen far enough into the bottle. I hope Nathan Tardif is telling the truth about the ph level of Noodler's, 'cuz that's what I use.

Doug

Lurcho, thank you for researching the question and giving such an informative answer. I certainly made things worse by trying to wipe off the supposed ink and inadvertently widening the blotches. And Dillon, thank you for the heads-up about Diamine Registrar's. Along with the pitting of the trim ring, the pen was starting to skip badly, so I've sent it off to John Mottishaw for examination. Possibly the problems are related.

In hunting around the Internet, I found the Southern Scribe website. He replates cap bands and clips for $15-$25. It might be worth a try.

I'm still using the Diamine Registrar's, in one of my old hard-rubber safety pens, which are more forgiving of eccentric inks. In my Pelikans I've been using Herbin. I've really come to like their Poussière de Lune, a burgundy-eggplant color.