I recently obtained a Pelikan 140. It's interesting--not much bigger than a MYU701 capped! Talk about a shortie. But it's nice how it extends to a decent size when capped.

Anyway, after cleaning it out I examined the visualated barrel section and it looks to me like the piston does not full retract. I compared it to my 400NN and it looks like about 3mm difference. The pen looks hardly used (aged Pelikan sticker still intact), so I can't imagine that there was slippage due to usage. Is this resting place for the piston head as-designed? Or could the piston be adjusted to retract further?

~Gary

One of my 8 140's had this problem but mine was probably due to slippage...

so I just found something a tad smaller diameter than the inside of the pen barrel... removed the nib unit... and gently but forcibly pushed the plunger back up in deeper...

worked fine and continues to be a great pen with complete filling capacity

Thanks for the hint on that, Trevor. Did you have to press very, very firmly? Also, once you achieved the position you thought correct, what would you say is the clearance between the bottom lip of the piston head and edge of the shaft it retracts into?

if I remember correctly... was a while ago... it required a VERY firm push or series of short burst FIRM pushes to move it... and again if I remember I had the plunger at it's highest point in the filler unit...

no idea on the distance you asked about... just went by what "looked" right I think and to a point where it did not go any more

Ah, ok -- that explains why I wasn't successful; I probably didn't press hard enough. Also, I need to find a good wooden dowel, as the metal Allen wrench I tried might cause damage to the piston head.

About the distance, sorry for not describing it more clearly. If you look at your pen held up to a light source and turn the screw to extend the piston, notice the head of the piston moving away from a plastic piece (what I was calling the edge of the tube/shealth that the piston retracts into). Then retract the piston. Ideally, the head of the piston should move all the way back flush to the edge of the tube, but it will leave a gap. When comparing that gap between my 140 and my 400NN, the 140 gap was almost double the gap on the 400NN. That didn't seem right to me. Anyway, I'll give it a shot...

Regards,
~Gary