Pelikan Level L5: It looks pretty cool but is it? There's a stand and they say something about refill? Does that mean you must fill it from the stand? Other than that, it looks like a really nice pen.

Hi,

It fills from an ink bottle from inside the stand. When the ink bottle is empty, you can fill it with your favourite ink. I bought a Level from Kurt H. I just have to wait a bit for the check to clear and stuff like that.

Dillon

I've worked on a couple of them, and I guess the big question I have is...

Why?

It looks cool, and it writes, but filling it is a pain, flushing it is a pain, working on it is a pain, and I really do not understand the point. Pens are supposed to be convenient.

Richard, you said it all, my man!

Well I thought the same thing when I started filling fountain pens from an ordinary ink bottle so I guess I've come a long way but yes, I've heard the same complaints from other people. I don't own a Level 5 but I think Keith H. here on FPN said they hold a lot of ink once filled (5 cartridges' worth I read on the Internet). I think I would be scared of spilling ink all over the place...

I had seen the pen and thought it was interesting, but had the same question. Glad to hear it from a pro/expert/guru.

I once bought one at a discount price. Ink flow was so poor that I threw it away.

Eek! That pen is more expensive than the M200 too! Thank goodness for fpn.

Hi,

To be honest with you, it is actually quite a good pen with nice ink flow. I was able to clean it, flush it, and fill it easily. Emptying the pen is not a problem for me either because I found that the way to do it is to disassemble the pen which can be accomplished by pushing the two dots on the top of the barrel and pulling the knob.

So I would say, "Go for it!"

Dillon

Dillon,
How do you push the 2 dots without dammaging them? They are made of rather soft plastic, and when I dissassembled the pen this way, there were marks on the dots afterwards. Do you use a special tool?
Regards,
-Hans.

Hans,

I made a special tool and still marked the dots.

There is also a serious risk of losing an O-ring in the process unless you know where it is and are ready for it to pop loose.

Hi,

I did something secret, so if you want it cleaned, send it to me.

Seriously, I will see if I have enough $$$ to get myself another Level to dedicate to inspection because I have to write with the one I have.

Dillon

Hi,

By the way, I do not know exactly how to explain how I got the mechanism out without marking the dots. It was easy for me.

Dillon

Have you tried opening the ink bottle yet? I would like to replace the ink as I am not too fond of the Pelikan Royal Blue. I want to know if the bottle would easily open and still work properly.

Javed

i have two of these and i love the ink capacity and the smoothness of the nib, but i do wish pelikan had thought of a simpler way of filling it up. also, the finish on the silver version tarnishes very easily. i've kept a pristine one in its display container but more as a collector's curiosity than anything else. (for a while, by the way, these were available NOS from a seller on ebay for around $45, coming from germany--couldn't resist it at that price). great-looking pen, though. here's a pic from goldspot.com, which still retails it:

I don't have the L5, but I do have a L65 and I can say that it is a good pen. The L65 is cheaper too. Filling the pen is easy, emtying it is also easy but flushing the pen thoroughly requires disassembly which is a bit tricky. The Level pen is good if you do not tend to switch inks often.

One design change I wish Pelikan would make: Make the section to unscrew from the barrel(i.e. make it removable), this should solve all the maintanence and cleaning problems. The Level is a fine example of a pen that holds a large amount of ink and also solves the low ink-level overflow issues.

The Ink bottle can be refilled. Unscrew the cap of the bottle with some force. Throw out the standard ink and refill with your fav ink.

Best,
Hari

There is something wrong in the design concept of this pen. A real pen should fill from any ink bottle, not just from the manufacturer's proprietary bottle. If you wanna have a big ink tank, then choose an eyedropper or piston filler. I hate overengineered pens.

Hi,

I have a Level 5 and the cheaper Level??

The nibs are bit solid, but they write well and have been reliable, haven't had any flow issues even though the Level sits in my desk and only gets used rarely. Filling them the first time was a bit of a pain had to leave them standing for a while for ink to flow from the reserve tank to the writing reservoir but didn't seem such a problem after that.

You can open the bottle to fill with a different ink by wrapping a rubber band round cap and twisting, can be a little tight so try not to squeeze the bottle as you wil get ink all over the place.

Andy

Hmm...old posts...from my earlier days here.

The pens are actually quite interesting, but I don't have them anymore. I still wish it were easier to take it apart. I used a small plastic key, essentially a soft plastic key-shaped item with a rounded tip. I would push it into one hole, disengage the filler on that side, then do the same on the other side, then I would pull the whole unit out. I used a bamboo skewer with a groove cut into the end so as not to break off the feed stem to knock out the nibs just in case they were stuck.

It does hold a lot of ink without the problem of leaking caused by heat from the hand cause the ink and air to expand.

Back when I really liked a great ink capacity (Just for novelity sake, I now realize--I didn't need a large ink capacity), I was really a fan of these. Then I went to Japanese pens with the cartridge and converter systems. I now use very fine nibs (not the wet European fines and mediums that I used to use), so it takes me a month to write my Pilot Capless dry.

Dillon

i carry one of these quite often. writes well. holds a ton of ink.

I also have a Level 5 that I got several years ago. I like the pen a lot as I can fill it once and write with it for almost a month before the ink runs out. The pen I have has a fine point that is quite smooth and responsive. I have to agree with those who wonder why the pen was made the way it is; what was Pelikan thinking? However, leaving that aside I've never had any problems with mine and use it on a regular basis. I find that it's well-balanced and very comfortable to write with for extended periods of time. If I could get another one at a reasonable price I'd probably buy it.

I always wondered how it disassembled so I'm happy to see that was discussed here. Now I'll probably go try it and mess up the pen, but it probably does need some cleaning after almost ten years of use. Is it possible to flush the pen without taking it apart? I was under the impression that these pens had been discontinued by Pelikan are they still in production?

I had a Level L5 with a M nib and I had nothing but problems keeping it flowing well. I sold it.

OTOH, I've got a green M Level L65 at my desk that has been filled for about 3 years with no issues whatsoever. It's never been flushed. When I pick it up, it never ceases to write at once. Almost a perfect pen. Holds a ton of ink. But....there's a trick and a catch. I store the pen upside down on my desk, standing on it's flat, flared cap. The L5 has rounded cap and can't do this. The L65 seems to love being stored upside down like this, as it keeps the feed wet. The catch with the pen? Changing inks is a PITA, and totally not practical.

I agree with Richard in general: "Whats' the point?" It's definitely over-engineered, very Teutonic. If I was a person that carried one pen and didn't mind using Pelikan black or blue, then it would probably be great. But being the anal retentive guy that I am, I HAVE to have 10-15 pens inked up any one time and it's rare that I write one dry. I love the filling, changing inks, looking for something different aspect of this hobby too much to only have one pen with one ink!

Skip



Somebody was selling L5's on FPN or PenTrace for 20 GBP this week.

No, they've been discontinued for a while. What I am surprised at is that the L5's retailed at $275, which is ludicrous!

I am -- as everybody knows -- a true Pelikan lover, but I have never even thought about buying that pen because it is IMO too ugly.

Mike

Having thought about the "why" for some time I have come to the conclusion it was another Pelikan designed by the Sales Department..........

As always, YMMV...........