I just received my 625 from Pengallery.com. The pen is beautiful, but it doesn't write well. It always runs dry during the first downstroke and it skips (especially when I do anything with broad strokes, such as my signature). It's also a bit scratchy.

It there a home remedy I should try first?

Should I send it to Chartpak or to a custom nib guru for conditioning?

Is this kind of thing covered in my warranty?

I was thinking of ordering a stub nib from someone like Binder, and then sending my current nib to him in whatever packaging he sends my nib in. (I am loathe to let this beautiful pen out of my sight).

When you return a pen to chartpak, do you have to send the whole pen, or can you just return the nib?

Thanks in advance,

Will

I would first give Chartpak a call about repairing the pen... when it comes back writing as you like, THEN order your nib from Richard and keep the original...
You have to send the whole pen back to Chartpak or Richard...

I sent my M400 to Chartpak for nib change from a F to a EF, and I got the pen back after about 10 days. The people at Chartpak are very friendly and responsible. The shipper misplaced my pen, and Chartpak emailed me to check about the status.

Richard has a much longer turnover time. I have never sent a pen to Richard for repair, but from what I have read, it will take about 5-6 months. I may be wrong on the turnover time.

purpledog

I always get severely anoyed when i come across someone's ost saying that their Pelikan didn't write like they expected so they gave up and put it away. We need to do a better job in getting out the word that Chartpak's warranty will take care of that.

Anyway, send it to Chartpak, they can have a new nib sent overnight, better give them a try before you spend more money and have to wait 6 or 7 months to get it customized.

+1 on sending it to Chartpak. They'll fix it up like new for free and then you can order a custom nib from Richard and have both.

Will, have been through the process of thoroughly cleaning the pen? If you look through the posts here, you'll see that many people's pens started out as you describe, but improved greatly after flushing/cleaning. Also, what ink are you using? Writing through a filling or two with a free flowing ink like Waterman Blue-Black or Florida Blue (or Quink or Skrip) might be a good idea, too.

After you've tried that, if it still doesn't write to your satisfaction, I agree with the recommendation of using Chartpak.

Bill

Yeah, make sure you've flushed the pen properly first. If you've already done this, don't hesitate to send it to Chartpak - they are quick and they don't ask too many questions about whether you got your pen from an official dealer. Turnaround time is great.

Good luck!

Summer Greer

Hi all,

Thanks for your opinions. I flushed it with water. I ran several inks through it (Aurora Black, Fox Red, Pelikan Blue, Eternal Brown). Some of the inks flowed a little better than others, but each of them hesitated at startup--and skipped whenever I wrote anything quickly (such as a signature).

I just boxed up the whole thing and sent it off to Chartpak. I can't wait to get my 625 back--it's purrdy.

Will

They will take good care of you. I just sent Abi "the most entry level 200 of Pelikans" and they fixed it right up and quickly too.

Not just to "me too" but I sent my white tortoise cap to Chartpak for replacement and it was back in a flash. I just had to send the cap and not the whole pen which was a huge relief because often sending a pen for repair in the States from Canada can garner paying duty again.
FYI in Canada you can send your Pels to Culmer Distributers 4181 SLADEVIEW CRES Unit 32
MISSISSAUGA L5L 5R2 905 542-0040 and they will ship it off to Chartpak for you. It takes a bit longer since they bunch together first but it sure beats FedEx for price.

Philip

Oooh - good to know!
Thanks for the reference if I ever need a Pel tweak or repair.
Regards from a fellow sufferer of the winter that just wouldn't stop!
Peter T.

Last time I was on Richard's site(yesterday),turnaround time was 19 weeks.