I am now the proud owner of a Pelikan M200! Love the pen so far. Writes well right out of the box. My one and only problem is that the nib stays covered with ink above the filler hole ( is that what it's called? I'm kinda new to this). Is this a common occurence? My only other FP is a Lamy Al-star , this problem never occured with it, though it does have a black nib and I might not have noticed. I'm using Noodlers Blue-Black Aircorp.

Thanks,

StJimmy.

It might be the ink. Noodler's has a reputation for "nib creep". Welcome to the place!

Yeah, what Deacon said. It's what's known as nib creep, and I've experienced it to one extent or other with every Noodler's ink I've used. To emphasize, not the fault of the pen.

At first it really bothered me, but after a short time I learned to live with it. Adds some character, I suppose, so long as it isn't covering the whole nib and dripping onto the floor.

Greetings from another newbie!

I had not heard about this reading FPN Ink Reviews of Noodler's Aircorp BB before I bought bottle,
and it hasn't happened in my Parker Frontier F.

FYI here's recent discussion of this topic:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...mp;hl=nib+creep

I see Songwind didn't have this problem with Noodler's Black in his M200 F.
(hope I don't when my M200F gets here!)

kiavonne had an interesting solution to prevent it.

Welcome to the Fountain Pen world, StJimmy!

The afforementioned nib creep does not occur in every Noodler's ink. It is most noted to occur with certain inks that have an extra amount of surfactant (detergent). This is especially the case of the bulletproof/eternal inks. Many inks not labelled as bulletproof or eternal still have this effect because they have the bulletproof dye components mixed with other standard dye components. (Some people call them "semibulletproof"). Nathan has confessed that the particle size of the bulletproof dyes are larger and thus need more surfactant to stay in solution. (The size is also purported to be MUCH smaller than any of the channels in a FP... )

FYI: Noodler's inks have a bad reputation with some FP users (there are many threads with heated debates that you can read here on FPN). the problem that people worry about is whether these larger particles in the bulletproof (etc) might come out of solution and precipitate in a pen... you might notice at the bottom of the bottle some settling occurring. people say "but what if this happens in my pen and clogs my feed?!!" I say "choose your own adventure". Additionally, some people shake the bottle of ink before filling a pen (because the color is sometimes more vibrant and reproducible if you shake before). I don't do this, and instead invert the bottle twice. Sometimes I shake AFTER filling, but never before. again, "choose your own adventure". (I'll note that I've been very reckless by not cleaning my pens unless I want a pure color for review/comparison purposes, and after 2.5 years of this behavior have yet to see a single pen damaged.)

But to concisely describe fountain pen use: so much depends on the paper-pen-ink-hand combination. Those four things (and maybe humidity too) are really what contribute to your writing experience. It is a highly variable thing. Changing one of those things sometimes greatly alters the experience. Some inks that exhibit nib creep in most pens will exhibit none (NONE, not a bit) in another pen. Unfortunately you only have two pens, so you might think about the "wax trick", or living with it, or get more pens (undoubtedly you will. FPN is a vector for fountain-pen-aholism). Alternatively some other inks (including many Noodler's, I must clarify) NEVER exhibit nib creep. (Additionally, I add that Noodler's is not the only company that makes inks that exhibit nib creep. Offhand I can't recall which other inkmakers/inks do this, but I know it does indeed occur.)

And some eternal inks cause nib creep slightly/gradually vs others that do it quite profusely.

First congrats on the M200! I love mine, used it all day today. This thread made me realize that one of my prized pens that I haven't written with much lately may have been put away for unjust reasons! I bought a 20's Parker Sr. Duofold Streamlined in Lapis Blue and tried it out with Noodlers Legal Lapis ink. The nib creep was horrible to the point that I put the pen away. Of course now I know about nib creep and Noodlers so it's time to pull the Duofold back out and give it another try!! I've inked it up with Diamine Mediterranean Blue and it seems to be very well behaved! Live an learn! Sometimes when a pen doesn't act like we want it to it's the ink, sometimes it's the paper and yes sometimes it's the pen itself.

Happy Ink Trails

Perry

What you have is called nib creep.

You can either cope with it or wipe the nib every once in a while. Or you could try another ink (a non-Noodler).

Just as Blurple and Tanzanite have been referred to as kind of ExLax for slow flowing pens,
possible that Pelikan 4001 ink is a PeptoBismol that might prevent nib creep 'runs'?

I'm just presenting a "thesis" for discussion,
not trying to say it's the last word or reduce it to an either/or of ink brand.

Comes from something I read on this summary:
http://www.pendemonium.com/ink_facts.htm
'Pelikan ink is a bit "thicker" than some.'

Also noticed this remark on their Blue Black:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...st&p=617977
With this ink, it's all about the flow of the pen you're using. I have two Pelikans that are very wet writers. This ink looks like the original sample in this thread from those pens- it's great. I have some other more moderate writers, and drier pens as well. This ink is awful in those- very dry and faded looking. This is an ink for a pen with a rich flow, not a lean one.

When you say "above the filler hole" do you mean where the nib goes into the pen section? If it looks like it's leaking from around the base of the nib, the nib might be a little loose. It just screws in, so take some tissues, grip the top of the nib and the underside of the feed, and twist gently but firmly clockwise and see if it will screw in a tiny bit more.

One of my Pelikans was a bit loose when I first bought it, probably from the store cleaning off the nib after testing it.

Neill