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Issue With M200 Nib. Solved With Patience And Luck.

Mangrove Jack

By Mangrove Jack
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Mangrove Jack Vintage

Mangrove Jack

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I felt I should share this, for there is hope for inexperienced nib tinkerers like me out there to get their pens working right.

I recently purchased a brand new Pelikan M200 Fountain pen with an extra fine nib since I already had the same pen and nib combo and loved the way it wrote. Alas, my new pen wrote very dry and bordered on skipping - disappointing to say the least.

I flushed it - still dry. Flushed it with dish washing liquid - still no better. Then I flossed it - still dry. I slightly widened the tines by twisting the flossing material between the tines and still it made no difference. I pulled the tines apart from the shoulders of the nib, which did widen the gap between the tines, but made no improvement to the dry writing. Tried three different types of inks but to no avail.

Thoroughly disgusted now. What to do ? I felt like pressing down hard and flexing the nib to max in a last ditch "make or break" act of frustration. I resisted the urge and went for dinner and to cool down.

 

I returned much calmer and remembered reading somewhere that ink flows from a wider channel to a narrower one and never vice versa. Fountain pens works on this principle of capillary action. The article mentioned that one of the reason for poor ink flow in a nib could be caused by the bottom part of the gap between the tines being wider than the gap at the top. In this instance ink tries to flow upwards to the top of the tip and not to the part touching the paper. To correct this one is advised to press the shoulders of the nib together, between thumb and forefinger, thereby flexing the nib in a downward manner (concave manner) bringing the bottom of the tines closer, thus narrowing the bottom part of the slit between the tines and widening the slit at the top. I tried this and it worked like a dream. The ink flow immediately increased dramatically and the nib smoothened up too. She writes very well now.

Just sharing my experience which will hopefully be helpful.

Edited by Mangrove Jack
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Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

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I should finish reading before posting. Glad you fixed the problem.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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The Blue Knight Collectors Item

The Blue Knight

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My M200 Fine wrote badly initially however with an awful of tweaking many of the things you have done, I have turned it into a great writer.

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sargetalon Antique

sargetalon

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I'm glad that you were able to sort it out. These nibs are great when tuned properly. Sorry you had to go through so much to get it working well but I hope that it was worth it to you.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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The Blue Knight Collectors Item

The Blue Knight

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I'm glad that you were able to sort it out. These nibs are great when tuned properly. Sorry you had to go through so much to get it working well but I hope that it was worth it to you.

 

Owning so many M200's how have you found the QC on the nibs in general?

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sargetalon Antique

sargetalon

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Owning so many M200's how have you found the QC on the nibs in general?

 

 

Pretty good actually. My stainless steel nibs give me far less issues than the gold ones on my Souveräns.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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fly_us Extremely Rare

fly_us

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Pretty good actually. My stainless steel nibs give me far less issues than the gold ones on my Souveräns.

 

I don't own many, only 5 M200 and several M400 and M600 but in general, i must agree with you. The stainless steel seems more consistant out of the box, while i need to adjust 2 gold nibs from M400s before they work properly.

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Mangrove Jack Vintage

Mangrove Jack

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These nibs are great when tuned properly. Sorry you had to go through so much to get it working well but I hope that it was worth it to you.

Yes, well worth it. I learned something and the time spent is experience gained, I guess. And the main thing is it writes well now.

I know that the nib and feed together unscrew from the section. But, Can the M200 nib be removed from the feed ?

Edited by Mangrove Jack
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sargetalon Antique

sargetalon

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Yes, well worth it. I learned something and the time spent is experience gained, I guess. And the main thing is it writes well now.

I know that the nib and feed together unscrew from the section. But, Can the M200 nib be removed from the feed ?

It surely can but its a pain in the butt if you don't have the proper tools.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

fpn_1508261203__fpn_logo_300x150.jpg

THE PELIKAN'S PERCH - A growing reference site for all things Pelikan

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Mangrove Jack Vintage

Mangrove Jack

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It surely can but its a pain in the butt if you don't have the proper tools.

Thanks. That's a pity.

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afcart NOS (New Old Stock)

afcart

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I returned much calmer and remembered reading somewhere that ink flows from a wider channel to a narrower one and never vice versa. Fountain pens works on this principle of capillary action. The article mentioned that one of the reason for poor ink flow in a nib could be caused by the bottom part of the gap between the tines being wider than the gap at the top. In this instance ink tries to flow upwards to the top of the tip and not to the part touching the paper. To correct this one is advised to press the shoulders of the nib together, between thumb and forefinger, thereby flexing the nib in a downward manner (concave manner) bringing the bottom of the tines closer, thus narrowing the bottom part of the slit between the tines and widening the slit at the top. I tried this and it worked like a dream. The ink flow immediately increased dramatically and the nib smoothened up too. She writes very well now.

Just sharing my experience which will hopefully be helpful.

 

This is very interesting and a little counter-intuitive; I'm glad you were able to figure it out. I might have to try this with one of my own. Thanks for sharing!

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