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Ink Capacity Of M400?


corgicoupe

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My wife has an m400 and says it runs out of ink too quickly. I filled it today and noticed that the body only looks to be half full. Does the piston only go up halfway? Or is something wrong wit the filler?

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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  • Point nib up,

twist piston to expel air then back into the ink bottle

Make sure you have up to the section into the ink

twist for more ink

should get a more full fill

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The piston mechanism itself occupies almost half of the barrel. You should get about 1.2-1.4mL of ink per full fill.

“My two fingers on a typewriter have never connected with my brain. My hand on a pen does. A fountain pen, of course. Ball-point pens are only good for filling out forms on a plane.”

Graham Greene

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The M400 holds 1.30mL per Pelikan. When retracted, the piston seal sits around the middle of the barrel leaving the rest of the space for the ink. A lot of "running out too quickly" depends on ink and paper combo as well as expectations.

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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For ages us piston snobs walked around with our nose up in the air, in how much more ink our pens held than cartridges or sac pens. :rolleyes:

Then someone dropped the A bomb on us....there were cartridges that held more... :huh: :o :yikes: :unsure: :wacko:

 

Well there is the 400NN that don't look like it but holds 1.95+ or so. That is disputed, someone claimed it didn't. Two have just recently measured theirs and said it did.

Mine's got a slight gap at the cap fit, but next time I'm going to unscrew the nib......ah, just remembered why I never did that. :rolleyes: Mine is one of the rare 1956 friction feed 400NN's. :wacko:

 

Copy of someone's work....

Modern 200/400 : piston bore 8.2mm, piston stroke 24.5mm, potential ink volume:1.29 ml
Modern 600 : piston bore 8.2mm, piston stroke 26 mm, potential ink volume:. 1.37 ml
Modern 800 : piston bore 8.2mm, piston stroke 26 mm , potential ink volume: 1.37 ml
Modern1000: piston bore 8.2mm, piston stroke 28 mm , potential ink volume: 1.47 ml
Vintage 400NN : piston bore 9.0 mm, piston stroke 31 mm , potential ink volume: 1.97 ml

It is a medium large pen, so holds more than the standard sized 400 even if the 400 is only a bit smaller....it has the same girth. The girth is narrower than the 600. They designed the guts of the 400NN best.

 

 

MB Kafka: 0.88
MB Hemingway: 1.26
MB Dumas: 1.26
MB Twain: 1.35
MB Lennon: 1.39
MB Shaw: 1.48
MB 149: 1.60..............such a giant pen with so little.

Parker slide converter: 0.60
Standard converter: 0.75

 

Cartridges
International short: 0.87 X 2 = 1.74
Sheaffer slim: 1.20
Parker: 1.47
Sheaffer standard: 1.50
International long: 1.66

Double reservoir powerfiller Visconti's:
Titanium skeleton: 2.35
Wall street LE: 2.60

 

It would be good to compare fountain pens on the basis of the maximum number of words they can write from a single filling, but any fountain pen nib can be adjusted for stingy or generous ink flow, so the ranking of pens in these terms is meaningless. The smoothness and absorbency of the paper also has a large effect upon the number of words that can be written.

During my repair work and testing prior to return, I have monitored ink capacity for a number of pens. This has been done with water fill and the volume quoted is the maximum in ml. that can be extracted from the full pen. Measurements were made with a fine-needled medical syringe graduated in 0.02ml intervals. To facilitate comparison with previously published data on ink capacities, the conversion factor from ml to drops is between 20 and 25, bearing in mind that drop volume is dependent on the surface""""""""""""""

 

Nib width, if set wet or dry, size of script and paper make how many words get written a good guess and nothing more, in the end.

 

Just fill your Pelikan every night before going to bed, in you wouldn't want to fill it with coffee if not a morning person.

One could always take a second Pelikan with you .... if you write a lot. Better safe than sorry.

 

Well, that is the second reason you carry a ball point pen or MP with you. The real reason is to keep your 'Precious' out of the hands of Jack Hammered Handed Ball Point Barbarians gouging the grand canyon in your desk and handing you back a pretzel nib.

Always, Always carry that instrument of torture a ball point pen* with you for the ham fisted ignorant. An oz of prevention.....keeps you out of jail for nailing that Barbarian's hand to your desk with your ruined nib.

 

*If metal you can always use it as a spare axle for your skate board.

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 M400 holds 1.30mL per Pelikan. When retracted, the piston seal sits around the middle of the barrel leaving the rest of the space for the ink. A lot of "running out too quickly" depends on ink and paper combo as well as expectations.

Why doesn't the piston withdraw all the way up the barrel like so many inexpensive converters do?

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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It's a much larger unit. When you compare the spindle of your converter it too is very long.

The parts have to be made better and more sturdy to last a life time or two. Your $3-5 converter is just tossed when it breaks down after 3-4 -5 years.

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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Why doesn't the piston withdraw all the way up the barrel like so many inexpensive converters do?

 

 

Because that is not how it was designed. I suppose there is some meaningful explanation related to how the differential piston functions but the engineering is lost on me. The design has withstood the test of time and is regarded as one of the best internal piston mechanisms out there. Despite inexpensive converters acting similarly, internal piston pens usually have a larger ink capacity and have to be built for far greater durability.

Edited by sargetalon

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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Well, that is the second reason you carry a ball point pen or MP with you. The real reason is to keep your 'Precious' out of the hands of Jack Hammered Handed Ball Point Barbarians gouging the grand canyon in your desk and handing you back a pretzel nib.

Always, Always carry that instrument of torture a ball point pen* with you for the ham fisted ignorant. An oz of prevention.....keeps you out of jail for nailing that Barbarian's hand to your desk with your ruined nib.

 

*If metal you can always use it as a spare axle for your skate board.

 

Also you may need the ball point to sign the back of your credit card or to fill in government forms :)

Peter

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Also you may need the ball point to sign the back of your credit card.. :thumbup: Once every couple of years.

 

or to fill in government forms :P ...In it is against my religion to bow to the government, they can send some one with a Government Issue ball point to fill out the form for me. :angry:...

I am not drooling all over the form....nope, that is foaming in rage....yep. As soon as my shrink gets out of the nut house, there is bound to be a term exactly for that Fear of Forms...they have one for fear of spiders. :roller1:

Well you are right, the paper is low bid. B) Fountain pens won't work. :doh:

 

 

:) Being retired really helps in not needing the government..

 

Actually I do use or did use a BP when in a real hurry when coming up with an idea for my book. I rotate them in and out...until empty...which can take a very long time, when I'm using my 'impress only my self' vintage BP's. (I gave my wife all the modern ones....in she's a Ball Point Barbarian. :blush:

 

Pelikan Made a real, real good mechanical pencil from @ 1956 (came with a Etui lot: 400nn, BP&MP)...the exact number I don't know, in I put it aside to get some new lead for it the next time I went to town...and forgot. Now I'd have to hunt and search.

 

With more metal inside it than the primitive matching Pelikan ball point; gave it great balance :thumbup: . So much better than the old Jotters I grew up with and still have and better balance than the P-75 BP/MP.

 

It had such great balance I used it instead of a fountain pen for over a month of occasional note taking, until I ran out of lead. I must take it to my Pen shop to find out how to load it.....it defiantly was more complicated than any other one I ever had. It was a real joy to use, to my surprise.

 

One does need a BP to give to a ham fisted BPB's instead of starting a war, when he grabs you fountain pen with out permission, yanks off the screw top, strips the threads and pretzel's the nib. :crybaby: In the modern BP world, there are actually juries that would convict your correction of his behavior. :doh:

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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