Leaking Metropolitan

[Stu L]

Chaps and Chappettes,

 

I need some assistance please.

About a year ago I gifted a Pilot Metro (actually truth be told it's a Pilot MR, so it has the universal cartridge fit, but essentially the same pen) to a colleague as a leaving gift. 12 months later and I'm working with her again.

 

Today she produced her Pilot and asked if I could repair it. She explained that it unexpectedly started to leak and had ruined a piece of work. She hadn't used it since.

 

So upon examining the pen, it had clearly been dropped - the nib was bent way out of shape and the cap was full of dried ink. I replaced the nib with a donor from a 78g - an exact match for the Metro, cleaned it and refilled, at which point it wrote perfectly. Job done I thought.....

 

Then this afternoon she handed it back again It had been sat on her desk, on it's side and the first time she picked it up the cap was full of ink. A lot of ink, so much that upon opening it had run all over her pad. Quite a mess.

 

So I've brought it home for further examination. I can't see anything visibly wrong with the pen. The feed looks fine, the nib look fine, the section looks ok.... I'm at a bit of a loss. Does anyone have any ideas how this is happening, anything I can try to troubleshoot?

I know it's not an expensive pen, and could be easily replaced, but one of the factors in choosing it was it's famed reliability....

 

Using a Pelikan convertor on the advice of the shop (the excellent Cult Pens)

 

Thanks in advance!

[PaganArcher]

If it had been dropped, check the section for cracks. I had a similar issue and the section had a small crack creating an air leak.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Chaps and Chappettes,

 

I need some assistance please.

About a year ago I gifted a Pilot Metro (actually truth be told it's a Pilot MR, so it has the universal cartridge fit, but essentially the same pen) to a colleague as a leaving gift. 12 months later and I'm working with her again.

 

Today she produced her Pilot and asked if I could repair it. She explained that it unexpectedly started to leak and had ruined a piece of work. She hadn't used it since.

 

So upon examining the pen, it had clearly been dropped - the nib was bent way out of shape and the cap was full of dried ink. I replaced the nib with a donor from a 78g - an exact match for the Metro, cleaned it and refilled, at which point it wrote perfectly. Job done I thought.....

 

Then this afternoon she handed it back again It had been sat on her desk, on it's side and the first time she picked it up the cap was full of ink. A lot of ink, so much that upon opening it had run all over her pad. Quite a mess.

 

So I've brought it home for further examination. I can't see anything visibly wrong with the pen. The feed looks fine, the nib look fine, the section looks ok.... I'm at a bit of a loss. Does anyone have any ideas how this is happening, anything I can try to troubleshoot?

I know it's not an expensive pen, and could be easily replaced, but one of the factors in choosing it was it's famed reliability....

 

Using a Pelikan convertor on the advice of the shop (the excellent Cult Pens)

 

Thanks in advance!

It's been dropped. So it is probably cracked in the section. You may not be able to see it with the naked eye, so a lighted magnfier will come in handy.

 

Someone sent me a similar dropped-nib-first Met. Cap full of ink. Blue fingers for me. Once I located the crack (ran from the collar down half the section), then thoroughly cleaned and dried the pen, I was able to seal the crack with black nail polish. Oddly enough, the nib still writes just fine.

 

Hope this is of help!

[Stu L]

Hmm, ok. I've had a good look with a strong loupe but I can't see anything.

 

As it happens I have another section for a pilot mr - this one was dropped by the wife. I've swapped it over and filled with ink to see if it makes any difference.... can't hurt to try

[LizEF]

One way to ID a leaking section is to keep the pen upright and wipe off the section thoroughly. Then turn it to the writing position and carefully rotate the section against a clean cloth or paper towel - so that if any ink gets on it, you'll know it came from the section. Of course, if ink is dribbling out the nib all this time, that might be hard - maybe do it over a sink...

[Flounder]

Wipe the section clean, then wrap a damp paper towel around it. By the time the paper towel has dried, it will wick up stains to reveal even very small splits, cracks, and leaks.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/261924-146-149-ink-leaking-onto-the-section/?do=findComment&comment=2916097