Mont Blanc 149 Feed Repair

[Tom_Moritz]

Hey guys,

 

My Mother got me a lovely Christmas gift this year in the form of a used Mont Blanc 149. Unfortunately there is a fracture in the feed which is causing hard starting and skipping. If you will excuse the photo quality, you'll see applying slight pressure separates the plastic along the fracture, to which some ink will come out. I believe some kind of leak is happening as well, albeit minute. The seller refused to pay anything towards the service fees so I would have to pay out of pocket.

 

https://imgur.com/GwjdqcV

 

I was curious if there exists a way to repair the feed so that I would not have to send in the pen to Mont Blanc for costly repairs. As I understand the parts supply online is rather scarce and feeds especially so.

 

 

[hari317]

The feeder is normal. It is called the split ebonite feeder.

 

There may be some other cause for thd hard starts.

[jmccarty3]

I see you are in New Jersey. If there is any way you could make it down to Baltimore for the pen show that is coming up soon, I'm sure there will be someone there who can diagnose and resolve the problem. If not, I would send the pen to Brad Torelli in New England. He does wonders with Montblancs. If your feed is a split ebonite one, as appears from the photo, do not send it to Montblanc. They do not repair, but rather just substitute parts, and you will end up with a modern plastic feed.

[FarmBoy]

Does the nib float above the feed during normal use?

[Tom_Moritz]

Does the nib float above the feed during normal use?

 

I'm unsure as to what you mean my friend.

[Tom_Moritz]

The feeder is normal. It is called the split ebonite feeder.

 

There may be some other cause for thd hard starts.

 

Thank you my friend, any ideas?

[hari317]

 

Thank you my friend, any ideas?

thoroughly flush the pen. Meaning fill the pen with clean water and eject. repeat this several times till the water runs clear. then soak the pen overnight with the nib portion alone submerged in a glass of water.

 

See if this solves your problem.

[Tom_Moritz]

thoroughly flush the pen. Meaning fill the pen with clean water and eject. repeat this several times till the water runs clear. then soak the pen overnight with the nib portion alone submerged in a glass of water.

 

See if this solves your problem.

 

Well I appreciate it but I've done this a few times in between restoring Snorkels. I wont touch my 149 for repair purposes, if I broke it I'd be too upset. Perhaps I ought to call one of those Mont Blanc Specialists.

[Freddy]

After you remove your finger in the photograph {pushing against the feed} is there a space between the feed and nib?

Take a piece of printer paper and place the edge where the feed meets the nib at the top of feed and see if it goes in between the feed and nib.

If so..needs to be reset......This will cause hard startin' and skippin'.....perhaps it was flexed/pushed hard.....

 

Fred

 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Freddy

[hari317]

thoroughly flush the pen. Meaning fill the pen with clean water and eject. repeat this several times till the water runs clear. then soak the pen overnight with the nib portion alone submerged in a glass of water.

 

See if this solves your problem.

 

 

 

Well I appreciate it but I've done this a few times in between restoring Snorkels. I wont touch my 149 for repair purposes, if I broke it I'd be too upset. Perhaps I ought to call one of those Mont Blanc Specialists.

Hi no disassembly yet please.

 

Put the pen nib down in the glass of water. let the water level be just enough to submerge only the nib and feed.

 

Hope it is clear now.

[Tom_Moritz]

Hello everyone,

 

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. I have since flushed the pen about twenty times over three days and this has, as before, yet to fix the skipping issue. I've since decided simply to deal with it. Should I attend the Boston Pen Show I may have a friend I made in Philly take a look at it, but otherwise it looks pretty good in the display box.

[Ghost Plane]

Argh! That’s like leaving a Ferrari on blocks when all it needs is a valve job.

[CS388]

Argh! That’s like leaving a Ferrari on blocks when all it needs is a valve job.

 

Or even a Bentley, with a flat tyre.

 

Hi Clockwork Collector. I'd still continue with the soaks, see if it draws anything out. Has all the hallmarks of a flow problem. Old dried ink can be very stubborn. There are commercial penflush solutions available. I've never used them, but other users swear by them. May be worth a shot?

 

Good luck.

 

And congratulations on the 149. It's a pen for life

[FarmBoy]

After you remove your finger in the photograph {pushing against the feed} is there a space between the feed and nib?

Take a piece of printer paper and place the edge where the feed meets the nib at the top of feed and see if it goes in between the feed and nib.

If so..needs to be reset......This will cause hard startin' and skippin'.....perhaps it was flexed/pushed hard.....

 

Fred

 

What Fred Said

[marlinspike]

My 1461 skipped for as long as I have owned it, until today (interestingly, it skipped with the F nib it came with, the M nib Montblanc swapped onto it for me, and even after coming back from Richard Binder for customizatio back when he still did that by mail - I never got around to sending it back to him). Armed with 10x loupe I noticed a slight baby's bottom to the nib, but left that alone. I also noticed that the slit in the nib was more pointed at the back than at the tip. Doing a combination of options 1 and 2 from this video fixed my problem.

Edited February 26, 2018 by marlinspike

[Freddy]

My 1461 skipped for as long as I have owned it, until today (interestingly, it skipped with the F nib it came with, the M nib Montblanc swapped onto it for me, and even after coming back from Richard Binder for customizatio back when he still did that by mail - I never got around to sending it back to him). Armed with 10x loupe I noticed a slight baby's bottom to the nib, but left that alone. I also noticed that the slit in the nib was more pointed at the back than at the tip. Doing a combination of options 1 and 2 from this video fixed my problem.

Your 1461 skipped..which you never got around sending back to Richard Binder.

 

You at some point noticed a "slight baby's bottom to the nib, but left that alone. I also noticed that the slit in the nib

was more pointed at the back than the tip. Doing a combination of options {using as your guide the above video

How To Correct Splayed Tines - Trouble Shooting Fountain Pen Nibs} 1 and 2 from this video fixed my problem."

 

Perhaps it did.........

 

But has absolutely nothing to do with the OP's issue re resetting nib...

Marlinspike....I'm still your friend and mine..

 

Fred

Reading Is Fundamental..........RIF

Edited March 8, 2018 by Freddy

[marlinspike]

Your 1461 skipped..which you never got around sending back to Richard Binder.

 

You at some point noticed a "slight baby's bottom to the nib, but left that alone. I also noticed that the slit in the nib

was more pointed at the back than the tip. Doing a combination of options {using as your guide the above video

How To Correct Splayed Tines - Trouble Shooting Fountain Pen Nibs} 1 and 2 from this video fixed my problem."

 

Perhaps it did.........

 

But has absolutely nothing to do with the OP's issue re resetting nib...

Marlinspike....I'm still your friend and mine..

 

Fred

Reading Is Fundamental..........RIF

Perhaps, but we never found out if there was in fact a gap between the feed and nib, just that the pen hard starts and skips. I was just putting out there possible causes to look for. As an aside, I have subsequently corrected the baby's bottom issue, as I found over time that after correcting the splayed tines issue there was some hard starting still (though things were improved by 90%), and now my pen is working correctly consistently.

Edited March 9, 2018 by marlinspike