HATE my new lamy 2000

[ZeleniLav]

Bought a Lamy 2000, had similar problems. The nib tines were misaligned, the flow was poor. Since sending it anywhere wasn't an option, I played with adjusting it myself, and managed to get it to work satisfactorily.

 

But no, I don't consider this something that should be necessary to do with a $100 pen.

[thibaulthalpern]

Now, I'm not claiming that these writing sticks are really loyal to me in the way my elderly German Shepherd is! I just think it's really interesting that our minds work this way, and that some bits of plastic and metal inspire it so strongly while others do not. It is a form of the pathetic fallacy, I suppose, that lends emotional depth and a form of meaning to our interactions with the most intimate objects of our life.

 

Ralf

 

What you're talking about is nothing intrinsic to fountain pens or plastic, of course. It's the human nature and the delusion of attachment. The Buddha discovered this some thousands of years ago. Again, is the delusion of attachment.

[AndyHayes]

I love my Lamy 2K. It cost $100. My $400 (Uk Price) Pelikan 805 was wrong out of the box as was my $910 (Uk price) Delta DVOS.

 

Send the pen to Lamy. It will prove a good investment for the postage. They really are great pens.

[Titivillus]

Thing is, if I'm going to be spending $100 on a pen, is it too much to expect it to work out of the box? This isn't some el-cheapo bic from Staples, now.

 

Anyways, PenGallery is in Malaysia. I'd have to pay for shipping to the shop. Is there a Lamy UK repair?

 

Seriously, this is annoying.

 

 

unfortunately you can spend up to thousands of dollars for a pen and have it not work out of the box! The QC of modern pen companies is not as good as some would hope for.

 

Kurt

[Vipul]

I gotta agree with JJBlanche, the first sentence and piece of advice you received by way of reply: 'I would encourage you to return it for a refund, or as credit toward a Pelikan.'

 

 

[excarnate]

I have to be honest, folks. I got my Lamy 2000 EF today, and I was severely disappointed after playing with it for less than a minute. The pen is scratchy, refuses to make consistent lines, and takes more pressure than I'd like to get a line going on the paper. Compared to my Waterman Phileas, which could write with essentially no pressure other than gravity and which cost 1/3 of the price, this is just infuriating.

 

What do I do? Do I return it to PenGallery? Do I ask for a F instead? Do I go through Lamy?

That's my point. Scratchiness, 10 times out of 10 in my experience, is due to a mechanical issue (ie: tines being misaligned, burr, etc etc etc). Cleaning the pen with a solvent will not correct these issues, and may create new ones. I've worked on nearly 600 pens to this point, so I can say with some degree of certainty that I know what I'm talking about.

 

You'll have to pay to ship the pen to Lamy in Germany, and have to pay a service charge for them to work on your pen. As I said, your best recourse would be to return the pen to the seller. Base rate international shipping is not at all expensive, and is dependable. But the ball is in your court, as they say.

A quick point: In the USA one has to pay $7.50 to have some pens (e.g. the $21 Lamy Safari) fixed under "warranty", but Lamy Germany had a straight-up no-cost warranty. I mailed 2 pens and 1 nib there for less than $7.50 and got them back with nibs that were smooth. They missed a loose clip, they provided no status (in spite of email requests), they didn't say what they did. It was clear from the bit of ink on the nib (similar to what I got from a well-respected nibmeister) that they did test the nibs, which I was happy about. They did include a couple cartridges which meant I could test with Lamy ink.

 

So, if the OP otherwise likes the Lamy, I'd recommend sending it in to Lamy Germany for warranty repair (you do need to contact them first (see their website) and I would include a description of the problem with the pen. In German if you can :-)

 

I strongly suspect you'll get it back working correctly. Although Lamy is getting quite a reputation for variabity in nib quality (search FPN), they do have a warranty and every maker ends up with some products that are defective. If the pen is otherwise good, give them a chance to fix it. If you don't like the way the pen feels, or something else intrinsic to the pen (not just dissatisfaction with the out-of-box experience) then consider returning it.

 

Edit: fixed typo

Edited October 7, 2008 by excarnate

[Pippin60]

Thing is, if I'm going to be spending $100 on a pen, is it too much to expect it to work out of the box? This isn't some el-cheapo bic from Staples, now.

 

Anyways, PenGallery is in Malaysia. I'd have to pay for shipping to the shop. Is there a Lamy UK repair?

 

Seriously, this is annoying.

 

 

unfortunately you can spend up to thousands of dollars for a pen and have it not work out of the box! The QC of modern pen companies is not as good as some would hope for.

 

Kurt

 

It's unfortunate but I have to agree. A good example is I was looking to buy a Waterman Charleston, which has a gold nib. I saw a Citiline and tried it just to try it well the Citiline with the plated steel nib wrote MUCH smoother than the Charleston (I purchased the Citiline). What I wish is that there were more B&M stores with competitive pricing to try pens before you buy them. I know of 2 near me and they just can't compete with on line prices or the inventory. Ironically I purchased my 2k from a B&M store and it leaked but the nib was spot on. Had it repaired and paid only the cost of shipping.

[MYU]

Wow, I can't believe how emotionally charged an exchange is going on here... it's just a pen!

 

Bottom line--you're going to hear about most every pen complaint here, while not the case with praise. Thus, you can't judge a pen solely by how many people post complaints. The fact of the matter is that the L2K has been in production since 1966. If the pen was only as the complaints had stated, it would have likely died out in the early 1970's.

 

Unfortunately in this day and age, large pen production companies that produce all kinds of writing instruments aren't necessarily so attentive to perfect QC on their fountain pens. Rollerballs and ballpoints still outsell fountain pens. And we've seen a few bellwether pen companies lose their standing on QC a bit. Strangely, you don't hear of many issues with the Lamy Safari/Vista/Al-Star. I suspect that's because of the very high production numbers and probably more attentive maintenance to tooling and production machinery. The Lamy 2000 is a cash-cow product for Lamy--there's little that has changed in it over the years. As such, I expect the effort on QC is not as attentive as on other products. The GOOD thing is the Lamy is responsive to customer support and will correct issues. Even those corrections may not necessarily be perfect the first time around, but I'd say that's more of an exception.

 

It is a shame that QC is not as high as it used to be. But if you really like the L2K, you can indeed get a pen that will work well.

[artaddict]

Well, I'll have to support biffybeans on this. Although it is surely annoying that many new pens don't write right out of the box because of leftover manufacturing oils, flushing it several times with a soapy solution made by putting about two drops of regular washing up liquid in a glass of water is the quickest and easiest option IMO. If it doesn't work then and is still scratchy, you can send it to Lamy Germany or sell it.

Soapy solution is okay. But I hesitate to use ammonia solution on a new pen.

[stevo]

I have to be honest, folks. I got my Lamy 2000 EF today, and I was severely disappointed after playing with it for less than a minute. The pen is scratchy, refuses to make consistent lines, and takes more pressure than I'd like to get a line going on the paper. Compared to my Waterman Phileas, which could write with essentially no pressure other than gravity and which cost 1/3 of the price, this is just infuriating.

 

What do I do? Do I return it to PenGallery? Do I ask for a F instead? Do I go through Lamy?

 

I would encourage you to return it for a refund, or as credit toward a Pelikan. All the Lamys I've used were scratchy as well, and generally a disappointment. I find the design of the 2000 interesting, but I would not be willing to risk buying the pen and getting a dud.

 

Going through Lamy warranty repair is probably more trouble than it's worth: Trust me on this, if you can, just return it now for a refund and save yourself the headaches down the road.

 

I don't think it's quite as dismal as this. First, you won't get any better service than Lamy. Second, your chances of getting an unpleasant pen from Pelikan are just as high - I've been there for sure. Third, once you get going with Lamy customer service, you will find one that you like. I have a medium which was inherently smooth out of the box and a fine that took a little running-in to get what I wanted.

 

My Pelikan was worse - first nib was horribly scratchy and beyond help. Replacement from Pelikan was just as bad. Third nib from Pelikan was also bad. I had to work on the two replacements until I had one I liked.

 

No, you shouldn't have to do this for pens that cost $100 or more. But that's that way it's been for me. If you don't want to go through this trouble again, I'm guessing a Pilot VP in medium will suit you. It seems there are fewer instances of scratchy nibs with these pens.

 

Stevo

 

[stevo]

Even though I had lots of issues with this pen......before you send it back - try flushing it with a mixture of ammonia & water. (small amount of ammonia to a lot of water.) Flush it many times...... Refill with ink, and then see how it writes. If you still hate it, send it back.

 

 

 

 

I have to be honest, folks. I got my Lamy 2000 EF today, and I was severely disappointed after playing with it for less than a minute. The pen is scratchy, refuses to make consistent lines, and takes more pressure than I'd like to get a line going on the paper. Compared to my Waterman Phileas, which could write with essentially no pressure other than gravity and which cost 1/3 of the price, this is just infuriating.

 

What do I do? Do I return it to PenGallery? Do I ask for a F instead? Do I go through Lamy?

 

 

DON'T risk corrupting the pen with ammonia mixtures. I know enough from tuning pens to know that this is not an issue that can be solved via chemical means. Call or email the store you bought it from, say it's a dud, and get them to take it back.

 

Thing is, if I'm going to be spending $100 on a pen, is it too much to expect it to work out of the box? This isn't some el-cheapo bic from Staples, now.

 

Anyways, PenGallery is in Malaysia. I'd have to pay for shipping to the shop. Is there a Lamy UK repair?

 

Seriously, this is annoying.

 

This is the reason I've never purchased from PenGallery. I can find Lamys for $99 on line, but I spent $130 locally because I have the option of writing with it before I buy. Worth every penny...

 

I agree, it's very annoying, but it seems to be the norm. I have a small, growing collection of fountain pens and almost every one has needed some adjustment. The only exception was my $25 Lamy Safari which was just right out of the box and my medium Lamy 2000. There seems to be no correlation between smooth, perfect flowing pens and price.

 

Also, you are buying EF, and that increases your chances of non-smooth writing out of the box.

 

I've learned one thing - learn to adjust and polish your own nibs. No, you don't have to be a Richard Binder, but it is to everyone's advantage to learn how to do this.

 

Lamy service in USA is great - he will talk to you and help pick out a replacement nib. If you describe what it's doing, he'll match you up. I have to think UK has the same.

 

In spite of all the pain people have experienced with Lamy, they are great pens. I purchased mine based on the design and assumption that it could be easily adjusted if I didn't like the feel and flow.

 

I have given up on expecting smooth, good flowing writers out of the box!

 

Stevo

 

[biffybeans]

Soapy water wasn't enough to get my pen going, but the ammonia/water solution did. Until I used it, I was ready to smash my L2K against a wall. The nib was "scratchy" because the ink wasn't flowing properly. And it had just come back from Lamy repair!

 

For non believers - here's Ron Zorn of Main St pens saying to use a 10% ammonia solution in water:

 

Ron Zorn on Ammonia

 

And here's Old Griz saying the same thing.

 

To read more, use the search term "10% ammonia" to search the FPN.

Edited October 7, 2008 by biffybeans

[stevo]

1. Scratchiness is due to a mechanical issue, usually mis-aligned tines and thus the writing tip. A deformation of the tip or burr is less often the cause. Any change in ink that helps such a problem is just a band-aid; it doesn't fix the underlying issue.

 

2. Flow issues with a piston filler such as you describe can be due to several problems, all to do with constant delivery of the ink down the capillary fissures and to the nib: a. the nib's tines are too close together, starving the pen's capillary action (if they were too far apart, then they'd flood the paper or be too wet), b. The nib is too far from the feed or in poor contact, not allowing the ink to be held ready for absorption to the paper, c. The pen's internal ink feeding system has oils or other material that is preventing the ink from "wetting" the ink feeding mechanism (this is why the ammonia flush can work wonders. but if it's dried ink residue or dirt, then it needs to be taken apart), or d. the pen's design for ink delivery is faulty, not allowing proper exchange of ink and air (This is not easily curable, but is pretty rare. One of the Stipula 22's suffered from this problem, not fixable without major surgery.)

 

As I said before, I'd send it back to PenGallery, at their cost. Make THEM send it Lamy after they send you a new one. It's their fault that they didn't examine the pen before they sold it to you.

 

Skip

 

Before you do all that, read up on tine alignment and examine it yourself! I'll bet it just needs only a slight adjustment. Go to Richardspens.com and order the nib smoothing kit. http://richardspens.com/

 

Don't be helpless when it comes to fountain pens. It can be a very small adjustment that makes you love this pen. I have a Lamy 2000 in fine that wasn't the greatest out of the box, but it feels great now. I never sent it in. Of course be careful and don't do anything you're not comfortable with.

 

Stevo

 

[stevo]

True 4 or 5 people is not a large sample, however, in a 3 pg thread we also have only 5 people who speak positively about the Lamy 2000. So if 50% of people who buy it dislike it, it seems good measure to avoid it.

 

Thats great that they have a good service dept but I'm also not going to spend 100$ on a pen that will likely need servicing out of the box. I suppose at some point Ill purchase this pen just out of sheer curiousity but ill definately have my fingers crossed

 

MrR

 

 

But in only one thread that is likely to attract negative comments. I agree that there are no middle ground users on Lamy 2000s. You either love them or hate them. But I guarantee that if any one of you could write with my medium, you'd really like the pen.

 

Am I rare or is it not true that there is a high rate of "not smooth" nibs on ne fountain pens? Is it not also true that cost is no correlation? I hate to think this way, but it seems that we have to accept this fact and learn to make small adjustments on our own pens.

 

Buy a pen from Richard Binder or HisNibs and they adjust them before shipping them out.

 

Look at this quote from HisNibs:

 

"About 85% of modern nibs need some adjustment out-of-the-box from the manufacturer

for an optimal writing experience."

 

I tend to agree. It's certainly been my experience. It's not good or right, but it's correct.

 

However - I do wonder if Pilot VPs have a very low rate of poor out-of-the-box performance. Anyone agree?

 

Stevo

[stevo]

I gotta agree with JJBlanche, the first sentence and piece of advice you received by way of reply: 'I would encourage you to return it for a refund, or as credit toward a Pelikan.'

 

No! Not a Pelikan all the way from Mayalasia! Very high probability of the same issue!

 

S

[PaulT00]

Am I the luckiest Lamy 2000 XF owner on the planet or something? Mine was bought from isellpens.com, for the princely sum of $94 (about £50), wrote first time with no flow or smoothness issues and is one of the smoothest, wettest pens I have ever used. No scratchiness at all, no having to flush it out with ammonia solution, just delicious makrolon-wrapped silky smoothness from the first stroke.

 

Certainly from the posts here I seem to be pretty much in a minority of 1!

[RHutch]

My Lamy 2000 extra-fine was hard to start which made it a little scratchy out of the box, I too ran a mild dish-soap and water through it. After rinsing it now works great. If you already inked it you have absolutely nothing to loose by rinsing the pen. My Pelican M215's flow was the same, I rinsed it too. So basically Before I use any pen I now give them a quick warm water soap rinse prior to using them.

[RevAaron]

Am I the luckiest Lamy 2000 XF owner on the planet or something? Mine was bought from isellpens.com, for the princely sum of $94 (about £50), wrote first time with no flow or smoothness issues and is one of the smoothest, wettest pens I have ever used. No scratchiness at all, no having to flush it out with ammonia solution, just delicious makrolon-wrapped silky smoothness from the first stroke.

 

Nope, your experience is pretty average. But why bother posting about the good pens?

 

Someone recently made a thread about being one of the lucky few 2000 owners- and it was filled with folks saying "huh, mine works great!" Even if you look through this thread, most of the replies from people who own or have owned a 2000 say that their 2000 works very well and that a crappy pen out of the box is unacceptable. I'm inclined to agree- and my 2000 worked wonderfully out of the box.

 

I can't say I've ever had to do a soap or ammonia flush on a new pen. The only time I pull either of those out is when I'm cleaning out an unrestored vintage pen.

 

For a pen as popular as the 2000, there are bound to be a signifiant minority of those who get crappy pens. QC seems to be really poor industry wide. I've had a bad string of new Pelikans that didn't work well out of the box, but most folks don't have the same problems- and so I wouldn't write off Pelikan.

 

Aaron

[Theo Moore]

Am I the luckiest Lamy 2000 XF owner on the planet or something? Mine was bought from isellpens.com, for the princely sum of $94 (about £50), wrote first time with no flow or smoothness issues and is one of the smoothest, wettest pens I have ever used. No scratchiness at all, no having to flush it out with ammonia solution, just delicious makrolon-wrapped silky smoothness from the first stroke.

 

Nope, your experience is pretty average. But why bother posting about the good pens?

 

Someone recently made a thread about being one of the lucky few 2000 owners- and it was filled with folks saying "huh, mine works great!" Even if you look through this thread, most of the replies from people who own or have owned a 2000 say that their 2000 works very well and that a crappy pen out of the box is unacceptable. I'm inclined to agree- and my 2000 worked wonderfully out of the box.

 

I can't say I've ever had to do a soap or ammonia flush on a new pen. The only time I pull either of those out is when I'm cleaning out an unrestored vintage pen.

 

For a pen as popular as the 2000, there are bound to be a signifiant minority of those who get crappy pens. QC seems to be really poor industry wide. I've had a bad string of new Pelikans that didn't work well out of the box, but most folks don't have the same problems- and so I wouldn't write off Pelikan.

 

Aaron

 

To be honest, I did a fair amount of research on FPN before getting the Lamy 2k EF. I think perhaps 1/3-1/2 the comments on the EF were negative, compared to significantly less criticism for the Fs. I remember one reviewer saying he tried something like half a dozen EFs and each of them were scratchy. Another reviewer said that there seemed to be a huge gap in QC between the EFs and the Fs. More telling, the majority of Lamy 2k EF owners I found were happy only AFTER they had shipped it back to Lamy. to be fair, these people were very happy.

 

I still got the EF -- despite the warnings -- because I heard the EF writes more like an F and I thought the F would be too broad. It was a risk I knew I was taking. Obviously, I lost.

Edited October 7, 2008 by Theo Moore

[Theo Moore]

I was given the name of someone at Lamy that I could e-mail, and judging by people's opinions of Lamy's service, I think I'm going to send my 2k to them instead of to pengallery -- who might simply swap it for another pen I'll be equally displeased with. I do like the Lamy's look and feel, so I'll give it another try.

 

One thing I have to decide is whether or not I want to go with an F -- which is less prone to problems than the EF.

 

Can someone provide a comparison between the Lamy 2k EF and the Phileas F?

 

At the moment, the EF on the Lamy seems too thin. But this might just be because of flow problems. It's hard for me to say what I'll get with a 'good' nib.