Lamy Artus Demonstrator Leaking

[OakIris]

I posted this in the repair forum and got no responses so thought I would try again here. I begin to think that this was meant as a cheap, throw away pen so no allowance for repairs was included in the design.

 

I have a Lamy Artus piston fill demonstrator that I acquired who knows when or where. The nib was rather scratchy, which I have somewhat improved by use of the brown paper bag trick, it also skips, which I haven't tried to correct as yet, but the main problem is that it leaks. It is leaking in the area on the body just above the nib section where the threads for the cap are. I have looked at it with a 10X loupe and I can not see any cracks in the plastic, at least none that are obvious to me.

 

It is a cheap and cheerful pen, thus the Artus name, so I imagine it is not worth sending it to someone for repair, if any repair for this is actually possible, but I wondered if anyone knows if these pens can be easily disassembled. There is no apparent way to do this - the whole body looks as if it is built of one piece of plastic to me, and I can't even tell if the nib can be removed, and haven't tried to remove the piston section either - but I thought someone here might have some insight for me. I can't find anything about the pen itself on Google, let alone any repair instructions.

 

Not sure how disassembling the pen will help with the leak, but maybe there is some sort of seal missing, or I can use some sort of sealant on the thread area or...? Kind of grasping at straws here.

 

I think if I can cure the skipping problem it will be a nice writer, so if the leak can be fixed too, it can be a daily "toss about" pen for me. Otherwise it basically serves to leak ink on my fingers so I can remember what I have it filled with for the rest of the day. (I filled it with my sample of Supershow DC Blue before I knew that it was a leaker - a waste of a nice ink. )

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the pen:

 

 

 

Holly

[imadeadend]

I posted this in the repair forum and got no responses so thought I would try again here. I begin to think that this was meant as a cheap, throw away pen so no allowance for repairs was included in the design.

 

I have a Lamy Artus piston fill demonstrator that I acquired who knows when or where. The nib was rather scratchy, which I have somewhat improved by use of the brown paper bag trick, it also skips, which I haven't tried to correct as yet, but the main problem is that it leaks. It is leaking in the area on the body just above the nib section where the threads for the cap are. I have looked at it with a 10X loupe and I can not see any cracks in the plastic, at least none that are obvious to me.

 

It is a cheap and cheerful pen, thus the Artus name, so I imagine it is not worth sending it to someone for repair, if any repair for this is actually possible, but I wondered if anyone knows if these pens can be easily disassembled. There is no apparent way to do this - the whole body looks as if it is built of one piece of plastic to me, and I can't even tell if the nib can be removed, and haven't tried to remove the piston section either - but I thought someone here might have some insight for me. I can't find anything about the pen itself on Google, let alone any repair instructions.

 

Not sure how disassembling the pen will help with the leak, but maybe there is some sort of seal missing, or I can use some sort of sealant on the thread area or...? Kind of grasping at straws here.

 

I think if I can cure the skipping problem it will be a nice writer, so if the leak can be fixed too, it can be a daily "toss about" pen for me. Otherwise it basically serves to leak ink on my fingers so I can remember what I have it filled with for the rest of the day. (I filled it with my sample of Supershow DC Blue before I knew that it was a leaker - a waste of a nice ink. )

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the pen:

 

 

 

Holly

 

I have heaps of old Lamys... If this is anything like those the entire front section should be twist-off and the feed should be removable from the housing and the nib will come apart from it and all that. It is likely that the rubber o ring that is meant to sit on the thin end of the back of the feed is missing. In fact, from those pictures I can see a gap where it should be (where the fins end, there should be an oring on the end, there isn't)

 

Could you post a few more pictures of the nib section? As it seems from here, there is a huge amount of ink buildup. Run some warm water through with detergent and see if that loosens the section up so it can be twisted off.

 

Here's one of mine, you can see where the o ring goes:

 

 

 

 

Edited April 9, 2012 by imadeadend

[sirksael]

A cheap and cheerful pen???

You do realise that a Lamy collector would probably pay several hundred dollars for this and likely go to church on his bare knees in gratitude for finding something as rare as this to boot?

 

Edit: Perhaps a little word of explanation now that I have recovered from the shock: The company Lamy was called Artus before changing names to Lamy, somewhere around 1952. The name Artus was used again later for cheap pens produced by the same company, however the one you have here is from the earlier period and worth quite a bit in its demonstrator version, which was probably produced for dealers to demo the pen. As I said, probably a few hundred dollars were it pristine.

 

Another edit: Please be very careful when disassembling, the clear material is very fragile, much more so than the colored variants.

Edited April 9, 2012 by sirksael

[imadeadend]

A cheap and cheerful pen???

You do realise that a Lamy collector would probably pay several hundred dollars for this and likely go to church on his bare knees in gratitude for finding something as rare as this to boot?

 

I agree (myself being one such lamy collector) Although I couldn't pay hundreds of dollars for it, it is a very rare pen that someone ELSE would pay hundreds for haha!

[OakIris]

I have heaps of old Lamys... If this is anything like those the entire front section should be twist-off and the feed should be removable from the housing and the nib will come apart from it and all that. It is likely that the rubber o ring that is meant to sit on the thin end of the back of the feed is missing. In fact, from those pictures I can see a gap where it should be (where the fins end, there should be an oring on the end, there isn't)

 

Could you post a few more pictures of the nib section? As it seems from here, there is a huge amount of ink buildup. Run some warm water through with detergent and see if that loosens the section up so it can be twisted off.

Excellent information, iamadeadend. Those pictures were from before I put ink in the pen and after I attempted to clean it. :embarrassed_smile: I couldn't really get the nib section very clean even with the soaking and flushing. Once I inked the pen there was even more ink leaking around the feed, etc., so I don't think a picture would be able to show anything more clearly. Now that I know this is how it should disassemble I will empty out the ink and see about - gently - untwisting the nib section.

 

If the O-ring is indeed missing or at least damaged, where do I get replacement O-rings? Any idea of the size or how to size it?

 

A cheap and cheerful pen???

You do realise that a Lamy collector would probably pay several hundred dollars for this and likely go to church on his bare knees in gratitude for finding something as rare as this to boot?

 

Edit: Perhaps a little word of explanation now that I have recovered from the shock: The company Lamy was called Artus before changing names to Lamy, somewhere around 1952. The name Artus was used again later for cheap pens produced by the same company, however the one you have here is from the earlier period and worth quite a bit in its demonstrator version, which was probably produced for dealers to demo the pen. As I said, probably a few hundred dollars were it pristine.

 

Another edit: Please be very careful when disassembling, the clear material is very fragile, much more so than the colored variants.

I had no idea, sirksael! :blink: I just thought because it had the Artus name on it that it was probably one of the cheap pens. When I first discovered the pen (it was one that I had had for years) I posted pictures of it here on FPN because I didn't even know what it was. Someone identified it for me but didn't say it was anything special. I will treat the pen with even more respect now. It is not in mint condition so probably isn't worth hundreds of dollars, but it is cool that it is relatively rare. I don't plan to sell it, especially now that I have a chance of fixing it!

 

Holly

[OakIris]

I was able to get the nib section to unscrew from the body - no problem at all! The O-ring is definitely missing.

 

The feed will not come out of the housing, however; is there any kind of trick to this or should it just come out easily? I didn't try very hard because I don't want to damage it. I have the nib section soaking now to see if that will loosen it up and get rid of any dried up ink.

 

Holly

[imadeadend]

I was able to get the nib section to unscrew from the body - no problem at all! The O-ring is definitely missing.

 

The feed will not come out of the housing, however; is there any kind of trick to this or should it just come out easily? I didn't try very hard because I don't want to damage it. I have the nib section soaking now to see if that will loosen it up and get rid of any dried up ink.

 

Holly

 

 

That oring is what prevents the leaking you described any small o ring will do fine as long as it fits snug! If you have a Noodlers ahab lying around the orings from the piston in that are a perfect size!

 

You remove the feed by pushing on the nib, but once I had one that took AGES to remove. Try grabbing the other end of the feed and pull on it with some pliers. That's what got my one free. And soaking it. For a lonnnnng time! It will come free don't worry!

[fabrimedeiros]

Love these vintage demo pens, mainly if a german piston fill.

 

Nice to think it's my father's age and it's in a good shape!

 

Congratulations and good luck with this tiny beauty!

[imadeadend]

Also, if you need help taking apart the piston part, I can help with that!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Degussa is a good nib. 1932 Osmia got into money problems and had so sell it's 'nib factory' to Degussa, who originally wanted to move it to an other city, but the trained workers refused to move, so Degussa continued to make nibs from 1932 for Osmia....very good nibs at that.

 

In my top 10-12 nibs I have 4 Osmia nibs, both gold and steel, and have some nice easy full flex Degussa nibs.

 

 

Bock started in 1939 after there were no more gold nibs to be made. Degussa had other branches to make money and are still a company, so when the fountain pen almost died, Degussa pulled out of a money losing business.

 

I have other Degussa nibs, some are just normal flex. Right now I have an easy full flex Degussa on an Artus pen.

 

I need to repair my other three Artus pens. :embarrassed_smile:

[OakIris]

I was able to get the nib section to unscrew from the body - no problem at all! The O-ring is definitely missing.

 

The feed will not come out of the housing, however; is there any kind of trick to this or should it just come out easily? I didn't try very hard because I don't want to damage it. I have the nib section soaking now to see if that will loosen it up and get rid of any dried up ink.

 

Holly

 

 

That oring is what prevents the leaking you described any small o ring will do fine as long as it fits snug! If you have a Noodlers ahab lying around the orings from the piston in that are a perfect size!

 

You remove the feed by pushing on the nib, but once I had one that took AGES to remove. Try grabbing the other end of the feed and pull on it with some pliers. That's what got my one free. And soaking it. For a lonnnnng time! It will come free don't worry!

The feed came right out of the housing the next time I tried it - don't know if the soaking helped (only soaked it for about 4 hours;) the water still looks pretty clear so there really wasn't much ink stuck there.

 

Sadly, I don't have an Ahab. Are these just regular O-rings, like the kind you can get in the plumbing section of a hardware store?

 

Also, if you need help taking apart the piston part, I can help with that!

I could definitely use your help with this, imadeadend. I have tried to figure it out, but... :embarrassed_smile: I would love to take apart the piston section so I can give it a thorough cleaning too. Hopefully I can put some silicone grease on the mechanism because it is kind of hard to turn - this sure helped with my Mont Blanc 225 (thank you again Hari for the instructions!)

 

Degussa is a good nib. 1932 Osmia got into money problems and had so sell it's 'nib factory' to Degussa, who originally wanted to move it to an other city, but the trained workers refused to move, so Degussa continued to make nibs from 1932 for Osmia....very good nibs at that.

 

In my top 10-12 nibs I have 4 Osmia nibs, both gold and steel, and have some nice easy full flex Degussa nibs.

 

 

Bock started in 1939 after there were no more gold nibs to be made. Degussa had other branches to make money and are still a company, so when the fountain pen almost died, Degussa pulled out of a money losing business.

 

I have other Degussa nibs, some are just normal flex. Right now I have an easy full flex Degussa on an Artus pen.

 

I need to repair my other three Artus pens. :embarrassed_smile:

Hi, Bo Bo - are you saying that this pen has a Degussa nib?? The nib is gold in colour but has no markings on it at all, so I have no idea who made the nib. Can't find any info on this demonstrator, either, just know it is a Lamy Artus made in Germany, because that is what is on the barrel of the pen.

 

Holly

[sirksael]

To get the piston out you need to open the piston until the stop... then twist a little harder! Takes some nerves the first time, but I've never broken ons of my lamys by doing it.

However, as I said, clear plastic is a bit more fragile. As you have the section out, perhaps you could apply some grease into the barrel with a paint brush?

[sirksael]

To get the piston out you need to open the piston until the stop... then twist a little harder! Takes some nerves the first time, but I've never broken ons of my lamys by doing it.

However, as I said, clear plastic is a bit more fragile. As you have the section out, perhaps you could apply some grease into the barrel with a paint brush?

[OakIris]

To get the piston out you need to open the piston until the stop... then twist a little harder! Takes some nerves the first time, but I've never broken ons of my lamys by doing it.

However, as I said, clear plastic is a bit more fragile. As you have the section out, perhaps you could apply some grease into the barrel with a paint brush?

 

Thank you for the info, sirksael. I'm a bit nervous about trying to "twist a little harder" but will do so if that is the method that needs to be used! I wasn't planing to put grease inside the barrel where the ink is, necessarily, just wanted to grease the piston spindle to make it easier to turn. I was also thinking about putting a little on the piston seal as well but this will get grease in the ink area, too - bad idea? Advice?

 

Holly

[imadeadend]

To get the piston out you need to open the piston until the stop... then twist a little harder! Takes some nerves the first time, but I've never broken ons of my lamys by doing it.

However, as I said, clear plastic is a bit more fragile. As you have the section out, perhaps you could apply some grease into the barrel with a paint brush?

 

Thank you for the info, sirksael. I'm a bit nervous about trying to "twist a little harder" but will do so if that is the method that needs to be used! I wasn't planing to put grease inside the barrel where the ink is, necessarily, just wanted to grease the piston spindle to make it easier to turn. I was also thinking about putting a little on the piston seal as well but this will get grease in the ink area, too - bad idea? Advice?

 

Holly

 

The o rings are standard orings you can buy at a plumbing store yes, any old one will work!

 

Sirksaels advice is sound. Just keep twisting until it comes out! And putting grease on the piston part is standard procedure, there's no detriment to having grease in the ink reservoir, but don't put a whole heap of grease on as it will look ugly through the clear pen!

 

It would be a good idea also to thoroughly clean the feed. Take off the nib and also remove the white bit on the top of the feed and get to cleaning!

[OakIris]

I was able to get the piston section (?) removed, but the spindle and piston seal seemingly can not be removed from the barrel. There is a plastic insert that restricts the size of the opening and prevents the seal from going any further. Perhaps there is a special tool to remove this, kind of like one of those that I imagine is used to remove inner caps, but I don't have such a thing. Any ideas? This is going to make it tricky to actually get silicone grease on the piston seal but a toothpick or brush, as you suggested sirksael, will probably work.

 

I have found a flat rubber washer that is exactly the right size to fit over the end of the feed, but I do need an O-ring instead, correct? (Haven't gone to the hardware store as yet, this is just a small washer I had in my tool room.)

 

I have cleaned off the feed after removing the white strip of plastic that goes down the center (what is the purpose of that?) but don't quite see how the nib can be removed from the feed. The nib has two narrow strips of metal on the sides that bend around and secure it to the nib mount/base at the end of the feed and I shouldn't think I am supposed to bend them out to release the nib - I can imagine wrecking the nib or breaking the plastic on the feed attempting to do that. I have pulled on the nib gently but it doesn't budge.

 

Thank you for all of your patience and hand holding, I really appreciate it. This is only the second time I have attempted to disassemble a pen so it's all very new to me. :embarrassed_smile:

 

Holly

[imadeadend]

I was able to get the piston section (?) removed, but the spindle and piston seal seemingly can not be removed from the barrel. There is a plastic insert that restricts the size of the opening and prevents the seal from going any further. Perhaps there is a special tool to remove this, kind of like one of those that I imagine is used to remove inner caps, but I don't have such a thing. Any ideas? This is going to make it tricky to actually get silicone grease on the piston seal but a toothpick or brush, as you suggested sirksael, will probably work.

 

I have found a flat rubber washer that is exactly the right size to fit over the end of the feed, but I do need an O-ring instead, correct? (Haven't gone to the hardware store as yet, this is just a small washer I had in my tool room.)

 

I have cleaned off the feed after removing the white strip of plastic that goes down the center (what is the purpose of that?) but don't quite see how the nib can be removed from the feed. The nib has two narrow strips of metal on the sides that bend around and secure it to the nib mount/base at the end of the feed and I shouldn't think I am supposed to bend them out to release the nib - I can imagine wrecking the nib or breaking the plastic on the feed attempting to do that. I have pulled on the nib gently but it doesn't budge.

 

Thank you for all of your patience and hand holding, I really appreciate it. This is only the second time I have attempted to disassemble a pen so it's all very new to me. :embarrassed_smile:

 

Holly

 

Okay I'll answer your questions one by one

 

1. The piston can be removed if you get the piece that actually screws onto the rod bit out of the blind cap, screw it on a little, then pull with a little bit of force. It should pop right out.

 

2. A flat one will do fine, in fact the actual lamy ones are flat sided.

 

3. A trick I use is to get a fingernail and slowly push on the left and right sides of the nib (in alternation) so it gradually edges off the end. DO NOT BEND THOSE CLIPS. They are meant to stay like that! The nib is basically held on by friction and may take a bit of pushing to remove. If it wont budge, dont worry about it, it's not worth it to be honest.

 

Also, in reference to before, are you sure the tines are aligned (checked under your loupe)? Please make sure they are completely aligned before trying any more paper-bagging.

[OakIris]

Okay I'll answer your questions one by one

 

1. The piston can be removed if you get the piece that actually screws onto the rod bit out of the blind cap, screw it on a little, then pull with a little bit of force. It should pop right out.

 

2. A flat one will do fine, in fact the actual lamy ones are flat sided.

 

3. A trick I use is to get a fingernail and slowly push on the left and right sides of the nib (in alternation) so it gradually edges off the end. DO NOT BEND THOSE CLIPS. They are meant to stay like that! The nib is basically held on by friction and may take a bit of pushing to remove. If it wont budge, dont worry about it, it's not worth it to be honest.

 

Also, in reference to before, are you sure the tines are aligned (checked under your loupe)? Please make sure they are completely aligned before trying any more paper-bagging.

 

Thank you once again for your detailed response, iamadeadend.

 

1. Yep, it popped right out! I think I am making things way more complicated than they are, and that I think that the pen is more delicate than it actually is - I was just convinced that that plastic piece was some how pressure fit into the end of the barrel and couldn't be removed without a tool or a lot of force.

 

2. Excellent! If for some reason the flat washer doesn't seal properly, at least now I know how to take everything apart to replace it!

 

3. Yep, that method of nib removal worked too. There was all sorts of white gunk under the nib, have no idea what it was, didn't seem like a grease or a sealant though it was slightly sticky. You can't really see it because of the poor quality of the photos, but this same stuff was on top of the nib under the plastic of the nib section cover - you could see it through the plastic; it is all cleaned off now.

 

Some of this gunk looks as if it is between the tines, too - if you look at the nib with a light behind it, the slit is definitely blocked in several places. If I soak the nib in a mixture of ammonia and water do you think this will remove the gunk, or should I just not worry about it and hope it works it's way out with use, now that the source has been removed? This may be what was causing the skipping, who knows - the whole nib and the feed are now a great deal cleaner than they were before so perhaps that is all it needs.

 

The only thing left to clean out is the inner cap - there is some ink between the inner cap and the transparent wall of the cap. I may just let that stay there.

 

I looked at the nib with a 10X loupe prior to trying the paper bag trick and to my inexpert eyes the tines appeared to be aligned. I used the paper bag sparingly - definitely did not want to remove the tipping material - and it seemed to help; I won't use it anymore for this pen, I think just writing with it will smooth it out to my liking.

 

Holly

[imadeadend]

Okay I'll answer your questions one by one

 

1. The piston can be removed if you get the piece that actually screws onto the rod bit out of the blind cap, screw it on a little, then pull with a little bit of force. It should pop right out.

 

2. A flat one will do fine, in fact the actual lamy ones are flat sided.

 

3. A trick I use is to get a fingernail and slowly push on the left and right sides of the nib (in alternation) so it gradually edges off the end. DO NOT BEND THOSE CLIPS. They are meant to stay like that! The nib is basically held on by friction and may take a bit of pushing to remove. If it wont budge, dont worry about it, it's not worth it to be honest.

 

Also, in reference to before, are you sure the tines are aligned (checked under your loupe)? Please make sure they are completely aligned before trying any more paper-bagging.

 

Thank you once again for your detailed response, iamadeadend.

 

1. Yep, it popped right out! I think I am making things way more complicated than they are, and that I think that the pen is more delicate than it actually is - I was just convinced that that plastic piece was some how pressure fit into the end of the barrel and couldn't be removed without a tool or a lot of force.

 

2. Excellent! If for some reason the flat washer doesn't seal properly, at least now I know how to take everything apart to replace it!

 

3. Yep, that method of nib removal worked too. There was all sorts of white gunk under the nib, have no idea what it was, didn't seem like a grease or a sealant though it was slightly sticky. You can't really see it because of the poor quality of the photos, but this same stuff was on top of the nib under the plastic of the nib section cover - you could see it through the plastic; it is all cleaned off now.

 

Some of this gunk looks as if it is between the tines, too - if you look at the nib with a light behind it, the slit is definitely blocked in several places. If I soak the nib in a mixture of ammonia and water do you think this will remove the gunk, or should I just not worry about it and hope it works it's way out with use, now that the source has been removed? This may be what was causing the skipping, who knows - the whole nib and the feed are now a great deal cleaner than they were before so perhaps that is all it needs.

 

The only thing left to clean out is the inner cap - there is some ink between the inner cap and the transparent wall of the cap. I may just let that stay there.

 

I looked at the nib with a 10X loupe prior to trying the paper bag trick and to my inexpert eyes the tines appeared to be aligned. I used the paper bag sparingly - definitely did not want to remove the tipping material - and it seemed to help; I won't use it anymore for this pen, I think just writing with it will smooth it out to my liking.

 

Holly

 

Absolutely clean the gunk out from the nib, that's one thing that you must do with old pens above all else! It could be the nib iss scratchy because the flow isnt great, which hinders lubrication of the nib tip. I'm glad my tips worked!

[OakIris]

Absolutely clean the gunk out from the nib, that's one thing that you must do with old pens above all else! It could be the nib iss scratchy because the flow isnt great, which hinders lubrication of the nib tip. I'm glad my tips worked!

 

I didn't even think of the fact that the flow is being impeded so there is not enough ink lubrication to make the nib write smoothly. DOH!

 

How do I clean between the tines? I thought about using a razor blade, but I don't want to increase the spacing between the tines, which is what I am afraid this would do. Do you think the ammonia soak will dissolve whatever this white stuff is?

 

Holly