Need Help Identifying And Diagnosing Pelikan Celebry

[misterwasem]

Hey folks,

 

This is my first post on the network and I'm dying for some input. A friend of mine gave me a Pelikan Celebry his family received as a gift from a German exchange student. It wasn't treated well and was headed for the trash until he found out I was a pen addict.

 

It has a broad nib and writes beautifully after a few priming lines. But, when it sits (even for a short period of time) with the cap on, ink leaks below the nib at the base of where I hold the pen. There is clearly a chip on the pen which you should be able to see in the picture. Currently it has a black Kaweco sport cartridge.

 

Is there any way to stop this leaking? I'd love to use this pen regularly but not if it's bleeding ink. Any ideas would be great! Thanks pen people.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've never had one of these in hand, so this comment is based entirely on the picture-- it looks like the collar between point and section is pulled away from the section. I don't know whether it's mere trim, or part of the mounting for the point and feed, but if it's the latter (and even perhaps if the former) there's an illicit ink path that would account for the leakage you see.

 

How to fix it is something I'm even less certain about without direct handling. I suspect some kind of sealing material will be needed, and the instant thought is shellac, but without knowing just what lies next to it (and thus how disastrous over-application might be) I can only counsel caution.

[misterwasem]

Thanks, Ernst. I think you're right about the separating section. This pen was probably unused for 6-8 years, so I'm trying to soak it in Ammonia and water. I read that Pelikan nibs can be unscrewed and removed, so I'm thinking that the old ink may have "glued" the partially unscrewed nib into place. We'll see how this goes and if this is even the issues.

 

Thanks, again!

[Ernst Bitterman]

I wouldn't jump to unscrewing this one; the Souverans do that trick, but not every Pelikan does (my New Classis certainly doesn't). Also, in looking in here for inspiration, I see that there IS a bit of a gap between collar and section in all the examples Werner shows, so I may be very far out on my diagnosis.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Miy Celebry nib does not unscrew. It has the same gap yours has.

Get a baby rubber ear syringe to clean it out.

 

Try a Pelikan cartridge or an international in it. Kaweco could well be the wrong cartridge leaking from not fitting properly.

 

Mine has a good springy, actually hard semi-flex nib....so it is worth getting that pen fixed. The nib is surprizingly good.

The pen grew on me, in I normally don't care for heavy metal pens.

[misterwasem]

I flushed the nib out several times over the course a few days and even soaked it. For some reason, it's not leaking anymore! You all were right about the unscrewing. It didn't unscrew. Despite some strong efforts by me

 

I reloaded it with a Kaweco Blue/Black and it's been writing fine.

 

Thanks!