Best Way To Remove Pelikan 140 Nib/feed/...?

[PDW]

Just received my first old Pelikan in the post - an ordinary green striped P140. The piston is stiff enough for me to want to lubricate the barrel with silicon grease.

 

However, the nib/feed do not seem to want to unscrew to give me access - I assume it's a screw-in nib, or am I wrong? I'm currently soaking the nib/feed/section in cold water to get rid of any dried-up ink that may be causing the problem. Are there any do;s or don't's on using (moderate) heat, well-diluted ammonia, Rapido-Eze or anything else to help ease the nib/feed/collar out?

[TimGirdler]

Just received my first old Pelikan in the post - an ordinary green striped P140. The piston is stiff enough for me to want to lubricate the barrel with silicon grease.

 

However, the nib/feed do not seem to want to unscrew to give me access - I assume it's a screw-in nib, or am I wrong? I'm currently soaking the nib/feed/section in cold water to get rid of any dried-up ink that may be causing the problem. Are there any do;s or don't's on using (moderate) heat, well-diluted ammonia, Rapido-Eze or anything else to help ease the nib/feed/collar out?

 

 

My details on old Pelikans is not all that great at this point... But there was a short time that Pelikan didn't use the screw-in nib unit. I've had one of these pens come through my shop. There is a metal binding around the nib and feed, but there are no threads.

 

The extent of my knowledge and experience with this pen is that the nib unit may come out, but it is likely to NOT go back in. I don't know if Pelikan secured them in with an adhesive or something else. There's a lot I don't know (and, by the way, most of the repair people I ask for advice didn't know either).

 

So, be VERY careful with your pen...

 

Blessings,

 

Tim

[sargetalon]

The 140's are generally threaded and less likely to be friction fitted. You should be able to unscrew the nib and feed from the section. The problem over time is that dried ink can seize the threads. Soaking like you are is the best remedy and then gentle pressure. If that fails, soak again. General concerns here are that the longitudinal ebonite fins of the feed have gotten fragile with time and are easily broken. I wrap the nib/feed in a paper towel and grasp the front/back of the feed and nib between my fingers and then try to turn the barrel rather than the nib itself. Do no grasp it from the sides. I would strongly urge you to avoid heat. You should note that some of the collars of this time were made of polystyrene which is very brittle over the years and may not be intact any longer. If it is, it can be easily cracked. These are the things that you have to watch out for with vintage nib removal from a Pelikan. It's very doable but requires a degree of care and caution.

[Hooker56]

+1 on Sarge's advice. I have a 140 from the '50's with the same challenge. I cleaned and soaked the nib (actually did a short soak of the whole pen), and the nib was still stuck fast. So I sonicated it for a few minutes in a plastic cup with just enough water/ammonia solution to cover the nib and part of the section. A ton of ink came out and then with a paper towel easily unscrewed the nib unit. Once lubed, the piston works like new and it is an exceptional writer!

 

PDW- Two things to watch:

 

A ) Don't sonicate the whole pen as it's possible to delamnate the binde, and

B ) ALWAYS make sure the cap is tight before you put it into your shirt pocket. For some reason some of the old Pels are home to poltergeists that will unscrew the cap while in your pocket and ruin your best shirts!

 

Good Luck-

Clayton

Edited August 11, 2014 by Hooker56

[PDW]

I've soaked it overnight and carefully tried ultrasonic. No ink coming out and the nib is still firmly attached. I'm concerned about damaging the pen so I don't want to try anything more vigorous.

 

So, on to a second strategy to free up the piston. Can anyone recommend an ink, or better a colourless solution, that has a good piston-lubricating property and is fairly readily available in England (i.e. not Noodler’s!)?

[mark e]

soak and sonic it again, only this time use warm water and drop in a tab of denture cleaner, and do it for about 5-6 minutes worth ...i can practically guarantee that you will see old ink this time

 

denture cleaner is sodium bicarb, citric acid, sodium perborate, potassium monopersulfate and sodium polyphosphate---it is safe on everything but hard rubber pens (and it only turns them green, which is not desirable)

 

rinse, rinse, rinse and repeat, only this time with a drop of liquid dish soap---rinse---if you're an obsessive about any residual soap etc, sonic and rinse it again in distilled water (this step normally reserved for OCD germophobes such as myself)--by this time, your pen should have learned to swim

 

also, a handy tip for leverage when you are trying to unscrew the nib, is to grip the body with section pliers (AKA spark plug wire pullers or padded pliers) in your right hand and hold the nib with a cloth in your left hand as you turn the pliers with your right

 

if you are Still Having Trouble, drip a tiny amount of olive or veg oil into where the nib screws in---if none of this works, the nib has most likely been welded in, and it's time for the cutting torch...just kidding----you shouldnt even have to get to the oil part---good luck

Edited August 12, 2014 by mark e