Is This Normal? Problems With Writing With My New Pelikan M200, Help Please.

[conrad1616]

Here is a video about it:

 

The angle is bad and the quality too, but maybe its enough to show the problems.

Is it normal, or something is wrong with the pen/nib?

Thanks!

[fountainpagan]

Was it a new pen, or had it been used already?

 

If it was brand new, did you wash it with tepid water and 1 drop of dish soap, and then fushed it well with clear water. When pens a brand new there are sometimes a little grease which is wahsed when the pen is well cleaned. It is better to do that, before using it.

 

Otherwise I noticed your writting angle is quite pronounced. Can this influence the writting and the inkflow? Yes.

 

But I am sure other more experienced memebers will certanly come up with something.

Edited March 12, 2015 by fountainpagan

[Lou Erickson]

I have no sound here, so if you talked during the video I couldn't hear it.

 

No, that is not normal. An M200 should write easily from the first stroke.

 

If it's really a new pen, Pelikan should fix that. Make them do it so that you don't void your warranty messing with it, and so they learn they have to get the quality control right. An M200 is too expensive a pen for them to screw up that way. I'm quite tolerant of $10 or less cheapies needing a bunch of fiddling to write, but a Pelikan should Just Work.

 

If it isn't new, which means you don't have a warranty, Pelikan might fix it but it could be expensive and/or slow. It probably just needs adjustment, which any pen shop can do, or any of the regular folks around here people suggest sending pens to. There's lots of posts here on how to fix "hard start" which is what you have a terrible case of.

[Sandy1]

Note: This Topic is a follow-on from a prior Topic from the same Member https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/286555-i-cant-write-with-my-new-fountain-pen-pelikan-m200-medium-am-i-doing-something-wrong/?p=3298028

 

 

Hi,

 

Many thanks for taking the time & effort to do a video!

 

+1 for returning it to Pelikan for a warranty repair / replacement.

 

From the way the light falls on the nib, it appears that you are applying far more pressure than is necessary - an FP should be capable of making a mark under its own weight (mass) when held at the very end of the barrel, which makes writing with an FP so much more comfy than most other implements.

 

Please let us know how it goes: we like to know the current state of Pelikan customer service.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited March 12, 2015 by Sandy1

[conrad1616]

I have no sound here, so if you talked during the video I couldn't hear it.

 

No, that is not normal. An M200 should write easily from the first stroke.

 

If it's really a new pen, Pelikan should fix that. Make them do it so that you don't void your warranty messing with it, and so they learn they have to get the quality control right. An M200 is too expensive a pen for them to screw up that way. I'm quite tolerant of $10 or less cheapies needing a bunch of fiddling to write, but a Pelikan should Just Work.

 

If it isn't new, which means you don't have a warranty, Pelikan might fix it but it could be expensive and/or slow. It probably just needs adjustment, which any pen shop can do, or any of the regular folks around here people suggest sending pens to. There's lots of posts here on how to fix "hard start" which is what you have a terrible case of.

Thanks for the fast help!

 

Yeah, its a new pen, this is it's fourth day, but nothing changed. Its the pen's problem? Or is it possible that the ink is not good? Maybe too old or something?

[Djehuty]

Have you flushed it thoroughly, to get rid of the oils from manufacturing? Some suggest a small amount of dish soap in room-temperature or lukewarm water, but I prefer a 1:10 solution of ammonia (plain, unscented) and water. It works as well as the dish soap, and is much easier to clean out of the pen.

 

The process is simple. First, since you have ink in the pen, expel the ink and flush the pen (by filling it and then expelling the liquid) with clean water, preferably two or three times. Then make your cleaning solution, fill the pen with it, and expel it again, and repeat this two or three times. I find that it can help to hold the cleaning solution in the pen, with the nib immersed in the solution, for 30 seconds or so between filling and emptying it. Then flush the pen with clean water again, at least half a dozen times. That should get rid of any manufacturing oils, which can make it nearly impossible to write with the pen.

 

If you plan to change inks or put the pen aside for a while, the same procedure works for cleaning it out then, except I generally only fill it with cleaning solution once and then flush it until the water comes out clear.

[casualmerlinconstant]

Probably not the ink.

+3 on return for warranty. As a general rule of thumb, pelikans are usually very very wet. It should not behave like this even with the dryest inks.

[Lou Erickson]

Thanks for the fast help!

 

Yeah, its a new pen, this is it's fourth day, but nothing changed. Its the pen's problem? Or is it possible that the ink is not good? Maybe too old or something?

 

You might try the flush with water that others have suggested, but I think with this serious a problem, the pen is at fault.

 

If the ink flows properly - like water, not gunky or thick - then it'll be fine. I've got some 50 year old Skrip that works fine here, so you're probably good there.

 

Sandy1's observation that you're having to press hard is also a good one.

 

Sad to say, I'd say it's the pen in this case.

 

Get Pelikan to make it right, and you'll be happy with it. The M200 should write smoothly and without pressure - I have two and they're lovely pens. (If I can just fix or replace the broken cap on one... do NOT just pull the cap off!)

[Maurizio]

Do the flush. Djehuty has it right.

 

I use 1-2 drops of ammonia plus 1 drop of dish soap in about 5 ounces of water. I then "syringe" this up in the pen and then back out at least 6 times. I also swirl or agitate the nib in this solution. After this cleaning cycle in the ammonia/soap, I also run a tepid faucet on the nib to rinse it. Then I "syringe" up and back out just plain water another 6 times from a vessal of clean water.

 

Hope this helps.

[Buzz_130]

A flush is a great start. Unfortunately, you may have to return for warranty repair. This isn't the way most people's first fountain pen experience should be, and I hope you stick with this hobby.

 

Buzz

[WateryFlow]

 

An M200 is too expensive a pen for them to screw up that way. I'm quite tolerant of $10 or less cheapies needing a bunch of fiddling to write, but a Pelikan should Just Work.

 

Sadly, the QC problems on the more expensive pens are no less than the cheapies.

 

As others have mentioned I'd go along with the flush, and then return to Pelikan if that doesn't resolve the issue

Edited March 14, 2015 by WateryFlow