My Mb Carrera Collection

[austollie]

Hi Zarus,

 

I've been admiring your collection for years.  I am so glad that you were able to re-post your pictures.  

On 10/22/2021 at 3:10 AM, Zarus said:

Or any of the 'rainbow colored' Carrera ballpoints seen in my profile picture?

 

I'm mostly into fountain pens, but your pictures have caused me to look out for the coloured ballpoints.  They come up for sale rarely.  I am absolutely amazed that you were able to get all the colour variation.  Well done.

[CS388]

Excelent collection! Congratulations.

 

The box is a real work of art!

 

Hope you enjoy them in good health,

[Zarus]

On 10/23/2021 at 9:43 AM, austollie said:

I'm mostly into fountain pens, but your pictures have caused me to look out for the coloured ballpoints.  They come up for sale rarely.  I am absolutely amazed that you were able to get all the colour variation.  Well done.

 

It took a long time to get them to be fair. I'm also not entirely sure if I've got them all since I've never seen a complete list of available colors. I think the orange one was the first one I got and I remember that I was so excited about it. The last one added was the darker blue one and I came across it when I did some googling for these pens. I contacted the owner and thankfully he wanted to sell it to me. I hope that one day I can find some old brochure or leaflet that describes this spin-off of the Carrera series.

 

I don't there currently are any available on eBay, although there are some colored parts for sale if you needed to repair one.

 

I'm also looking at this one with interest, although the price is absurd imo so I will definitely not buy it with this pricetag: 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174148548765?hash=item288c0ff89d:g:VYQAAOSwd9heFKjc

It's hard to know for sure if this is 'real', unless there's some kind of documentation available. Not sure if the seller has that.

[Doug C]

I have one with a piston fill, but there is a leak at the ink window.  Does anyone know if this can be repaired or replaced?

[austollie]

34 minutes ago, Doug C said:

I have one with a piston fill, but there is a leak at the ink window.  Does anyone know if this can be repaired or replaced?

 

I have never had a reason to take apart an MB Carrera piston filler, so I am not 100% sure how they are disassembled, but my guess is that they come apart in a similar manner to the cartridge version.  I'll leave you to experiment, but the picture below shows how the cartridge filler comes apart.

 

For the cartridge filler, the clear polycarbonate window can be unscrewed to allow you to assess the reason for the leak.  There are two likely culprits:

• The ink is leaking through the screw threads:  I've had that (on a cartridge filler) and that's an easy fix.  Just apply some silicon grease or teflon tape to the screw treads and put the whole thing back together.
• There's a crack in the polycarbonate: I've not experienced that with an MB Carrera, but I have experienced that with a Pelikano of the same era.  The fix is not so simple. You can try solvent welding with MEK, but that will craze the polycarbonate.  Depending on where the crack is, you may be able to fill it with epoxy.

 

 

Please let me know how you go.

[Doug C]

On 10/29/2021 at 5:34 PM, austollie said:

 

I have never had a reason to take apart an MB Carrera piston filler, so I am not 100% sure how they are disassembled, but my guess is that they come apart in a similar manner to the cartridge version.  I'll leave you to experiment, but the picture below shows how the cartridge filler comes apart.

 

For the cartridge filler, the clear polycarbonate window can be unscrewed to allow you to assess the reason for the leak.  There are two likely culprits:

• The ink is leaking through the screw threads:  I've had that (on a cartridge filler) and that's an easy fix.  Just apply some silicon grease or teflon tape to the screw treads and put the whole thing back together.
• There's a crack in the polycarbonate: I've not experienced that with an MB Carrera, but I have experienced that with a Pelikano of the same era.  The fix is not so simple. You can try solvent welding with MEK, but that will craze the polycarbonate.  Depending on where the crack is, you may be able to fill it with epoxy.

 

 

Please let me know how you go.

Thanks for the valuable information. 

[stric75]

First of all, I really like your collection. Second, that’s a beautiful box. Finally, you’re not the only one who likes Carreras. There are many of us who find them to be very nice pens indeed. I like the ones in my collection but I’ve discovered that many plastic parts have become fragile over the years. Currently I am looking for an ink window for MB 522 Carrera (piston filler), preferably in orange color, but I’ll take the dark grey ones as well. If anyone knows of a good source of these parts, please let me know. Thanks. 

[Doug C]

1 hour ago, stric75 said:

First of all, I really like your collection. Second, that’s a beautiful box. Finally, you’re not the only one who likes Carreras. There are many of us who find them to be very nice pens indeed. I like the ones in my collection but I’ve discovered that many plastic parts have become fragile over the years. Currently I am looking for an ink window for MB 522 Carrera (piston filler), preferably in orange color, but I’ll take the dark grey ones as well. If anyone knows of a good source of these parts, please let me know. Thanks. 

I'd be interested as well.

[Zarus]

You mean one of these? 😇

[Doug C]

54 minutes ago, Zarus said:

You mean one of these? 😇

Is that for the piston filler? Then YES!

[Zarus]

They use the same kind of ring (just checked).

Please send me your address through a PM and I'll send you one.

Mark

[Doug C]

8 hours ago, Zarus said:

They use the same kind of ring (just checked).

Please send me your address through a PM and I'll send you one.

Mark

What a guy!!!!   Thank you!

[stric75]

On 6/3/2022 at 9:11 AM, Doug C said:

Is that for the piston filler? Then YES!

Yes, I need one of these. Where could I get one? 

[stric75]

On 6/3/2022 at 8:17 AM, Zarus said:

You mean one of these? 😇

Yes, one of these amber colored ones. 

[stric75]

On 10/29/2021 at 5:50 PM, Doug C said:

I have one with a piston fill, but there is a leak at the ink window.  Does anyone know if this can be repaired or replaced?

The amber colored ink window is more of a decoration. And while it does not seal the pen, it does hold the metal spring that is used for cap retention. Regardless, you’ll need to take the pen apart. Unscrew the bottom section with nib and feed, slide the ink window off and the clear transparent section is basically the ink reservoir. Unscrew that clear part from the orange barrel. Once the clear reservoir is removed then you can inspect it for cracks and leaks. Once you figure out where the leak is aiming from you’ll be able to identify a part that needs repair or replacement. 

[Doug C]

7 hours ago, stric75 said:

The amber colored ink window is more of a decoration. And while it does not seal the pen, it does hold the metal spring that is used for cap retention. Regardless, you’ll need to take the pen apart. Unscrew the bottom section with nib and feed, slide the ink window off and the clear transparent section is basically the ink reservoir. Unscrew that clear part from the orange barrel. Once the clear reservoir is removed then you can inspect it for cracks and leaks. Once you figure out where the leak is aiming from you’ll be able to identify a part that needs repair or replacement. 

I appreciate the instructions. 

[stric75]

1 hour ago, Doug C said:

I appreciate the instructions. 

I forgot to mention that many of these pens may be quite fragile, so don’t use too much force suddenly. Unscrewing some parts that have not been unscrewed in 40-50 years requires lots of patience. Apply force very gradually. 

1 hour ago, Doug C said:

I appreciate the instructions