Disassembling Rotring 600 section / Feed and nib removal / Leaking section repair

[ChrisFPN]

I encountered a leak on my Rotring 600 (2nd gen) fountain pen at the level of the section (upper part).

 

This sems to be a quite common issue but I couldn't find information about the section assembly and how best to disassemble it. I found a way and attach a picture of the different parts.

 

As I found on this version of the Rotring 600, the plastic collar (which goes inside the section) is screwed into a metallic threaded collar (which also goes inside the section, but on the other end). During original assembly, some sort of silicon sealant was added around the threads of the plastic collar. Similarly, the metallic threaded collar was also glued to the section with the same sort of sealant.

 

To remove the feed and nib, I used the following procedure:

• Clean the section with an ultrasonic cleaner
• Take a toothpick, cut a couple mm off and use it as a rod to push the feed from where the cartridge would be inserted ; use a knock-out block and hammer (very) gently on the toothpick
• Once the feed and nib are out, use a 5mm hex key (about 4.5mm would be better) and insert it gently where the feed was; turn counter-clock wise to unscrew the plastic collar
• Once the collar is out, the metallic threaded collar should be easy to remove as well

 

I haven't reassembled the pen yet. I'll probably use sillicon grease to seal the junction of the plastic collar with the metallic threaded collar. And some sillicon sealant to glue the metallic threaded collar into the section.

 

But before that, I need to fix the plastic collar: there is a crack through which the ink was probably leaking...

Not sure which kind of glue to use with this type of soft plastic though...

 

 

 

 

[OCArt]

Did the bottom of the feed have a small horizontal hole in it? Some Pelikan models that use similar nibs have such a hole and I've been able to remove the feed by inserting a screw and pulling on that.

[Ron Z]

I think that you were very lucky.  The extension on the feed is quite fragile and breaks easily.  The collars on the Newtons were epoxied in, so even more fun to remove.  The Rotring service department warned me that removing the feed on these pens is very difficult, which I found to be true. 

 

An adhesive isn't likely to hold at all.  Solvent welding with a solvent that contains methylene chloride should melt the plastic.  But with the collar cracked, even if you successfully solvent weld it, I think it likely that the collar will crack again. The good news is that the nib unit on a Rotring Freeway is the same as the 600, and they come out of the section very easily.   Given the value of a 600 today, I think that buying one would be a good option. There are some on Ebay.