Disassembling MB Carrera piston filler

[stric75]

Hello, recently I got lucky and came across a vintage 1970 s MB Carrera in black and yellow color way on an internet auction site. The fountain pen was reasonably priced, it came in its original box and packaging, it was in excellent shape,  but the seller didn’t know much about it. Once I received it I realized that the piston was stuck, yet it  had just enough movement to suck in some water, which enabled me to dislodge dried up ink from the reservoir. Eventually I managed to get it to work, flush out all old ink and now I am using it. After all these years in someone’s storage this pen still writes well. However I would like to be able to clean it better. So far I was only able to fill it with water and flush it that way.

Does anyone know how it can be disassembled so I could perform a more thorough cleaning and lubricate the piston? In addition, does anyone know how the nib can be pulled out and replaced? The existing one writes well but shows some signs of oxidation. Ideally I would like to replace it with a new (old stock) nib.

thank you.

[joss]

The Carrera piston filler is rather uncommon and I would remove the piston mechanism only if it is really necessary. You could additionally flush the pen with a mixture of water to which a few drops of ammonia are added. That will help to further loosen up and liquefy dried ink.

The section of these pens unscrews like the MB 2x and 3x series, allowing lubrication of the piston seal from the other end of the barrel without the need to remove the piston mechanism. Once the section is off, you can flush that with water-ammonia too.

 

It would be interesting to share a picture of the original packaging. Does it differ from the packaging of the Carrera cartridge filler?

[austollie]

Hi Stric75,

 

I have never had cause to take apart any of my Carrera piston fillers, but I've taken apart the cartridge version (to repair a broken feed).  My guess would be that the piston version comes apart the same way, but I don't know for sure how to separate the section from the barrel.  If you work it out, I'd really appreciate if you could post a picture here.  

 

For the cartridge version, the clear polycarbonate part of the section unscrews from the section.  After that, you can push out the nib and feed (through the side that the polycarbonate part screws in).  The picture below shows what that looks like.

 

 

 

 

On 5/10/2022 at 5:58 AM, joss said:

It would be interesting to share a picture of the original packaging. Does it differ from the packaging of the Carrera cartridge filler?

 

There many types of packaging options that MB used for the Carrera pens over the 10 year or so production run.  I have two piston fillers.  One came in a set and another on its own.  Both had a basic plastic box, similar to what was used for the cartridge version (albeit, some of those came in a simple cardboard box).

[stric75]

13 hours ago, austollie said:

Hi Stric75,

 

I have never had cause to take apart any of my Carrera piston fillers, but I've taken apart the cartridge version (to repair a broken feed).  My guess would be that the piston version comes apart the same way, but I don't know for sure how to separate the section from the barrel.  If you work it out, I'd really appreciate if you could post a picture here.  

 

For the cartridge version, the clear polycarbonate part of the section unscrews from the section.  After that, you can push out the nib and feed (through the side that the polycarbonate part screws in).  The picture below shows what that looks like.

 

 

 

 

 

There many types of packaging options that MB used for the Carrera pens over the 10 year or so production run.  I have two piston fillers.  One came in a set and another on its own.  Both had a basic plastic box, similar to what was used for the cartridge version (albeit, some of those came in a simple cardboard box).

Thanks for your reply. I have another question. Does the ink window ring in Carrera cartridge model come off once you unscrew the lower section with feed? The reason I ask is because , the in window on my Carrera piston filler crumbled (it’s such a soft and fragile plastic) and I’m trying to find a replacement. So far, I haven’t had much luck. Yet I’m looking for an equivalent plastic ink window and wonder if the one from the piston filler could be replaced with the one from cartridge model. 

[austollie]

2 hours ago, stric75 said:

Does the ink window ring in Carrera cartridge model come off once you unscrew the lower section with feed?

 

In short, yes.  The 'ink window' is actually two parts.  There's the polycarbonate insert and that unscrews (which will take a reasonable amount of force).  There's then a semi-coloured piece (the bit that you may have broken), that just slides off the polycarbonate insert.  The semi-coloured piece comes in smoke and amber coloured versions.  Whilst I can't be 100% sure, I would expect the semi-coloured piece to be interchangeable between the cartridge and piston filler version.

 

It's your pen, of course, but if it were mine, I would persevere with solving the problem.  A piston MB Carrera is, in my opinion, a special pen.  As I understand it, that was an export-only model, i.e. it was not sold in Germany.  It's a lot less common than the humble piston version.

[austollie]

 

 

9 hours ago, stric75 said:

Does the ink window ring in Carrera cartridge model come off once you unscrew the lower section with feed?

 

I have found this better picture of a cartridge MB Carrera that I took apart a couple of years ago.   To the right of the photo (just above the yellow/ orange barrel) you can see the amber coloured piece that you have broken.  It just slides off the polycarbonate insert (shown further above).

 

As a collector of student pens, I really appreciate the way in which you can take the MB Carrera apart.  You can't do that with a Pelikano or GeHa of the same era. 

 

Whilst I haven't taken apart a piston MB Carrera, because I haven't had a reason to do that and I don't really want to experiment with a pen made of 40 year old ABS and polycarbonate plastic (due to time-based embrittlement issues), I would be surprised if the barrel could not be separated from the section without causing damage.  I mean everything else on the MB Carrera can be disassembled.