Inking a Pelikan

Well, it's me again...

I just filled my Pelikan M200 for the first time. I had to make several
attempts to fill it. First, I just put the first 2/3rds of the nib in the
ink. I twisted the filler knob to draw ink into the pen body, but just a
small amount of ink entered the chamber. I made two more successive
attempts, each time dipping the pen lower into the ink (Noodlers black).
Each time the pen filled a little more; but not fully. Finally, I said to
heck with it! (pardon the swearing). I dipped the pen into the ink till the
ink was just over the bottom lip of the pen body. This time the pen filled
completely. And I might say, that it writes like a dream.

Question: Is it normal to have to dip my pen this far into the ink to get
it to fill properly?

Thanks for all the great advice that many of you have posted for my previous
questions.

Cliff

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__O
_-\,_
(_)/ (_)

Cliff Reynolds wrote:
Well, it's me again...

I just filled my Pelikan M200 for the first time. I had to make several
attempts to fill it. First, I just put the first 2/3rds of the nib in the
ink. I twisted the filler knob to draw ink into the pen body, but just a
small amount of ink entered the chamber. I made two more successive
attempts, each time dipping the pen lower into the ink (Noodlers black).
Each time the pen filled a little more; but not fully. Finally, I said to
heck with it! (pardon the swearing). I dipped the pen into the ink till the
ink was just over the bottom lip of the pen body. This time the pen filled
completely. And I might say, that it writes like a dream.

Question: Is it normal to have to dip my pen this far into the ink to get
it to fill properly?

Thanks for all the great advice that many of you have posted for my previous
questions.

Cliff

--

The short answer is, "Yes." You need to place the entire nib and the
end of the section into the ink to form the vacuum that will allow
only ink to enter the barrel. As you found out, air will get in with
the ink if there is a way for it. There are some self-filling
mechanisms, e.g., Sheaffer snorkel, which do not require the entire
nib to be placed in the ink, but these are in the minority.

HTH,
Mark Z.

Hi, Cliff, and welcome to the ranks of Proud Pelikanyos. I think the key
phrase here is "for the first time". With properly adjusted nib and feed
Pelikans [almost] never have to be dipped into ink further than the
breather hole mid-nib. This is true for everything from my antique 100Ns
all the way up to my M1000 with its mondo-nib.

Here are things to look for: 1. Nib/Feed assembly is properly seated.
Pelikans are blessed with interchangable nibs. The nib and feed unit is
threaded and screws/unscrews easily. Easily enough that in shipping /
handling / etc. it might unscrew a tad and open the ink chamber above the
nib. I don't think this is what happened to you (IMHO). However, check
that the nib/feed is indeed finger-tight. It should be if you are writing
OK.

2. Inking a new Pelikan is a matter of filling not only the ink chamber
but also the triple-groove in the feed, which was full of air when you got
it. So I recommend that initially you look at the Pelikan as a syringe
which also writes. Empty the pen back into the bottle (Pelikan Paul may
explain reasons not to do this...) and pump the piston back and forth a
few times. Then hold the pen nib up and give the barrel a few thwacks --
like a nurse with a syringe -- and look to see if there is an air space.
If there is, work the plunger until ink just starts to pop out of the
breather hole. Now dunk the pen back in the bottle, just up to the hole,
and fill the last few milimeters.

You really only have to do this once (hopefully). Pelikans have a good
reputation as instant starters, and the ink flow engineering has been
under constant Teutonic scrutiny since the 1930s.

Now, if you look at the cryptic instructions on a multilingual sheet of
paper stuffed in the box somewhere you will see that Pelikan recommends
expelling 4 drops of ink back into the bottle. In fact all piston-fill pen
manufacturers recommend this. This protects your shirt. The 4 drops give
enough air space to equalize temperature and pressure without an
unexpected Rorshach pattern appearing just south of your shirt pocket.

Cliff Reynolds wrote:

I just filled my Pelikan M200 for the first time. I had to make several
attempts to fill it. First, I just put the first 2/3rds of the nib in the
ink. I twisted the filler knob to draw ink into the pen body, but just a

snip

Question: Is it normal to have to dip my pen this far into the ink to get
it to fill properly?

I certainly hope this helps. Usual caveats: YMMV, just my EUR 0.02 (hey,
it's stronger than the Dollar)


Peace,


jon
--
j o n AT r k p DOT n e t http://www.rkp.net
My mother always told me to keep a civil tongue.
I try to do as she said and not as she did.

Jon,

Thank you for all the information. I had not had luck with getting the
Pelikan to fill all the way. Your solution sounds logical. And I will be
giving it a try as soon as I need to refill. Thank you again,

Cliff


wrote in message
...
Hi, Cliff, and welcome to the ranks of Proud Pelikanyos. I think the key
phrase here is "for the first time". With properly adjusted nib and feed
Pelikans [almost] never have to be dipped into ink further than the
breather hole mid-nib. This is true for everything from my antique 100Ns
all the way up to my M1000 with its mondo-nib.

Here are things to look for: 1. Nib/Feed assembly is properly seated.
Pelikans are blessed with interchangable nibs. The nib and feed unit is
threaded and screws/unscrews easily. Easily enough that in shipping /
handling / etc. it might unscrew a tad and open the ink chamber above the
nib. I don't think this is what happened to you (IMHO). However, check
that the nib/feed is indeed finger-tight. It should be if you are writing
OK.

2. Inking a new Pelikan is a matter of filling not only the ink chamber
but also the triple-groove in the feed, which was full of air when you got
it. So I recommend that initially you look at the Pelikan as a syringe
which also writes. Empty the pen back into the bottle (Pelikan Paul may
explain reasons not to do this...) and pump the piston back and forth a
few times. Then hold the pen nib up and give the barrel a few thwacks --
like a nurse with a syringe -- and look to see if there is an air space.
If there is, work the plunger until ink just starts to pop out of the
breather hole. Now dunk the pen back in the bottle, just up to the hole,
and fill the last few milimeters.

You really only have to do this once (hopefully). Pelikans have a good
reputation as instant starters, and the ink flow engineering has been
under constant Teutonic scrutiny since the 1930s.

Now, if you look at the cryptic instructions on a multilingual sheet of
paper stuffed in the box somewhere you will see that Pelikan recommends
expelling 4 drops of ink back into the bottle. In fact all piston-fill pen
manufacturers recommend this. This protects your shirt. The 4 drops give
enough air space to equalize temperature and pressure without an
unexpected Rorshach pattern appearing just south of your shirt pocket.

Cliff Reynolds wrote:

I just filled my Pelikan M200 for the first time. I had to make several
attempts to fill it. First, I just put the first 2/3rds of the nib in
the
ink. I twisted the filler knob to draw ink into the pen body, but just
a

snip

Question: Is it normal to have to dip my pen this far into the ink to
get
it to fill properly?

I certainly hope this helps. Usual caveats: YMMV, just my EUR 0.02 (hey,
it's stronger than the Dollar)


Peace,


jon
--
j o n AT r k p DOT n e t http://www.rkp.net
My mother always told me to keep a civil tongue.
I try to do as she said and not as she did.