replacement seals for vintage Pelikan piston filler

[christof]

A guest from FPN pointed out to me that there was not much going on in this forum regarding old Pelikan. He was not entirely wrong. I am therefore trying to generate a little content with regard to a topic that is ubiquitous, but nowhere is dealt with collectively. I am posting this here because the topic is very Pelikan-specific, and is not a general repair topic. But it is a topic on which questions are often asked :

It is about replacement seals for old Pelikan piston fountain pens.

First, however, a list of the different types, and in which Pelikan which type of seal was originally installed.

Pelikan IBIS

The first Pelikan IBIS were equipped with cork seals:

https://live.staticflickr.com/2938/13979951742_c2611dd0d7_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nimUAJ)Pelikan IBIS Black Prewar (https://flic.kr/p/nimUAJ) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7053/6789293230_5d35d548cc_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/bkWUkQ)IBIS_prewar_piston_1 (https://flic.kr/p/bkWUkQ) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

The new Pelikan IBIS from about 1940 were equipped with the same neoprene seals as the Pelikan 100

https://live.staticflickr.com/2796/4250046157_d468948083_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/7tyADT)PEL_020 (https://flic.kr/p/7tyADT) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/7207/6789293188_ab472d8473_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/bkWUk7)IBIS_postwar_piston_1 (https://flic.kr/p/bkWUk7) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

Pelikan 100

Analogous to the Pelikan IBIS, the first Pelikan 100 were also equipped with cork piston seals:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50497647721_214442aef4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jWiDmD)Pelikan 100 1936 (https://flic.kr/p/2jWiDmD) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7449/27010620254_51c9a340b1_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/H9Qund)Pelikan 100 1936 (https://flic.kr/p/H9Qund) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

And the new Pelikan 100 were also from about 1940 equipped with neoprene seals:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51918041766_00591931ee_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2n6Px29)Pelikan 100 (https://flic.kr/p/2n6Px29) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51236438391_699721fa66_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2m4A95P)Pelikan 100 ca. 1940 (https://flic.kr/p/2m4A95P) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

Pelikan 100N

The Pelikan 100N were provided with 3 different seals. Cork piston seals were used in the pre-war models.

https://live.staticflickr.com/4038/4639016326_efb6654e72_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/84WaW7)PEL_028 (https://flic.kr/p/84WaW7) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

After that, black neoprene seals were used, and in the latest models, clear plastic seals, of which there were again two different types (types 5 and 4 in the photo)

https://live.staticflickr.com/5523/14292173979_dd030d9892_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/nLX8oK)Pelikan piston seals (https://flic.kr/p/nLX8oK) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/1873/30551061808_9ccf650162_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NxGbhY)Pelikan 100N OBB (https://flic.kr/p/NxGbhY) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

All different piston seals at a glance:



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51340267239_bf80409669_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2mdLhMn)Pelikan 100N different piston seals (https://flic.kr/p/2mdLhMn) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

Pelikan 400 et al

To the best of my knowledge, the Pelikan 400, 400N, 400NN, 140 and 120 were only made with two different piston seals:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50272194501_f70d05ffbb_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2jAo8Ya)Pelikan 400 (https://flic.kr/p/2jAo8Ya) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52628527690_57300a75d4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2obAXJs)Pelikan 400 Dichtung alt und neu (https://flic.kr/p/2obAXJs) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7695/17056201338_a37d4a386b_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rZcuqS)Pelikan 400 Demonstrator 1950 (https://flic.kr/p/rZcuqS) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

[christof]

Now for the replacement seals:

The easiest to replace are cork piston seals. These can be cut from raw cork and adjusted to the required diameter. There are many repair instructions, I even created one myself once. You can find it here:
https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/17504-replacing-cork-piston-seal-on-Pelikan-100
There is also the option of replacing the cork seal with two O-rings. David Nishimura sells the matching parts on his site vintagepens.com

For the clear plastic seals there are also replacements at Vintagepens. However, only for Pelikan 100N and Pelikan 400. The seals are offered in different sizes (colors) and usually fit quite well. And if necessary, they can also be slightly adjusted by careful grinding. Not ideal, but still a solution. For the late Pelikan 100 and Pelikan IBIS, however, there are still no replacement seals to buy.

I would therefore like to present a method of adapting the piston mechanism so that a seal with O-rings can be produced. The adaptation is not difficult to implement and is even reversible. However, the prerequisite for this is a lathe. And this is how it works:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51859372163_440e7f858e_c.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/c_m_z/b4cy6yh2uS)Adapter Kolbendichtung (https://www.flickr.com/gp/c_m_z/b4cy6yh2uS) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

In principle, the aim is to produce a receptacle for O-rings which can be applied to the piston rod as a piston. I chose ebonite because it is easy to work with:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51879111279_ba7d34a045_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2n3o1kR)Adapter Kolbendichtung_2 (https://flic.kr/p/2n3o1kR) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

The finished piston ends up looking like an original piston to hold a cork seal:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51878874573_b00d9d2d56_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2n3mMYH)Adapter Kolbendichtung_1 (https://flic.kr/p/2n3mMYH) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

And this is how the finished piston (bottom) looks with O-rings attached, compared to the original part (top).

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51878798751_ccd3398cf3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2n3mprr)Adapter Kolbendichtung_4 (https://flic.kr/p/2n3mprr) by C.M.Z (https://www.flickr.com/photos/c_m_z/), auf Flickr

[Chrissy]

Magnificent thread christof :thumb::thumb: Thank you. :)

For me personally it all looked reasonably straightforward until I got to post #2 and found I would need a lathe. There's a slight hitch right there. I don't have one and even if I did I wouldn't have a clue how to use one. :(

[forester]

Thanks!

Most helpful.

[FredRydr]

Excellent!

[christof]

Magnificent thread christof :thumb::thumb: Thank you. :)

For me personally it all looked reasonably straightforward until I got to post #2 and found I would need a lathe. There's a slight hitch right there. I don't have one and even if I did I wouldn't have a clue how to use one. :(

Yes I know, there’s a catch. But may be you know someone who owns a lathe and who you could ask in case?

[Chrissy]

Yes I know, there’s a catch. But may be you know someone who owns a lathe and who you could ask in case?
Currently I only know of two people in Europe who have a lathe christof. One is "fountainbel" and you are the other. LOL

[mana]

@christof , thank you so much for this (as per usual) well thought-out and informative post :)

[lobster]

Which O-ring size do you use?

[christof]

the ones from David Nishimura.

[lobster]

the ones from David Nishimura.

Thanks.