Feed trouble on a Pelikan P30

[bananhunden]

Hi

I hope there's someone here who can help me because I'm just about to give up

I recently bought a Pelikan P30 that's in pretty good shape.

After soaking it in water with a bit of dish soap it cleaned up very nicely.

I loaded it up with a fresh Pelikan cartidge and... nothing.

Gave the cartridge a squeeze and it started to write, but it was very dry.

I wanted to take the feed out to clean it and maybe adjust the nib a bit but, other that brute forcing it, I can't really figure out how to remove the feed and nib in a way that doesn't destroy my new pen

After that I even tried soaking the pen for 1½ day in soapy water and the feed still wouldn't budge

I'd rather not hand it over to a repair shop because it'll cost more than what I payed for the pen in the first place

Any advice as to how I should proceed?

Thanks!

Attached a few pics:
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/bananhunden/Fountain%20Pens/Pelikan%20P30/Pelikan2_zpsd173a7c6.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/bananhunden/Fountain%20Pens/Pelikan%20P30/Pelikan1_zps50e84a4d.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/bananhunden/Fountain%20Pens/Pelikan%20P30/Pelikan3_zpsab8b4754.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/bananhunden/Fountain%20Pens/Pelikan%20P30/PelikanTip3_zpsb4d9ff67.jpg
http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae142/bananhunden/Fountain%20Pens/Pelikan%20P30/PelikanTip2_zps2025f602.jpg

[D Armstrong]

This will help immensely:

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Ultrasonic-Jewelry-Eyeglass-Cleaning/dp/B001DKDAVW/ref=sr_1_1/175-5623075-3973134?ie=UTF8&qid=1413997985&sr=8-1&keywords=ultrasonic+cleaner

Use approximately one part household ammonia, five parts water, and a drop of dish soap. And rinse well in plain water when you are done.

[ac12]

I would not try to take it apart.
When you soak the section, put it in a narrow glass, like a shot glass, so the dissolved ink can drift down and out of the section.

Try a wetter ink like Waterman or Aurora.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've found that there's a tendency toward stress fractures on that shape of semi-hood, just where the hood transitions into the "chin" that runs out along the feed; I'd also suggest more soaking than dismantling. You might also want to run some brass shims down the slit, as it looks like the tipping might be a little compressed. There's a lot of light coming through at the upper end of the slit, but nothing (in the scale of the last photo) at the tips.

But soaking and, if possible, buzzing, come first.

[bananhunden]

Thanks for all the great answers!

Well, I've been soaking the pen for days now and it's still misbehaving so I'll try pulling brass sheets through it.

I've just placed an order for a small pack of sheets, thickness .001, .002, .003 and .005.

Should I just just start from .001 and work myself up?

It would have been nice to be able to open her up for full nib access.

Would an ultrasonic cleaner also take care of feed blockage because that would remove one reason for me to open it up.

I've read some tutorials saying that you can use a DE razor blade instead of a bras shim to widen the nib gap

Is that as brutal as it sounds?

[Jeph]

I have never needed a brass shim larger than .002" and definitely not a razor blade.

Pelikan inks are somewhat dry by nature. Have you used the same ink in another pen for comparison?

Also, if you have a ear cleaning bulb you can force water through the feed from the cartridge side. Simply holding it under the tap with a steady stream (does not need to be gushing) water can also help.

I can't imagine (but have no proof other than appearance) that the P30 nib and feeds are any different from the M20 and M30 nib and feeds which are friction fit and can be pulled out the front of the pen. This is not easy to do due to the slant of the feed and semi-hooded nib but it is not impossible.

Edit: But that is an excellent way to get the cracks at the corners as previously described. The attempt is not without risk.

Here is a picture of an M20 (the piston version of the silver trim model) innards where you can see the nib and feed removed.
14542

[bananhunden]

You, sir, are a frickin' genius!

My first thought was that a Pelikan ink should have no problems working in a Pelikan pen

Apparently I was quite wrong.

I Googled around a bit, found out that Noodler's ink is quite wet and then I remembered that I had a bottle of Red Black lying around

I thought it was worth a try so I emptied out the old Pelikan cartridge and gave it a shot of ink

I didn't have an actual syringe to fill the cartridge so my desk and hands look like crime scene right now but I did manage to fill 'er up

Lo and behold, it worked like a charm!

It's almost too much now ;-)

Man, I'm stoked, this thing actually works!

You guys saved my day(, and my wallet. DK FP repair shops are evil...)

Thanks a lot!


I have never needed a brass shim larger than .002" and definitely not a razor blade.

Pelikan inks are somewhat dry by nature. Have you used the same ink in another pen for comparison?

Also, if you have a ear cleaning bulb you can force water through the feed from the cartridge side. Simply holding it under the tap with a steady stream (does not need to be gushing) water can also help.

I can't imagine (but have no proof other than appearance) that the P30 nib and feeds are any different from the M20 and M30 nib and feeds which are friction fit and can be pulled out the front of the pen. This is not easy to do due to the slant of the feed and semi-hooded nib but it is not impossible.

Edit: But that is an excellent way to get the cracks at the corners as previously described. The attempt is not without risk.

Here is a picture of an M20 (the piston version of the silver trim model) innards where you can see the nib and feed removed.