Montblanc 146 refill-mechanism knob not turning

[desperatemb]

Hey guys,

I'm close to killing myself due to my piston knob being stuck. I wanted to refill my Meisterstück 146 fountain pen today and instead of activating the drawing mechanism by turning the knob, I removed the piston completely and thereby found out that the drawing mechanism is somehow stuck. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance. My life is in your hands.

suicidal mb-user from GermanyIMG_1572.jpg

[Chrissy]

First of all, calm down and don't worry too much. This can happen and is actually more common than you might think.

There are two ways to approach this. Either try and fix it yourself, or send the whole caboodle off to Montblanc and your pen will come back looking like it's brand new, with several new replacement parts plus a 1 year guarantee on them for about $70. (It depends on where in the world you are.)

To try and fix it yourself might prove to be futile anyway, because inside that end cone is a a piece of twisted black plastic. It may already be broken. If it isn't, it may break when you try to twist the piston cone. Or it may unhinge itself from a small C clip inside the end of the cone and it's a real fiddle to get it back in there.

If you still want to try, then start by immersing the whole thing in a mug of warm water and leave it for a few hours. Then carefully try it to see if it unscrews.

If it doesn't then I would then dry it very well and squirt some WD-40 in there (you might have something similar for freeing moving metal parts) I would then leave it again, to let that soak through and see if it will unscrew after that treatment.

You need some sort of rubber grips to help you grip the cone in one hand and the other end of the piston in the other. But only hold the piston in the middle of the brass part. Whatever you do don't get the pliers out and touch either of the parts with them as that will guarantee a return to Montblanc.