Pelikan 100N issue

[MarcoA64]

Good day everyone, I'm looking for a piston shaft for this pen. It leaked ink from the turning knob. I removed the nib assembly and blown into the barrel, no air leaks. The piston seal is the modern plastic one.
I removed the whole piston block and noticed that the seal was crooked on the end of the shaft it is attached to. Trying to remove the seal it broke the end of the shaft holder. So now I'm looking for a spare piston shaft.
Who can point me in the correct direction? Battersea pens don't have Pelikan parts. Ebay the same, Westeridge the same.

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Thank you
Marco

[ralfstc]

Hi,

You should write to protopens and see if this will fit: https://www.protopens.com/vintage-pe....html?___SID=U

I seem to recall a change in the helix at some point, but even so, it's probably worth risking the small amount of money to see if it fits.

Cheers,

Ralf

[MarcoA64]

Ralf, thank you very much. I wrote them and now waiting for an answer. I've read that the 100N can mount rods from the 120, 140 and 400 pens, so this looks correct. I don't know about the seal dimension though. These 'alternative' rods are shorter than the 100N as well so it has to be carefully inserted on the helix in order for it to not push out the seal once it is retracted all the way. Let's see. Could be that shipping to UK kills the find :-(

[MarcoA64]

I found a seller on ebay that has a rod with cork from a 100 will it fit the 100N?

[christof]

I found a seller on ebay that has a rod with cork from a 100 will it fit the 100N?

No, definitely not. The thread of the spindle of a Pelikan 100 with cork seal is different to the later ones with plastic seal, regardless if Pelikan 100, 100N or others.

I could send you a replacement piston rod, but I don't have any piston seals left.

[MarcoA64]

@Christof, thank you for the offer. These seals I found on ebay, fit ? This is the seller's ad 131584635036
Thank you

[christof]

Yes, this seals may fit. And if not, they could be slightly adjusted/grinded to fit.

As far as I understand David Nishimura, are there several sizes to try out which one fits best.

[MarcoA64]

ROD UPDATE. The rod has arrived and I inserted it in place, it goes up and down perfectly.
One thing that puzzles me is that the plastic seal may not be the correct size. How can I tell? If I blow smoke through the section, nib and feed removed, this escapes from the back of the pen. I have smothered a dab of silicone grease inside the barrel and moved the rod up and down a few times before doing the 'blow' test. I might need to get Nishimura's seals ?

[mana]

ROD UPDATE. The rod has arrived and I inserted it in place, it goes up and down perfectly.
One thing that puzzles me is that the plastic seal may not be the correct size. How can I tell? If I blow smoke through the section, nib and feed removed, this escapes from the back of the pen. I have smothered a dab of silicone grease inside the barrel and moved the rod up and down a few times before doing the 'blow' test. I might need to get Nishimura's seals ?

A much better test for the seal integrity is to screw the piston into the frontmost position, whet one of your fingers, place it on top of the opening in the section and then, retract the piston to the backmost position. If the seal holds doing the previous should create lower pressure inside the barrel and the pen/barrel should suck firmly on your finger. If it doesn't, the seal leaks.

I actually needed to replace one smaller diameter seal (black/transparent) with one of the green ones from David this summer. Could be differences in tolerances, wear in barrel/seal, etc. I had used that one for several years now so it could be just that the seal itself had worn also.

[MarcoA64]

@mana, I tried your 'trick' as well. There is no suction at all. There is no suction on the wet finger by the retracting piston

[christof]

if the piston does not produce a vacuum, it looks like the seal has shrunk. this is quite common with these vintage neoprene seals. but the seals from david works quite well.

[MarcoA64]

thank you Christof
Have a nice year end and new beginning👍🏻

[christof]

same to you!

[MarcoA64]

while waiting for the new seals I've tried to use the previous seal by attaching it to the new rod. The seal+rod assembly works much better than before.
Unfortunately there is no suction at all when I place my wet finger at the section end of the barrel and I turn the piston upwards. I really have to wait for the new seals from USA.
I have put some silicone grease on the knob's helix as well. The rod goes up almost all the way and does not apply any undue force to the system at its highest point.
Is there something else that I have to when I'll finally reassemble the piston or not, beside having an air tight seal?

[MarcoA64]

UPDATE AND FINALISED
The seals arrived yesterday. This afternoon I had a bit of time to do 'heart' surgery to the pen. I started with a black seal which fit perfectly on the piston rod. Unfortunately for whichever reason it was too tight and so forcing it into the barrel worked but when I tried to pull the piston up the knob came off from the twirly rod that screws inside the rod. No panic, removed the black seal and went with the white one that I had covered in silicnoe grease. This went a bit better but still the knob came off a couple more times. Anyway I solved it and got it to work. It is all friction fit, amazing. The pen is now inked and am already filling in my journal pages. Nishimura's seals are a really good investement and they were delivered to UK from USA in 'only' 10 days with no extra custom duties as well :-) I'm so happy

[dneal]

I’ve used them as well. Good seals.

Glad to hear it all worked out.

[carlos.q]

UPDATE AND FINALISED
Anyway I solved it and got it to work. It is all friction fit, amazing. The pen is now inked and am already filling in my journal pages. […] I'm so happy

We all love happy endings! The 100N is a great pen.

[christof]

Thanks for the updated information. Glad to hear it worked out well.

[don_davito]

I found a seller on ebay that has a rod with cork from a 100 will it fit the 100N?

No, definitely not. The thread of the spindle of a Pelikan 100 with cork seal is different to the later ones with plastic seal, regardless if Pelikan 100, 100N or others.

I could send you a replacement piston rod, but I don't have any piston seals left.

Hey Christof,

Hope all is well. Do you have an extra piston rod (the shaft) for a Pelikan 100N? If so, how can I obtain one from you?

Best,

D

[don_davito]

So you used the piston rod from porto pens but what seals did you end up using? I have a similar issue with my 100N, the shaft cracked next to where the seal is