Pelikan M100 Piston Dates

[Jeph]

Here is a picture of a pair of Pelikan M100 piston units. They are both the same length although the picture does not show that. The upper one is like I am used to seeing. It has a greyish white piston seal and a pair of circumferential sealing rings below two groups of vertical retention splines. The lower one has a clear piston seal and 4 circumferential sealing rings with no retention splines. Both piston housings have the numeral “2” vibro-etched into the housing.

Does anyone know what approximate date range each of those piston units were used in production?

M100 Piston Pair.jpg

Edit: The barrels are different also.

The first barrel goes with the upper piston. Rings deep in the barrel and vertical splines above that. This is what I am used to seeing in friction fit piston barrels other than the early 400’s.
Yes, I know about the crack. I see that more than I should.

The second barrel goes with the lower piston. Rings all the way down the interface with the piston housing. This what was my early 50's 400 barrels with friction fit piston units and nib units have.

I had to crank up the brightness and contrast in both pictures so that you can see the details if you are wondering why the pictures look a little strange

M100 Standard Barrel.jpgM100 Ringed Barrel Barrel.jpg

[Tony Rex]

The top one is the earlier model. I can't pinpoint the exact year they shift, but it's like that until at least 1990, cos mine stopped production on that year, same style.

[Marktrain]

The bottom one is from the mid 80's. Pelikan added the lateral ridges in the late 80's to better hold the piston unit in place. The clear vinyl seals were used in the 80's, the white (rubber?) seals were used in the early to mid 90's, and the black (rubber?) seals were used thereafter.

Mark

[Tony Rex]

The bottom one is from the mid 80's. Pelikan added the lateral ridges in the late 80's to better hold the piston unit in place. The clear vinyl seals were used in the 80's, the white (rubber?) seals were used in the early to mid 90's, and the black (rubber?) seals were used thereafter.

Mark

Ah. You're right. Massive brain fart, I got 80s and 90s mixed up. This one is from '85-89, with ridges. So, the bottom must be older still..

[xaquib666]

Hi Jeph,

I have got a Pelikan 100, attached you can see the Pictures. However the piston is stuck. It moves only a little and gets stuck. I am not sure if it is a cork fitted or rubber as I do not know how to open the piston. Could you please tell me how you opened the piston?

Thanks.

11.JPG

[Tony Rex]

Xaquib,

That's a 100N, this is an M100 thread. But we are cool here so you'll need to do this:


nib - barrel - [connector] - grip

The piston connector is reverse threaded. So to open, with the nib facing down, rotate the connector clockwise against the barrel. As you can see only very little exposed of the connector between the barrel and the grip. Use an anti slip rubber to get a better grip, and make sure you don't over tighten the grip (blind cap) while rotating the connector as it might crack. As everything can and will crack on pens this old.



Disclaimer: Despite the above, I strongly urge you to get someone experienced to do it. It looks simple but lot can go wrong. Replacement parts are almost impossible to get.

Tony

[Jeph]

Tony has it covered with great pictures, especially about the significant chance of catastrophic failure.

The barrel threads get brittle, and the reverse threads give people fits. That is a nice looking pen and looks worthy of professional attention. I usually add some light heat and use a rubber strap to unscrew the piston housing. If it does not unscrew readily I would not force it. I know what I am doing (sort of) and I have broken 2 barrels myself.

The 100N should have a rubber piston seal. Those seals are about the only parts you can get and then they don't quite fit properly.

[Red Harry N. G.]

This might be a noob-ish question, but oh well.

Is it normal that some ink is trapped between the piston seal and the wall of the body? Or is this a sign of a seal not sealing properly?

I've always thought the front of the piston (pointing to the nib) is where it seals, and nothing was supposed to go behind that point, but now I hope I've been wrong the whole time.

The seal in question is grey, below is the photo of the whole situation.