Lamy 2000 Section Issue

Hi all,

Thanks again for all of the help, knowledge, and advice you have offered as I've fallen face first into this awesome section of B&B!

I received a Lamy 2000 medium yesterday and I absolutely adore it, but I'm having a problem with it.

The pen is loaded up with Iroshizuku Kon-Peki.

I recently picked up the pen after it had sat for a few hours (college football drew me from my nibstuffs momentarily...) and I witnessed that the pen had some wildly excessive nib creep and/or leaking. The ink was basically covering the entire section. A few questions about this.

1) will this be a semi-regular occurrence? If so I have a hard time carrying this and depending on it.

2) now that it's cleaned up, the cap is still lined with ink so every time I uncap it there is a new ring of ink around the section. Any advice on how to clean the ink that's in there?

3) do any of you have any practical tips on avoiding a repeat performance of this annoying phenomenon?

Thanks again for all of your past and future help!

BB

Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a pic until after the seventh or eighth time I tried to clean out the cap.
It's more faint now, but here's a line of ink around the section.

That has never happened to my 2000. Was it laying flat, or nib up/down?

To clean the cap out I run some water in it, then fill it about half way and cover the opening with my finger and shake it. Repeat until cap is clean. Then, roll up a napkin or paper towel and shove it in the cap to dry it out.

could the pen have fallen off the desk/table when you walked away from it?

Thanks for the reply, Dave.

It spent about half of its capped time nib up in a leather sheath in my pocket. The other half of the capped time was spent horizontally on the dining room table.

I don't know, I never had mine leak like that. Were you moving around a lot, was the game exciting, maybe jump up and down for a touchdown?

I'm kidding, but I would leave the pen sitting for a while to see if the ink leaks out again. If it does, I would think there may be something wrong with the pen because ink shouldn't just leak out like that.

Its possible after the fill you didnt clean the access ink from the intake hole it sucks ink up through, and it found its way back out into the cap. You really need to be sure to clean that area, My TWSBI Vac is bad for that. If your sure you did do that then Im not really sure either, I would keep an eye on it see if it happens again

syngent said:

Its possible after the fill you didnt clean the access ink from the intake hole it sucks ink up through, and it found its way back out into the cap. You really need to be sure to clean that area, My TWSBI Vac is bad for that. If your sure you did do that then Im not really sure either, I would keep an eye on it see if it happens again

Click to expand...

James, I didn't pay any special attention to that hole after filling so that makes sense.

I did note that the filling/intake hole was very inky when I first noticed the problem.

Any specific tips for cleaning that hole?

Well, that hole appears to have been the culprit!

After reading Syngent's comment, I very gently touched that hole and observed a drop of ink leaving the hole on my finger.

I gently flushed the intake hole with water from a syringe then dried the area on a paper towel to wick out any leftover moisture.

I'll be aware of that issue after filling from now on... thanks again!

nope just a piece of tissue paper to absorb the access ink that may run back down. When you fill the pen it sucks through there, some stays in the tube after the fill since when the pen is full there is no where for it to go at that point, it may have just run back into the cap is all.

Ok, I just did a thorough flush and got a fresh fill from a new color so I'll know if any ink I see is new or old.

I paid careful attention to drying the intake hole.

I'll be bobbling and tilting the pen while we watch the game and a Netflix episode of the blacklist. Then I'll check the cap and pen. If it's clean after a few hours of fiddling, it will no doubt be good to go

Thanks again!

no trouble, hope its all alright for you

To avoid the issue you are having I pull the pen out of the ink before the piston is all the way up. I then turn the pen upside down and finish putting the piston all the way up. This sucks that ink out of the filler whole and into the piston ( I hope that makes some sense; I know what I'm trying to say, but it is hard to explain it in typing with out showing you)

that made sense to me Justin

That made sense to me also. HOWever, I just had a peek at the section and it's leaking again.

Maybe I was a little to jiggly with my testing so now it's just sitting nib up in my pocket I'll check it again before bed.

Montblanc and Pelikan advise returning a few drops back to the bottle, flipping the pen and tightening the fill knob. It needs a little airspace.

I'm not sure if Lamy piston fillers need it too, perhaps it was over-filled.

Just to throw another "maybe" into the mix, is it possible that the piston knob is slightly turning while it's in your pocket? You know, like when you want to use your Chapstick only to pull the lid off and see a 1/4 inch sticking up.

I'm not saying to "crank your piston" ( did I just turn this thread into something besides a pg rating? ), just wondering if the piston is moving slightly.

nemo said:

Montblanc and Pelikan advise returning a few drops back to the bottle, flipping the pen and tightening the fill knob. It needs a little airspace.

I'm not sure if Lamy piston fillers need it too, perhaps it was over-filled.

Click to expand...

The directions that came with my Lamy 2000 say to put three drops back into the bottle by twisting the end cap slowly with the nib above the ink bottle. You then invert the nib, point it towards the ceiling, and close the end cap. This will clear the hole. It also leaves a bit of air space with the ink supply.

Wipe off the nib and you are good to go.

(I also had the "ink in the cap" issue. This did put ink on the section. The good news is the pen was capped and it fell point down onto the carpet/mat. I didn't drop it. Our fine cat pushed it off the sink. I flushed it with warm water. Half filled it and shook... Flushed again... Flicked out the water and used Sally's hair blower on warm to dry it out.) No cats were harmed during this process.

nemo said:

Montblanc and Pelikan advise returning a few drops back to the bottle, flipping the pen and tightening the fill knob. It needs a little airspace.

I'm not sure if Lamy piston fillers need it too, perhaps it was over-filled.

Click to expand...

Yes! That's what I was trying to say Doug

nemo said:

Montblanc and Pelikan advise returning a few drops back to the bottle, flipping the pen and tightening the fill knob. It needs a little airspace.

I'm not sure if Lamy piston fillers need it too, perhaps it was over-filled.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this! It will also come in handy when I fill my first Pelikan (to be received tomorrow).