As a newbie to fountain pens the worst mistake was on the very first pen I bought. It was a Monteverde impressa, a lovely pen at a nice price. When I received the pen I took it out of the box and immediately inserted a cartridge. I couldn’t figure out why it didn’t write immediately. I proceeded to push down on the nib, shook it like crazy and when the ink finally started to flow the pen leaked all over the place. I learned the hard way. Wait 5-10 minutes, even with a converter, for the ink to find its own way to the nib before writing.
Thank you! My Platinum fine point is usually the problem for ink flow to nib issues, especially when the cartridge needs replacement. I sprayed my ready-made distilled water/alcohol on the nib to break-up the dry ink and shook the pen up and down. Worked well afterward.
My trickiest pen problem was a Pelikan 400 with one tine bent down, and a frozen piston and nib unit (was in a drawer for lord knows how mane decades). It was my grandfather's so that was the sweatiest repair I've ever done.
Hi ! I've used fountain pens all my life and I have used these tips more than once with great success. However in my (large) collection of fountain pens, I have two that have always posed a problem that I do not know how to adress : In both cases the nib writes very well at first, and start with a very generous flow ; writes for half a page, the flow progressively less generous, then the flow becomes meagre, then dries out progressively, then stops. In both cases, what seems to happen is that the pen actually writes as long as there is ink in the feed, but after that, something prevents the ink contained in the cartridge or converter to get to the feed. Both pens are cartridge concerters. In both cases, I have tried any trick I can think of, including but not limited to : Thoroughly cleaning the pen Changing inks (I have many inks but Waterman are my go to for "problem pens" and even these did not change anything to these two pens issue) Changing converters and changing cartridges Trying different papers Trying the pens in different situations, and at different températures. To no avail. The only solution in both cases, is to open the body of the pen and twist the converter to flood the feed - then the pen is back to work for half a page. But, opening and twisting every half page, gets old quite fast.... And the result is that I dont use these pens much. Which is a bummer because they are fancy good looking pens with great, great nibs (when they write). I add that both pens have been acting out like this since day one, and never improved. One is a Visconti Van Gogh with a dream touch palladium nib (it was available with this option in Europe, back when I got it) and the other is a Pineider Grande Belezza with gold quill nib. So you see why I'd like these pens to write as they should.... Anyone has an idea what can be done ? That I haven't tried yet.... Thank you for any input ! 😊
I had a Noodler's Ahab that did that once and traced it down to the same thing.. the feed. I pulled it out, rinsed it, gave it a good soak in pen flush for an hour and then a good scrub with a tooth brush. There was a little difference, but still not working right, so I took an exacto knife to it and deepened a couple of the air channels (that looked suspiciously shallow) going around the feed. Writes like a charm now. You shouldn't have to carve up a Pineider or Visconti feed to get it working though. Maybe there's a tiny bit of plastic or some other unnoticed crud blocking a channel?
@@DollyTheLlama thank you for the tip ! And you're right, I am not comfortable carving a Pineider feed as I would be carving a Noodler's feed... But that is something to look into ! I'll try and see if something is blocking the way. It cannot be dry ink since they have done that since day one.... But maybe the feed canals are not carved right. Thank you !
I agree with Dolly's comment in saying that the problem is probably in the feed. If you can remove the nib and feed to give it a good cleaning with some pen flush and a soft bristled toothbrush, it may improve your situation. Also, just make sure the nib and feed are fully set into the nib unit housing.
@@GoldspotPens thank you ! Unfortunately I have already tried that more than once, removing the nibs and feeds to clean them out with pen flush, and carefully replacing them, but to no avail. The only thing I have not tried yet is to carve the feeds. I dont feel comfortable carving such costly feeds myself, but at least I will try and see with a loupe if I can see something, and if the problem seems to be in the feeds canals. I have had fountain pens for all my life, and have been going through pens and tuning them, and maintening them, all my life.... and these two are amongst my most expensive pens but also the two pens that I never seemed to be able to make work properly. :( Thank you for the advice and I will look into these feed channels !
@@redmoonvenus7327 I hope that helps and you don't have to carve anything. I'd check into possible lifetime warranties and replacement feeds, if available (I'm not that familiar with those brands). That ink flow problem is so frustrating though. Good luck!
I have this Faber Castelle pen I bought years ago in a local supermarket. I used it for couple of times but suddenly it no longer writes though I haven't tried repairing it. One day I found the urge to use it again after I got interested in acquiring vintage pens. Thank you for this video. My FC pen is now working.
Ah, the trials of tuning... I often, quite often it appears, try to adjust a pen which is misbehaving rather than grab another one which is known to be consistently reliable. OCD I suppose. There have been occasions when I have moved feeds closer or further away from the tip of the nib, tried heat setting the nib and feed, and other times when I have widened or narrowed the space between the nib tines to increase or decrease ink flow. Even the more drastic measure of rechanneling the feed itself, which I don't recommend as it's not reverseable. It's all rather stupid since spending hours at potentially fruitless endeavors of this type could have been spent more happily drawing or writing. (c:
Thank you so much! You saved my new fountain pen. After putting extra pressure and no ink coming , i thought that it might not be the best thing to do. Then found this video, after a few shakes and two taps in the paper the problem was solved. Thank you!
Thank you. I just filled my Fathers Parker 51 and I still have ink leaking from the nib…not a lot, but enough to get my attention. I hope all it is is “Nib Creep…” ?? Not sure. But thanks for taking the time to make this video. It really helps!
When I filled my Lamy 2000 with Iroshizuku Kon Peki I saw that the ink was pooling around the nib-feed junction. This stopped when I re-inked it with Lamy ink, so I only use it in my 2000's, now.
When my pen won't start I just spit on the tip of my finger a lil bit then rub the nib of the pen a few times to get it flowing again. Almost always fixes it. Wetting a napkin then rubbing the nib also works if you really don't wanna get your finger all inky. I also find that writing in front of a fan can be quite problematic with a fountain pen, better to write in a less windy area so your pen nib doesn't dry out prematurely. You can either put the cap back on and wait, flood the feed or do the wet finger/ napkin method to get it started again, tho the fan will keep drying it out and it's probably better just to move than fight with the pen.
Ty my new fountain pen was not writing after initial ink fill followed your instructions and after doing many figure 8's it started to write. I learned to write with fountain pens with the nuns and basically I cannot write with anything but a fountain pen. Ty for this channel.😊😊😊❤
I had a beautiful gold parker pen which was a gift but it never worked properly and just lay in a drawer in its box. Then I invested in an ultrasonic jewellery cleaner - quite cheap, about $30.00 off ebay. A great buy, not only did it clean all my jewellery but after submerging the nib into the cleaner the gold parker pen started to write and has been trouble free ever since.
Outstanding video. I've been using and collecting fountain pens for 35 years. Learned alot. I have a bad habit of using a pen for awhile, then I put it down. For 'awhile' (could be years) and then it dries out. Argghhhh. Looking for a mild home remedy cleaning solution that will creep into the crevices and remove caked on old ink. Tried alcohol once and pretty sure it ruined my nice pen.
Tom dropping more knowledge bombs on us. I find once a converter is basically dry you can flood the last of it into the feed and push air into the bottom of the feed and get another paragraph or two of saturated writing as the flow dries up. Quite convenient if you switch inks a lot like I do.
amazing thank you!! I had two identical fountain pens and one was working well and the other wasn't and was totally at a loss. This video helped a lot! (had to wet it in water, now it's perfect). thanks!
I am a stub nib fan. If a pen has sat for a while, I usually use a rag that I have at my desk and wipe the nib to take off any dry ink. If that doesn’t work I prime it by forcing ink using the converter.
Once the nib of a Pelikan M805 fell out while I was writing ✍️ a messy “inkcident” - since then I usually have a roll of paper towels or blotter paper nearby.
It was especially bad because I was on the phone at the time taking notes. OOF - but thanks for this video - especially noting that not all inks flow as well.
G’day Tom from Australia I had trouble with my writing hand sweating & oily so I use blotting paper or I use laminated sheet just bigger then my hand & my wrist I enjoy your channel keep on going
Honestly it only happened to my Platinum Curidas. For a while I didn't understand why it wouldn't start until this morning when... lo and behold! The door would not shut when retracted!!!! I love click-clacking with this pen so much that it messes up when the cap stays closed and gets left open for long periods of time!
I'm new to fountain pens, first pen was a Lamy, now I'm trying a Preppy - latter was writing great then it stopped the next day... decided to try shaking it and I really wish I watched this video first and used a paper towel. There's blue dots all over my journal and white keyboard. It's working again though.
Thank you, I wish I would've found this video first, (by the time I found it, I had already pressed down on it very hard [it's my first fountain pen and therefore inexperienced.])
Man it's platinum prefounte..! I use nitrogen royal blue ink. I brought it for excitement of hearing 1 year no dry. But, I only face every problem on this pen..! Honestly I don't have any problems with other pen even cheapest pen like wing sung writes like a butter.. but this pen becomes pain in my ass..! Sometime it's dry too soon or sometime it's ink flow like ocean..😢 man I don't know what should I do..?
I’ve had Hard start and Ink flow issues with 3 pens so far : A brand new waterman Hemisphere, a Vintage Sheaffer TRZ 70 and a ‘New Old’ Pelikan Classic P381.. I have tried most of the tricks ( flushing out feed and converter, soaking them in water, changing inks, paper etc.. ), but nothing helped and I had to return those pens..
Thanks for your tips! My Lamy ink flow is not continuous - especially I changed the ink cartridge after not using for a while. It writes well and then suddenly it doesn’t come out especially on the particular angle. I shake it according to your advice and it works well. But it occurs again. Do you have any tip to fix this problem please?
Before you changed the ink cartridge, did you flush the pen with water? It sounds like the feed has residual, dried-up ink that is causing the flow problem. I would suggest removing the ink cartridge and then flushing the pen with water until it runs clear. Then, reinstall the ink cartridge.
I have a Montblanc that uses a piston converter and cartiridge. I get flow, but at times, ink will not come out when I go a certain direction. Once I start writing it will flow again, but occasionally not in that same direction. How can I fix that? I would like to have a constant flow at all times. By the way, I installed a new cartridge. Thank you!
My problem is :- my pen writes for a page or about five or six minutes then dries completely. If I flood it, it’s ok then problem starts all over again. Any help much appreciated.
@@GoldspotPens i have the same problem with my Lamy Safari and Waterman Serenity Blue, after writing a few pages the ink starts to dry off and then I've to flood the feeder time to time, cleaned the tines and everything still reoccuring, I can't even get other inks to test whether it will solve for now. Wish the ink flow was more consistent and did not require manual intervention time to time 🤲
@@GoldspotPens anyhow, I managed to find the culprit today, with much luck I managed to get the feeder off, it required some effort because it was glued shut by Lamy but I managed it and cleaned it. While re assembling I tested out how the actual ink flow mechanism worked, yk the capillary action and stuff, and I realised that as soon as the feeder top touches the ink, the flow is immediately actualised. So I thought to myself, what if the ink wasn't touching the feeder? Not a Sherlock Holmes level deduction, but eliminating things one by one. Now I did used to put the converter in how lamy wanted it to be, in the ridges and so on, but i realised that if I don't put it in the ridge but just rotate 90* I could go a little bit more into the pen and feeder. And guess what, now the ink touches the feeder, a difference of not even 2 mm and it makes a huge difference, it's much wet and writes as I would desire. So in conclusion, idk, isn't the measurements meant to be perfect? 1-2mm and it's a make or break ? Maybe it has to do with the ink or something idk, it works perfect now.
My Kanright heritage has starting problems. The first downward stroke is indistinct and there is less ink flow in specific direction strokes . Any way I can correct this?
I’ve recently bought a Pilot Metropolitan and it has some ink flow problems. It has some skips, like sometimes it stops from writing, but then, immediately starts writing again. I tried to wash it, but the problem is still there. Can you help, me, please!
I recommend sending it to a vintage pen repair specialist. I've used Aaron Svabik from Pentiques.com (no affiliation, just a happy customer) with good success.
Can u give me some advice on how to use hero fountain pens? i was given the 331 one and I have trouble refilling it so that it wrties for a longer than a minute
My fountain pen dries up and stops picking ink from the piston converter, then i have to push some ink with the help of the side slider on the converter. But as soon as the tip n reed becomes empty it never draws ink again. And the same process I have to repeat 5-6 times a day… is there any solution?
It sounds like there isn't any ink that naturally flows from the converter to the feeder. Do you ever have trouble filling the pen? It might be that the converter has a slight crack or isn't fitted tightly with the front section of the pen. You may want to obtain a new converter to see if that will remedy the issue.
@@GoldspotPens i don’t really have any issues filling the converter (with the pen’s tip) but it sometimes takes 2-3 attempts to fill the converter… i was also thinking the same thing… maybe there isn’t enough vacuum inside the converter ..
You need to flush the pen. If while flushing, no water comes out through the tines, feed is clogged and needs to be removed and cleaned, or replace. An ultrasonic cleaner may be necessary. Caution! Not all feeds/nibs can be removed.
It might be possible that the cap has dried ink inside that is making it stuck. To activate the dried ink and warm up the parts, I'd suggest running the area where the cap attaches to the barrel under running water.
None of your tips helped me. I have inserted several cartridges into my Diplomat aero and although I hear a popping sound when I insert the cartridge. none of the cartridges stay inserted. They just rattle around loose inside the pen, and of course the pen doesn't write. What am I doing wrong?
It could be possible you have the wrong type of fountain pen ink cartridges for your pen. Or, that the Diplomat's feedpost is broken and the cartridge can't attach securely to the feed. If you'd like, you can e-mail me a picture of your Diplomat pen open with the cartridge you're trying to fit into it. You can send me an e-mail at tom (at) Goldspot (dot) com
Decided to spend on a good quality ink pen recently, after a month i'm back to normal pens due to how often it gives me problems. What a disappointment man...
@@stephaniehyatt309 Glad to be of some service to the community. I wouldn't wish my experience with Visconti on anyone, and I'm far from alone on this.
