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Troublesome Messy Kaweco Al Sport


ink-syringe

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Hi. I am a lurker who finally bit the bullet and signed up. I have lurked mostly because I don’t have much to say yet and because my fountain pen experience has so far been super fun and low maintenance. There is just so much great information out there about care and maintenance for your pens. I am afraid I have de-lurked to troubleshoot a nightmare pen.



I have a Kaweco AL sport. I have had NOTHING but trouble with this disaster of pen so far. What a mess.



It has already been back for repair once. The thing is a chaos. It burps, it skips, it blobs. Then it settles down gets going and works great. Really lays down a nice line. Great flow and really fantastic nib. Really a good writer. It will generally stay that way after if burps and settles down, till it is empty.



So long as you fill it, use it, cap it and leave it on the desk it is fine.



BUT … The moment you start walking around with it you end up in fountain pen hell again. Total mess. Ink just everywhere.



I have NEVER had a pen cause this much trouble. I have a small army of Lamy, Pilots, Waterman, Fabers, etc.



This thing is just the most frail little diva of a pen. But the fact that it is really solid aluminum and screw cap suggest that it is a great sturdy grab and go walk around pen. That is exactly what I got it for. I thought it would be a tough little workhorse pen for my job. It isn’t, or at least mine isn’t.



I swear I have wasted more ink in this thing and more time fiddling with it than writing. Generally, any of my Lamy pens, my Pilots, my Faber LOOM just go in my pockets or in my pack and work pretty much any time I pull them out and write with them.



EVERY SINGLE TIME I call on my Kaweco Al Sport it looks like some one threw it into a puddle of ink.



Are Kawecos all like this? Did I get a lemon? I got it at the Fountain Pen Hospital in NY a few weeks ago but I am not in the US any more.



I paid to get it serviced here in Korea and when I got it back it just would not write. Then I burped it with the converter and loaded it and it was great. So, I got excited about the pen decided I would use it, stuck it in my pack and went into town. I sat down with a coffee and a note pad, grabbed the pen and BLAMO ink everywhere all over again.



I took it back a second time and the dealer went through the pen again. Cleaned it, really gave it a lot of love. I let it dry, loaded it up again and just the same as before. Writes great at the desk, I got all excited. I put it in my pocket went out for lunch, grabbed the pen to make some notes while waiting and the pen is a mess again. The wheel goes round.



Is there something I am doing wrong? I have a Lamy Vista in my pack that goes with me everywhere, same as my Pilot Knight (great pen!) and the LOOM. I never had these problems with leaking and blobbing. They are all on the same trip. Only the Kaweco is a mess each and every time.






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Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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I wonder, are you using it as an eyedropper? Or with cartridge? Or with the tiny Kaweco squeeze converter? (No other converters will fit)

 

If you use it as an eyedropper, please try with a normal standard international cartridge.

 

I use mine with cartridges without problems.

 

 

D.ick

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KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

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No eyedropper here (only works with plastic anyway).

 

I started with cartridges (Kaweco brand) and I also have the short squeeze converter.

 

Both give the exact same insanely messy results.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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Al Sport is usually a very well behaved pen that withstands rough treatment. However i have read about a few bad specimen.

 

As the person said before, if you are using converter please try a different one or a cartidge.

 

 

BTW. Al sports should not be used as eyedroppers.

Non notisi signi.

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Al Sport is usually a very well behaved pen that withstands rough treatment. However i have read about a few bad specimen.

 

As the person said before, if you are using converter please try a different one or a cartidge.

 

BTW. Al sports should not be used as eyedroppers.

 

Again. I know that the AL pens should not be used as an eyedropper. That's established.

 

Again, I am using the Kaweco converter and Kaweco cartridges, Have tried both. Same results.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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Sometimes the nib/feed may not be seated properly. The nib assembly should screw out from the section, then the nib and feed can be pulled from the collar. Clean the parts, check that there aren't any defects and that the nib looks good, dry and put it back together. If the problem still persists, see if Kaweco can send you a new nib unit.

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I had a Liliput that did this a couple of times and as Namru said it was down to the nib & feed not sitting correctly. To fix my problem I unscrewed the nib unit, then I took the nib & feed out of the collar and gave everything a good clean in soapy water and left them to dry. Once the parts were dry I fit the nib & feed into the collar then screwed the collar into the section making sure it was tight, for some reason if not screwed in tightly they can loosen a little which can cause ink leaks, after doing all this I've had no more problems with my Liliput and have acquired 2 Sport ALs and have had no issues with any of them.

 

After fitting either a cartridge or converter double check that the nib unit is still tightly in place as I've found I twist a little as I push them into place which can loosen the nib unit a bit. There's not a lot to go wrong with the AL pens so if this doesn't work it can really only be one of two things, either the nib unit is faulty(which should be easy to replace) or there's a tiny manufacturing fault in the section which is letting ink seep out(which Kaweco should replace under warranty).

 

Hope this helps :)

Edited by andymcc
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We've, already done that, of course but it is possible that when we assembled the pen we still did not fit the nib and feed together correctly even then. This pen has been apart a couple of times but perhaps the third time is the charm. Hate to keep loosing ink :( it is a bummer. In any case if I was the one who did it I would certainly be looking at user error as the likely cause (though I have successfully cleaned and reassembled my other pens).... But this was Kaweco's authorized repair guy who went over this pen. I'll ask him to try again. It is entirely possible you are right. What a PIA.

 

On the plus side there were a couple really nice looking new Kaweco pens I was lusting after and considering (the new yellow and vintage blue pens, the brass wave pen, even a raw AL sport) so maybe my list just got a whole lot shorter. Heh.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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FWIW I've had similar problems with a discontinued version of the Kaweco Sport.

 

I've spent years with the Kaweco Sport “Metallic” version at meetings. They have puked ink at times. I suspect that what's happening is that the Metallic models' plastic conducts heat well, and that my hand is heating the air in the cartridge, this results in ink getting pushed out.

 

I unscrewed the nib/feed/collar/section of one Kaweco Sport Metallic that had been puking ink all the time, and I screwed it into the barrel of a Kaweco Sport Ice model. It hasn't puked ink at all, after maybe a year or so. But of course the Ice model's plastic is not as tough as the plastic used on the Metallic model.

 

I wonder if maybe the Metallic version of the Kaweco Sport was discontinued for exactly this reason.

 

On a sacred quest for the perfect blue ink mixture!

ink stained wretch filling inkwell

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Oof! Not a great outcome on this one.

 

This pen, brand new, is defective according to the authorized repair guy here. Something wrong that prevents the thing from staying together (section, feed, nib) in the right way. Not sure what exactly but I will find out when I see him face to face (he called me).

 

The authorized Kaweco guy here says I have to deal with the place that I bought it from. Which is, of course 7000 miles away in New York. So even if they offer to fix it for free the shipping to and from the retailer (who is only going to send it back to Germany anyway likely) is prohibitive. I'll end up spending a small fortune. I already spent enough time, money and ink.

 

Looks like I got a lemon and guess have 2 options: I can throw more money at the problem and end up with the world's most expensive AL Sport. Or cut my losses and forget this pen (and brand) all together.

 

For the amount of money it would cost to get it working I could have gotten a Caran d'Ache or something sexy that has a lifetime worldwide warranty.

 

grrr. I am sure Kaweco makes some great pens. I love the designs, and a great nib, but I just threw away about $100 and have nothing to show for it. Well, I got the cute tin I guess and the world worst converter. heh.

Edited by ink-syringe

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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Oof! Not a great outcome on this one.

 

This pen, brand new, is defective according to the authorized repair guy here. Something wrong that prevents the thing from staying together (section, feed, nib) in the right way. Not sure what exactly but I will find out when I see him face to face (he called me).

 

The authorized Kaweco guy here says I have to deal with the place that I bought it from. Which is, of course 7000 miles away in New York. So even if they offer to fix it for free the shipping to and from the retailer (who is only going to send it back to Germany anyway likely) is prohibitive. I'll end up spending a small fortune. I already spent enough time, money and ink.

 

Looks like I got a lemon and guess have 2 options: I can throw more money at the problem and end up with the world's most expensive AL Sport. Or cut my losses and forget this pen (and brand) all together.

 

For the amount of money it would cost to get it working I could have gotten a Caran d'Ache or something sexy that has a lifetime worldwide warranty.

 

grrr. I am sure Kaweco makes some great pens. I love the designs, and a great nib, but I just threw away about $100 and have nothing to show for it. Well, I got the cute tin I guess and the world worst converter. heh.

http://www.cultpens.com/i/q/KW17551/kaweco-replacement-steel-nib-chrome-finish

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I'll try to suggest a new nib but the repair guy seemed to suggest that the problem was a defect in the section. I will try to get more details but honestly throwing another $20+ at this $80 pen hoping maybe it will work is kind of an iffy proposition at this point.

 

He (again the Kaweco authorized distributer & repair guy) seemed to suggest that he has seen this before and in his words "the problem is in the section" meaning you can stuff new nibs and feeds in there till the cows come home and it is still going to burp ink if the section is misshapen.

 

We'll see. I have a feeling this pen will just end up in the trash. I want the pen but I don't want to get sucked down the sunk cost rabbit hole.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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I'll try to suggest a new nib but the repair guy seemed to suggest that the problem was a defect in the section. I will try to get more details but honestly throwing another $20+ at this $80 pen hoping maybe it will work is kind of an iffy proposition at this point.

 

He (again the Kaweco authorized distributer & repair guy) seemed to suggest that he has seen this before and in his words "the problem is in the section" meaning you can stuff new nibs and feeds in there till the cows come home and it is still going to burp ink if the section is misshapen.

 

We'll see. I have a feeling this pen will just end up in the trash. I want the pen but I don't want to get sucked down the sunk cost rabbit hole.

 

The plastic collar of the nib assembly is basically a section, or acts as it. The reason being that you don't want ink in contact with the metal parts of the pen. Technically the nib unit with a cartridge installed is all the pen needs to write. The metal section has no bearing on whether the pen functions or not.

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Ah. Thanks for that. I have (as you can guess) a pretty limited understanding of how that pen actually works, plus it is on his desk, not mine so this is quite helpful. Thank you.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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Just bumped into this conversation by accident. There are, as usual, two ways to rip out the nib/feed. The wrong way is to just rip it out right away leaving the collar in the section/grip, the right way is to unscrew the nib/feed with the collar and then rip the nib/feed out of the collar. The first method will eventually damage (or crack) the collar and/or the feed causing leakage.*

Hope it's not to late, a replacement set (collar, nib in required size except italics, feed) will cost only about $ 10 plus stamps (it's € 8.50 in EU).

 

*This is for the AL versions, the classic does not have the collar construction and can be ripped apart right away.

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It is a little hard to explain what happened, but I ended up having to pay to exchange the pen here in Korea since I did not buy it here. I now have the worlds most expensive AL Sport.

 

I spent $80 on the original pen. $50 on a replacement. So I ended up paying even more than I would have had I just bought the darned thing here in the first place.

 

Korea is a horrible place to buy pens, everything here is much more expensive. A Kaweco Al Sport is generally about $110 here in brick and mortar stores.

 

The good:

 

1) I was able to get one that works (so far so good). This nib is a bit dry and scratchy compared to the old one but I did load it up, write with it, cap it, and walk around with it all day in my pocket, take it out multiple times to try it and it did not puke or burp up any ink at all so far. I'll have to work on the nib. I don't love it but otherwise really like the pen.

 

2) I have a clean brand new pen instead of the ink stained messy one.

 

The bad: Wow was that a lot of money, time, bus trips, and wasted ink.

 

Lesson learned: If you buy a pen on the road, buy it early. USE IT A LOT AND MAKE SURE IT WORKS. Or check to see the manufacturer will back the product worldwide.

Looking for a cap for a Sheaffer Touchdown Sentinel Deluxe Fat version

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