Hard Starting

[Inknoob]

Pen is a Monteverde Impressa. Honestly, 5 in 10 startups it doesn't start for maybe half a stroke. But once it starts, it's great (wet, smooth). What are some ways to troubleshoot this before sending it to Monteverde for repair? I've already flushed it with soapy water various times and also aligned the tines. This happened with a prior stub nib that was on the pen but the nib was replaced because it flat out wrote awfully. The current nib writes fine as I mentioned but has its few hardstarts. Also, when unused, the pen always sits horizontal

Aren't those brass sheets that fit between the tines sold by Goulet used to fix this?

Thanks!

Edited November 23, 2014 by Inknoob

[SujiCorp12345]

Have you tried switching inks and paper? It's possible that they might be the problem.

[Inknoob]

Have tried switching inks. As for paper, I'm using a Mead notebook. It it smooth to touch but it's sure not 80g paper. It even gives my Metropolitan which I would say works well 95% of the time some hard starts here and there. Could that be it? I just want to make sure the pen is fine.

[pendexter]

I had a Monte Verde pen back in the day, and the hard starting nib pushed me away from fountain pens for 10 years before I got a Lamy Safari and realized that fountain pens had the potential to not suck...

 

Hard starts might mean an issue with the nib. They may be misaligned or have baby's bottom. Take a close look and see if there's anything obviously wrong with it. i.e. one tine is shorter or higher than the other. A lot of times, micro-mesh can take care of hard starting issues, but you can mess up your nib if you go overboard with it. Taking it back to the store would be the safest move.

 

The most important thing to remember is that a pen that does not write is not acceptable and/or normal. It's either the nib, feed, paper/ink, or your grip. But every modern pen should be able to write smoothly and put down a line every time the nib touches the paper. Unfortunately there are some pens that require the services of a nibmeister to get them to that state.

[Inknoob]

I will definitely be considering doing the repair considering they have offered it to me.

[Chi Town]

95% of the time, you don't need to smooth the nib, you need to adjust the tines. Goulet sells a kit for this. Once the tines are adjusted, you might need to come back here and report your progress, so that we can guide you further into nib tweeking.

[Inknoob]

The Goulet tuning kit includes: Goulet Loupe, brass sheets, mylar paper set, and Micro-Mesh.

 

I have a loupe already that matches the strength on the Goulet loupe, and the mylar paper/micro-mesh would be used for smoothing. I would just need brass sheets correct?

 

Also, gave it a quick look in the loupe and didn't find a baby's bottom.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Inknoob

[pendexter]

I will definitely be considering doing the repair considering they have offered it to me.

 

 

You might want to let them repair it, and buy a used pen if you really want to adjust a nib. You can get a vintage Sheaffer fountain pen for a couple of bucks on eBay.

 

If you don't see any baby's bottom and the tines are not out of adjustment... I'm not sure what exactly you are looking to do with the brass shims. They are used to floss out gunk from between the tines, and could also be used to widen the gap between the tines to increase wetness.

 

 

Check out sbrebrown on youtube. He has a fountain pen tuning playlist on his youtube channel, and you can kill time watching those videos while you wait for your pen to get back from the shop. There are a few tips on adjusting nibs and hard starts, but you're going to have to hunt a little bit. It may be in the video on baby's bottom.

 

EDIT: watch his "How to get rid of baby's bottoms on a nib" video...

Edited November 23, 2014 by pendexter

[Bo Bo Olson]

Let them fix your pen, hard starting is not a smoothing problem.

[FountainPenCowgirl]

A problem for both Monteverde pens I own (won't be a third, shouldn't have been a second). I eventually got one to work by switching inks. The one that worked: DA Aubergine. I hemorrhages ink. Never got the second to work - gave up trying.

[Inknoob]

Okay. I think I'll just have them repair the pen. Should I be seeing light through my tines? I currently see no light.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Inknoob

[Moshe ben David]

I didn't see in your posts which ink you are using. Some (Pelikan for example) typically are dryer writing than others. Others (e.g., Waterman, Diamine) are typically wetter.

 

Additionally, inks with a significant red component tend to dry quicker which can be a factor. Blue inks on the other hand don't.

[LamyOne]

Okay. I think I'll just have them repair the pen. Should I be seeing light through my tines? I currently see no light.

 

Hello Inknoob,

 

A good working pen should be able to write on any paper, with any ink - that is how it should be at any rate.

 

I also know there is a common consensus that you should be able to see a tapered ray of light in between the tines; however, I do not see any light coming though my Lamy nibs and almost all of them, (around 14, so far), are "instant on," wet writers - even with the closed slits, (I think that "rule of thumb" of light through the tines may apply more to vintage nibs than modern ones).

 

At any rate, I would give the brass sheets a try. Last night, I took my Asa Athlete, (an Indian ebonite Eyedropper), which had a lot of start-up issues, (probably the worst I've ever experienced - I would have to shake it and "write" around three or four sentences and/or make a lot of "dots and dashes" before it would start actually writing). I flossed the tines around four or five times last night with .002" brass shim and the pen is writing beautifully now. No more really hard starts and it is much wetter than before too! YMMV, but flossing the tines on that Athlete ED made all the difference in the world for me.

 

You may want to give that a try before you send it away for repairs - that said, I will also add that Monteverde pens have a chronic history for this type of problem - if I would have gotten a buck for every time I've read someone complaining about their Monteverde skipping or hard starting, I could buy a new MB, (or at least have a down-payment on one).

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited November 24, 2014 by LamyOne

[Inknoob]

I should have ordered some Brass Sheets in my previous Goulet order LamyOne. Too late now, as I've mailed the pen already for repair.

 

For those who have experience with pen repairs, how long does something like this usually take? This pen and I are inseparable as soon as it touches paper

[sirgilbert357]

I should have ordered some Brass Sheets in my previous Goulet order LamyOne. Too late now, as I've mailed the pen already for repair.

 

For those who have experience with pen repairs, how long does something like this usually take? This pen and I are inseparable as soon as it touches paper

Even if it's only a week, it can seem like a month. Kill time and distract your mind by researching inks, paper, or other pens!

[redisburning]

sounds like a poor cap seal based on what you've described.

 

if you don't stop using it, does it continue to write without issue basically indefinitely? that would suggest dry-out.

 

some inks are better at resisting dry out than others, but this may be pen specific though.

[Inknoob]

It does eventually start skipping so it probably isn't the cap as you suggested.

 

Anyways, I've sent the pen for repair. Hopefully it gets back quickly. Despite the Impressa not being great out of the box, it is a beautiful pen. When it does work, it writes really smooth and wet. The Monteverde rep I spoke to told me to leave her name on the repair paperwork to make sure I get priority on the repair list, so +1 for Monteverde customer service I guess.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Inknoob