Estie ink flow issue

[ebird732]

My Estie with nib #9788 writes very well, however it has an annoying problem. When I first filled it, the pen laid down a medium, dark and wet line, verry pretty indeed. It wrote beautifully for about 3 pages, then the line became smaller and lighter, the nib became very scratchy as if I was writing with a pen running out of ink. However, I could squeeze out a lot of ink from the pen, so definitely the reason was not the lack of ink. I stopped for about half an hour, then started writing again. The pen produced a wet, dark line for half a page, then the same problem happened. I don't know the cause and would appreciate it if someone could help me understand what's happening with this pen. It's a lovely pen except the ink flow issue.

[FarmBoy]

Sounds like a plugged feed. Try a cycle through the ultrasonic cleaner or a fine wire down the feed channels.

 

Todd

[OcalaFlGuy]

This is my .02, I'm sure (and I hope) others will chime in too.

 

Generally that's the symptom of a clogged nib/feed.

 

Pull the nib, either soak it or sonicate (ultrasonic cleaner) it and power flush some water in thru the section end.

 

In worse cases you may want to find a very thin guitar string to floss it out with from the section end and/or some thin

plastic stock to floss the slit with.

 

To further complicate the issue, I myself had a similar issue with a couple of Estie nibs just after switching inks. I am relatively sure my issues weren't cloggage related but ink related, but I wouldn't bet my life on that either...

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[ebird732]

Thank you very much. I don't have a ultrasonic cleaner, so I'll have to remove the nib and section for cleaning. I use Parker Quink and it's a pretty safe ink, so I guess the problem was caused by clogged nib/feed.

 

Thanks again for your input.

[ZeissIkon]

The channels in the feed are small; it doesn't take a very big particle to clog them up and leave just the corners of the space for ink to pass. If this were a slit or feed gap issue, BTW, it'd do this much more quickly (one or two lines, roughly); what you're seeing is a full feed to start, but flow from the reservoir that doesn't match what the pen is laying down on the paper. You can get a .010" guitar string at any music store for three or four dollars -- that's enough wire to make a dozen or more feed reamers...

[OcalaFlGuy]

You can get a .010" guitar string at any music store for three or four dollars -- that's enough wire to make a dozen or more feed reamers...

 

ZI, I presume that would be the thinnest (on a 6 string) E string? If not, do you know which string will fit in the back of an Estie nib?

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[ZeissIkon]

You can get a .010" guitar string at any music store for three or four dollars -- that's enough wire to make a dozen or more feed reamers...

 

ZI, I presume that would be the thinnest (on a 6 string) E string? If not, do you know which string will fit in the back of an Estie nib?

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

I doubt you'll see that string mounted anywhere but the high E, but the steel strings are sold by diameter, not by where they mount (unless you buy a set of six or twelve). In fact, the .010" is really only useful for the double string at high E on a 12-string, or an electric guitar; it's too light to give good volume on a steel-string acoustic guitar as a single. Important to emphasize: most six-strings will have an E-string that's too thick, running .012" to .014".

[FarmBoy]

You can get a .010" guitar string at any music store for three or four dollars -- that's enough wire to make a dozen or more feed reamers...

 

ZI, I presume that would be the thinnest (on a 6 string) E string? If not, do you know which string will fit in the back of an Estie nib?

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

I would have pegged you for a G-string...

[dobro]

You can get a .010" guitar string at any music store for three or four dollars -- that's enough wire to make a dozen or more feed reamers...

 

ZI, I presume that would be the thinnest (on a 6 string) E string? If not, do you know which string will fit in the back of an Estie nib?

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

You should be able to find a .009 or even a .008 without much problem. Ask for a "single string" at the music store....$1.50 would be expensive.

[ZeissIkon]

You should be able to find a .009 or even a .008 without much problem. Ask for a "single string" at the music store....$1.50 would be expensive.

 

Thanks, Dobro. It's been several years since I last bought strings, and then I bought six of the same size to use in suspending the diagonal mirror when I was building my telescope -- as I recall, those were .012", because at 2/3 the area, I was concerned that .010" wouldn't be strong enough to take the tension needed to make the mount reasonably stiff. BTW, for those of you who use or make telescopes, thin wires as a spider are the best; my 8" Newtonian has no visible diffraction spikes and the spider also doesn't cause heat wave distortion (the wires cool to air temperature in nothing flat). And yes, I used a set of tuning heads to tension the strings and adjust the position of the diagonal...

[tigger23505]

Sounds like two nibs that I recently acquired on E-bay. I've been using them in dip-less holders which I use with a 444 inkwell. I've got banjo strings, and the high g is in about the right range. My question is how do you find the feed channel(s) on an a nib. They look fairly solid to me w/ the exception of the 9450 nib which has a small hole in the center of the feed.

 

As you can tell I'm new to FPN, and my previous forays in to pen collecting were Koh-I-Noor 3060 Rapidograph pens, and Ink-O-Graph stylo's.

[SweetieStarr]

I think I might also have the same issue. I just got an LJ icicle and the nib (2314-M) works great in the dipless set, but dries out in the LJ as if the pen ran out of ink. The seller installed a new sac (although he did it quickly) and there was no ink leaking outside of the pen. I'm not sure what other info might be relevant, but does this sound like the same issue, or could it possibly be something with the pen itself?

 

Thanks!

[ZeissIkon]

I think I might also have the same issue. I just got an LJ icicle and the nib (2314-M) works great in the dipless set, but dries out in the LJ as if the pen ran out of ink. The seller installed a new sac (although he did it quickly) and there was no ink leaking outside of the pen. I'm not sure what other info might be relevant, but does this sound like the same issue, or could it possibly be something with the pen itself?

 

Thanks!

 

I assume you can verify the pen is actually taking ink -- a sac repair done too quickly could have resulted in getting shellac in the feed, which could block the ink flow pretty effectively.

[OcalaFlGuy]

ZI, how could one just being hasty get shellac on a feed? (Now, I mean NORMAL people. I can probably manage to get shellac under my eyelids, so I'm not talking about ME here) I could see maybe getting enough inside the nipple to restrict ink flow but even that would have to be a pretty big mess. All this of course assumes one follow the usual instructions of waiting at least 20 min for the shellac to dry before use. (I think the OP meant DOING the resac in a hurry not necessarily USING the pen too soon...)

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[SweetieStarr]

ZI, how could one just being hasty get shellac on a feed? (Now, I mean NORMAL people. I can probably manage to get shellac under my eyelids, so I'm not talking about ME here) I could see maybe getting enough inside the nipple to restrict ink flow but even that would have to be a pretty big mess. All this of course assumes one follow the usual instructions of waiting at least 20 min for the shellac to dry before use. (I think the OP meant DOING the resac in a hurry not necessarily USING the pen too soon...)

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

The guy that put the sac in did it quickly. When I first saw the pen, it had no sac and then while I was looking around at the rest of the merchandise, he put one in because it had one when I bought the pen. That was yesterday afternoon and I didn't use the pen until this morning. I tested it with water first, and it easily took and expelled water. After I filled it with ink, it was a bit dry writing, then started getting wet, then started drying up. Like I said, the nib works wonderfully in the dipless set. So I'm not sure what is going on with it...

[mkkm19912002]

Press down on the nib just enough to open it up to fit a guitar string in. Then run the string through the feed a few times. Flush the pen in warm water really good. It should probably write then.

[Paddler]

Sounds like two nibs that I recently acquired on E-bay. I've been using them in dip-less holders which I use with a 444 inkwell. I've got banjo strings, and the high g is in about the right range. My question is how do you find the feed channel(s) on an a nib. They look fairly solid to me w/ the exception of the 9450 nib which has a small hole in the center of the feed.

 

As you can tell I'm new to FPN, and my previous forays in to pen collecting were Koh-I-Noor 3060 Rapidograph pens, and Ink-O-Graph stylo's.

 

If your pen uses the Estie Renew-Points, unscrew the Renew-Point from the pen's section. The rear of the Renew-Point will be flat with (usually) two channel holes near the edge. Run the wire down the channels from the rear and out the front under the nib. If you can push the wire through those channels, the pen should provide ink faster than you can write.

 

Paddler

[tigger23505]

Sounds like two nibs that I recently acquired on E-bay. I've been using them in dip-less holders which I use with a 444 inkwell. I've got banjo strings, and the high g is in about the right range. My question is how do you find the feed channel(s) on an a nib. They look fairly solid to me w/ the exception of the 9450 nib which has a small hole in the center of the feed.

 

As you can tell I'm new to FPN, and my previous forays in to pen collecting were Koh-I-Noor 3060 Rapidograph pens, and Ink-O-Graph stylo's.

 

Not sure that I did anything, but the 9450 is now writing a beautiful thin black line in my new Safari - I've been successful getting Sheaffer Slim cartridges to work in it. I got an empty Esterbrook cart with it and I'll get around to filling it with Noodler's Polar Black in the near future, or not.

[ebird732]

I removed the nib section and cleaned the pen but I think my old ink is the main problem. Now I've tried new ink (Pelikan Blue Black), it works okay.

 

But here comes another problem: when I tried to screw the nib/feed section (it's sooooo hard to do it on my pen), accidentally the nib moved up a bit and I can't push it back to the original position.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6196/p1010258j.jpg

In the picture, the red arrow is where the tip of the feed should be.

 

Is it ok to leave it like that and continue writing?

[ZeissIkon]

ZI, how could one just being hasty get shellac on a feed? (Now, I mean NORMAL people. I can probably manage to get shellac under my eyelids, so I'm not talking about ME here) I could see maybe getting enough inside the nipple to restrict ink flow but even that would have to be a pretty big mess. All this of course assumes one follow the usual instructions of waiting at least 20 min for the shellac to dry before use. (I think the OP meant DOING the resac in a hurry not necessarily USING the pen too soon...)

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

Hasty can mean careless -- but I typed hastily, too; with a common fountain pen, if you slop the shellac while installing a sac (more likely if you're in a rush), you can get it into the feed channels where they come up into the sac nipple. With an Esterbrook, you'd have to work a little harder to block up the actual feed (which is recessed down into the section), but it's still possible. OTOH, it's also quite reasonable for someone who has done it many times before, starting with a disassembled pen that has the old shellac residue cleaned up etc., to be able to trim and install a sac in ten or fifteen minutes without actually hurrying...