I have searched in several of the forums for advise on my Waterford Kilbarry pen, but with no luck. If I have doubled up on this post I apologize.

I have a Waterford Kilbarry that I received from the Fountain Pen Hospital a few days ago. It's a medium nib and I was anxious to start writing with it. I prefer bottled ink so I was using the convertor that came with the pen. I use Levenger ink in Fireball. I filled it and waited a few minutes for the ink to work though the feeding system of the pen.

When writing the line was a bit thicker than I had anticipated, but it was nice and smooth. I did notice that there was some bleeding through the top of the pen, but sometimes that happens. I left it for a few minutes and found that most of my ink wound up in the cap when I went to use it again. I cleaned it up and refilled it and it seems to have settled a bit with use, but there is still significant bleeding through the top of the nib, especially when using a signature.

My question, finally, is does anyone have this experience or something similar with this pen? Is it something that will settle once the pen breaks in or do I need to call the shop and see about sending it back.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

First off, I am not familiar with this pen. That said, new pens really need to be flushed with clean water a few times to clear the collector and feed of manufacturing debris. However, there shouldn't be the continouos leakage that you're describing. Open it up, make sure that the converter is set into the collector snugly. If it is, Then there is another problem, Take it back the the store.

As a follow up, I left this pen standing for an hour and found that all the ink in the convertor had leaked into the cap. I'm going to contact the distributor and see what needs to happen.

The best description I ever heard of a fountain pen is that it's a "controlled leak." It sounds like yours is an "uncontrolled leak." FPH is a good seller. They should replace it with another pen if you tell them the kind of problems you're having.

It's so disappointing when you get a pen you've been looking forward to and it doesn't work.

Mike

One more vote for the return of the oen. If you flushed the pen and made sure the converter was fully seated but still had the leak, you have a defective pen that should go back to the vendor. Disappointing, yes, but it happens.

Wanted to do a follow up on this pen. Sent it back on a monday and on Wednesday a replacement arrived. I loaded it up and was still having the same problem only now the ink is leaking from the back of the nib through the fins. I pulled it apart and found that the convertor doesn't seat very firmly. I tried twisting it down, but it only goes so far. Okay, so now what. I'm sitting here thinking that I'm going to have to call FPH up again and return the pen. I'm kind of bummed out because it's a really good looking pen and it feels nice in my hand. As a last ditch efford I pull out some Pelikan cartridges and use on in the pen. A nice snap and its securely seated. A few strokes later and I'm writing in a nice crisp red; my favorite color to write with. I've used the pen all day long and not a blot, drip or spill from it. I can't seem to see what is wrong with the convertor. It is a little flimsy, but that shouldn't cause a problem should it?

One thing I would stop doing is filling the converter with ink. Until you can solve the mystery leak, just use water in it, so if water gets all over in the cap or on the table, it's no big deal. Have you tried a different ink in the converter? Maybe it's too thin for the pen and is just running straight though it.

Last update on this. I had been using this pen for a few days now and didn't have a problem with leakage from the nib. Yesterday I went to use it and it was dry. I thought that was a bit odd, especially for a new cartridge, but I figured that I had been using it quite a bit so it must have run dry. I went to change the cartridge and found the inside coated with ink. It looked as if it had leaked from the top of the feed assembly.

Don't know what to do with this pen now. I'm thinking of just returning it to FPH for a refund. I've already sent it back once and the replacement is now leaking inside. It is a really nice pen. I wonder if there is any way to adjust it?