My Namiki VP fine point nip suddenly seemed to malfunction. I was using it for a while, then decided to switch to the medium nib. When I went back to the fine nib, I noticed ink all over the trap door mechanism. At first I thought I may have overfilled the converter. But it happened a second time, where the nib just seemed to be getting progressively wetter and wetter. After cleaning it again, I put in a cartridge to make sure it wasn't the converter, and ink started dripping out.

Pam was great and agreed to send me another. But I am interested to learn, what may have gone wrong? Anything I could have done to damage it? When I clean the nib, I blow into to it while running water through it, as I've heard others do on this board. Do nibs/feeds sometimes just start leaking like this? The nib is probably 6 months old, can't recall exactly when I bought it.

John

Where precisely is it leaking? All around the nib? When you say you change nibs, are you changing the nib yourself or the entire 'insert', nib+converter?

I have had a VP since 1994 without issues, and recently bought a Pilot VP.

For ink to flow out of the nib continuously it suggests the nib isn't seating on the feed tight enough, so it leaks.

http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/anatomy.htm

if not under warranty, you can buy new nibs with converters from Namiki for $20 each, plus S & H. This solves an issue of damaged nibs, as the cost of new 'inserts' may be much less than repairing them.

http://www.namiki.com/parts.htm

I did replace the whole insert. When you screw down the piston, you can see the ink start oozing out of the insert/nib area. This seemed to be where it was flowing rather freely. It made a mess of the trap door area. I would notice the ink when would click the pen to bring the nib out. I suppose the nib wasn't seated properly, as you say.

One thing I read on this board was to blow through that insert to get water/ink out of the nib when cleaning. I can't imagine blowing hard enough to unseat the nib, but I can't figure out anything else that could have happened.

Hi,

Sounds definitely like a defect of a sort. If your other insert works well, then the leaking one is definitely defective. It'll be simpler to get it replaced either under warranty or buy a new one.

I presume at this time you washed away with just plain water, any build up of dried ink around the trap door. So, any supposed 'leak' isn't coming from a build up of prior leaks that are still stuck to the trap door area.


Yes, blowing air on the nib shouldn't detached the nib and feed from each other, but if that's all you did that caused ink to leak, then it might be the cause. Richard's pen recommends using only an ear-cleaning bulb to insure you don't use too much force. I just flush water through the insert by repeatedly filling the pen with water over and over until no color is left. Sometimes, I fill the pen with water and leave it a while. Then empty it out, and repeat until the water is clear. Just don't let the water dry out, unless you use distilled water, to prevent build up of salts inside the pen.

I suspect the trapdoor is not closing properly and contacts the nib, causing a slow leak. The trapdoor needs to be flushed regularly or it will malfunction and eventually fail.

My vanishing point started doing this same thing two days ago, the only thing I did was fill the pen, I put the insert in and clicked it write and ink just started dripping out... I flushed the insides of the pen and the nib/convertor. I let it dry for two days and just refilled the pen... ink started dripping again. Anyone else have this problem?

Dripping? Interesting.

To isolate where the leak is from:

Does ink leak out from the converter-nib assembly alone, before you put it in its case, or only when inserted into the case?

If from the converter-nib assembly the only thing you can do is insure that the converter seats well into the nib assembly.