Last night I cleaned my Phileas with cool water until it was running clean. I let it set overnight to dry. So this morning I put in a Florida blue cartridge and my ink is now coming out really light and nothing like what it was before I cleaned it. So any info on the subject would be great.

Okey-dokey.....
Well I'm no expert but could it be that the water hasn't fully dried out? It's amazing how much liquid a fountain pen feed can hold (kind of like how a glass of water doesn't look like it holds much liquid...until you spill it on the floor )....

You can try one or all of these methods to hasten the removal of the water that may still be present in the nib/feed:

(a.) Shake the pen (with the nib wrapped in a cloth/tissue), nib-down as you would an old-style thermometer to expel the water drops

(b.) Stand the pen, nib-down, in a glass or cup, with the nib resting on a bed of tissue/soft cloth. Gravity and the wicking effect of the tissue/cloth should help draw any remaining water away from the nib and feed.

Good luck!

Probably still water inside it. Phileas's have hugemongous reservoirs (Is that the right word? Collectors?). They are a pain in the neck to flush, but on the bright side, they really never skip while you're writing.

To add to the above, you can also blow through the assembly from the back where the convertor goes to the nib. That'll get some excess water out too.

I suspect that there was some water left in the feed after you cleaned it. This water is diluting the ink. After cleaning, I like to place the pen so that the nib rests on a paper towel so that any moisture is wicked away by the paper. /Craig

Honestly, it sounds like there was still water in the feed. If you write for a while, it will probably get back to the normal color.

I always put a dry, absorbent paper tower in the bottom of a glass and let my pen dry "nib down" in contact with the paper towel to wick out any water that may have been trapped in the feed.

I've heard some people use rubber bulbs (like you use to clean a baby's ears) to "puff" air through the feed to push out any water.

LOL. How's that for service? Four identical answers within four minutes of one another. Gotta love this place!

Alright that is good news. Thanks for all of your quick replies. I am new to fountain pens so I guess that I can chalk this up to beginners mistake.

No mistake, MS3607
I learn stuff on FPN all the time and I've been reading the pen boards for several years now...

(Oh, and I was going to mention savarez's rubber nasal/ear syringe tip, too, but I forgot. )

I'm still learning a lot, so I get pretty happy when I can help someone else.

We are all learning still. One of the greatest things about this forum is how everyone shares what they have learned. /Craig

For all. It all about passion and sharing. I for one enjoy being here too. A Big Thank you to all.

If you think your pen is slow to clear the water out, try a Parker 61 you have flushed with water!

There is a reason most 61 users tend not to change inks much -- first getting the water out (it hangs in the filler something terrible, to say nothing of the collector and feed), and then it usually takes three or four tries to get a full load of ink into it!

If you can tolerate the pale color, just use the pen and it will start writing normal color ink in a while. If not, use a dry tissue to bleed ink out of the nib until it darkens up.

Peter