Flow Issues With New Cs Nib

[geoduc]

I reported issues with my Churchill earlier in the thread. I worked through Mary Burke, and after a couple of repair attempts the issues were still not resolved. Mary replaced the pen with a new one and even tested it to ensure there were no problems with the replacement before sending it to me. I appreciate that level of customer service.

 

Having said that, I don't think it unreasonable to expect that a new pen, especially at the CS price point, should write well out of the box. It's clear from this thread that my experience was not an isolated incident. I hope that Conway Stewart takes these problems seriously. I'm far more willing to give a company a second chance if I feel that they care about quality and are not willing to accept poor performance.

 

carlc makes a good point about problems being present with a number of makers – it's not just Conway Stewart. That doesn't make it any more acceptable, though. It's not as if fountain pens are some new, complex technology. If I'm going to spend several hundred dollars on a pen, then it should at least be able to perform its intended function.

[kulindi]

This thread is quite disturbing. At the time of this post, a quick count indicates there is mention of a total of 17 Conway Stewart pens with nib flow problems, reported by 10 FPN members. Obviously we can't draw a hard statistic from this as we don't know the total number of CS pens that the 10 members own, nor is there any incentive or expectation that members without the problem would post any comment. However, I make a subjective comment that this number seems unacceptably high - particularly in light of the high cost of a new Conway Stewart fountain pen.

 

In my own case I have been saving my pennies for the intended purchase of a red whirl lever-fill Churchill. However, in light of the posts in this topic, I would be most unwise to spend so much on a pen with a high probability of a serious problem. To brush this away with a just send it off to a nibmeister is frankly just not good enough, thank you. Why should you have to get the product fixed after spending so much on the acquisition? Conway Stewart is not the only notable fountain pen manufacturing company that produces product with inconsistent quality control issues. Some companies respond openly and quickly to reported manufacturing problems, and their reputations are often enhanced by doing so and taking appropriate action. For the others, I think we should start voting with our wallets until we, as pen users, get more respect.

 

 

BTW "Murfie", did you ever go ahead with your purchase of the Red Whirl Churchill....??? I too was considering this exact pen but can't seem to find if they are still available...Doesn't appear if this colour is still made...???

[david6]

I have six modern Conway Stewart fountain pens ranging from the Dandy to the Churchill. Three of the nibs have had flow problems that required them having to go back to Conway Stewart for repair. The latest one is just about to be sent off as it just will not start again after a short delay (just 10 seconds) and it doesn't write well on the down stroke. So why do I have so many Conway Stewart fountain pens - because they are lovely to use WHEN THEY WORK

[Mary Burke]

Hi,

 

I have made our people in the factory aware of your recent messages. Conway Stewart makes quite a lot of pens each month in our factory in Devon and we do not receive complaints on most of the fountain pens.

 

There can be many factors associated with dry starters -- ink, paper, length of time the pen was left un-used, as well as the fact that a fountain pen needs to be cleaned out regularly and always upon changing an ink brand or colour.

 

When we receive a fountain pen in the US for flow adjustment, we forward the pen to our authorized Nib Master, Michael Masuyama who has many years experience with working on nibs.

 

Conway Stewart values your feedback and please feel comfortable in sending messages to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

 

Kind regards,

 

Mary Burke

Director of Marketing & Development

Conway Stewart

www.conwaystewart.com

Email: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

Direct Tel: 1.425.432.0816 Direct Fax: 1.425.413.9289 Cell: 1.425.753.1152

26828 Maple Valley Hwy, Suite #183, Maple Valley, WA 98038-8379 USA

[smk]

Hi,

 

I have made our people in the factory aware of your recent messages. Conway Stewart makes quite a lot of pens each month in our factory in Devon and we do not receive complaints on most of the fountain pens.

 

There can be many factors associated with dry starters -- ink, paper, length of time the pen was left un-used, as well as the fact that a fountain pen needs to be cleaned out regularly and always upon changing an ink brand or colour.

 

When we receive a fountain pen in the US for flow adjustment, we forward the pen to our authorized Nib Master, Michael Masuyama who has many years experience with working on nibs.

 

Conway Stewart values your feedback and please feel comfortable in sending messages to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

 

 

It might be useful to collect, and share, data on what was fixed with the pens that are sent back for service. This information will be useful in figuring out the root cause of the problems and might even highlight a trend that can be addressed efficiently at the source.

 

Salman

[Mary Burke]

Hi,

 

I have made our people in the factory aware of your recent messages. Conway Stewart makes quite a lot of pens each month in our factory in Devon and we do not receive complaints on most of the fountain pens.

 

There can be many factors associated with dry starters -- ink, paper, length of time the pen was left un-used, as well as the fact that a fountain pen needs to be cleaned out regularly and always upon changing an ink brand or colour.

 

When we receive a fountain pen in the US for flow adjustment, we forward the pen to our authorized Nib Master, Michael Masuyama who has many years experience with working on nibs.

 

Conway Stewart values your feedback and please feel comfortable in sending messages to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

 

 

It might be useful to collect, and share, data on what was fixed with the pens that are sent back for service. This information will be useful in figuring out the root cause of the problems and might even highlight a trend that can be addressed efficiently at the source.

 

Salman

 

Hi Salman,

 

I have asked for the exact process to be set in place. Not only for any ink flow issues, but for all pens that have been sent through my office for repair/service.

 

There are a few issues where it is obvious that an owner has attempted to replace a sac, etc. etc., and Conway Stewart can identify the reasons why the pen has been sent back once our service department receives the writing instrument. We are going to confirm our findings in a letter that accompanies the pen when returned to the owner.

 

With kind regards,

 

Mary Burke

[rknablein]

Good Morning all,

Relating my personal experiences with the CS nibs made last ten years, I've had almost zero problems. I usually write with the 'large nib' (Gold Churchill, Duro, 100) vs the small (Dinkie), medium (Heritage, Finesse, 58) or extra large (Great Exhibition). And I've dropped a few nose first too and all I've done is straighten the nib with my fingers and press on. As you can see by the picture, this one has hit the floor a few times and is still going strong. The nibs are surprisingly rugged.

I plan to be at the Atlanta Pen Show this weekend

http://atlantapenshow.com/

And I will bring my large nib replacement kit if any folks need some help

Also Mike will be there for more serious fixes

http://www.mikeitwork.com/NibRepair.html

So come on down

Rik

 

We will also be showing our newest Dilly & Alan

[david6]

Hi,

 

I have made our people in the factory aware of your recent messages. Conway Stewart makes quite a lot of pens each month in our factory in Devon and we do not receive complaints on most of the fountain pens.

 

There can be many factors associated with dry starters -- ink, paper, length of time the pen was left un-used, as well as the fact that a fountain pen needs to be cleaned out regularly and always upon changing an ink brand or colour.

 

When we receive a fountain pen in the US for flow adjustment, we forward the pen to our authorized Nib Master, Michael Masuyama who has many years experience with working on nibs.

 

Conway Stewart values your feedback and please feel comfortable in sending messages to my email address: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

 

Kind regards,

 

Mary Burke

Director of Marketing & Development

Conway Stewart

www.conwaystewart.com

Email: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

Direct Tel: 1.425.432.0816 Direct Fax: 1.425.413.9289 Cell: 1.425.753.1152

26828 Maple Valley Hwy, Suite #183, Maple Valley, WA 98038-8379 USA

 

I received my Churchill back from Conway Stewart today. They've done a really nice job and the pen is writing perfectly now

 

David

[wpk123]

Hello all

 

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but it does appear that CS still haven't gotten their ink flow system sorted out yet. Here is my sad tale ...

 

I ordered my first CS, a IM Professional Doctor FP from pengallery.com. Picked it up yesterday and immediately filled it with my regular ink - Montblanc mystery black. Very smooth writer and laid on a quite wet line. I was very pleased, but only for about a page-worth of writing. Suddenly, like the OP, the ink just dried up. Like the OP, fiddling with the converter or shaking the pen will re-ink the nib and then the pen continues writing for another page or so and then dries up.

 

Thankfully, pengallery.com does have a B&M shop (they are 30 mins from me) and that's where the pen is at the moment. Looks like they are going to send the pen back to the factory for repairs.

 

I just find it hard to believe that a brand new pen can have these problems. I would have thought an expensive handmade pen would be tested to satisfaction before it left the factory. Perhaps it's just my bad luck that I got a lemon, but still ... My other regular writers, a Lamy Studio and a Montblanc Boheme, both had no problems writing from word go!

 

Well here's hoping it gets fixed.

[jar]

Hello all

 

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but it does appear that CS still haven't gotten their ink flow system sorted out yet. Here is my sad tale ...

 

I ordered my first CS, a IM Professional Doctor FP from pengallery.com. Picked it up yesterday and immediately filled it with my regular ink - Montblanc mystery black. Very smooth writer and laid on a quite wet line. I was very pleased, but only for about a page-worth of writing. Suddenly, like the OP, the ink just dried up. Like the OP, fiddling with the converter or shaking the pen will re-ink the nib and then the pen continues writing for another page or so and then dries up.

 

Thankfully, pengallery.com does have a B&M shop (they are 30 mins from me) and that's where the pen is at the moment. Looks like they are going to send the pen back to the factory for repairs.

 

I just find it hard to believe that a brand new pen can have these problems. I would have thought an expensive handmade pen would be tested to satisfaction before it left the factory. Perhaps it's just my bad luck that I got a lemon, but still ... My other regular writers, a Lamy Studio and a Montblanc Boheme, both had no problems writing from word go!

 

Well here's hoping it gets fixed.

 

Did you switch to cartridges to see if the problem persisted?

 

Did you try flushing the pen with a detergent water solution to see if the problem persisted?

[wpk123]

Hello all

 

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but it does appear that CS still haven't gotten their ink flow system sorted out yet. Here is my sad tale ...

 

I ordered my first CS, a IM Professional Doctor FP from pengallery.com. Picked it up yesterday and immediately filled it with my regular ink - Montblanc mystery black. Very smooth writer and laid on a quite wet line. I was very pleased, but only for about a page-worth of writing. Suddenly, like the OP, the ink just dried up. Like the OP, fiddling with the converter or shaking the pen will re-ink the nib and then the pen continues writing for another page or so and then dries up.

 

Thankfully, pengallery.com does have a B&M shop (they are 30 mins from me) and that's where the pen is at the moment. Looks like they are going to send the pen back to the factory for repairs.

 

I just find it hard to believe that a brand new pen can have these problems. I would have thought an expensive handmade pen would be tested to satisfaction before it left the factory. Perhaps it's just my bad luck that I got a lemon, but still ... My other regular writers, a Lamy Studio and a Montblanc Boheme, both had no problems writing from word go!

 

Well here's hoping it gets fixed.

 

Did you switch to cartridges to see if the problem persisted?

 

Did you try flushing the pen with a detergent water solution to see if the problem persisted?

 

Hi Jar

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I personally didn't but Mr Lai at the pengallery did try using cartridges and different cartridge converters. He removed the nib and cleaned it. No luck. He thinks the air vent is blocked and not allowing air into the cartridge as the ink is being used, gradually starving the nib of ink. As the pen is literally brand new, he's decided to send it back to the factory to be sorted. Here's hoping ...

 

 

C'est la vie!

[The Good Captain]

I had a couple of similar problems with new CS pens apart from nib/feed/flow issues which I actually sorted out myself (a chat to the General Manager, who gave me the tweaking tips). However, with some inks, I had intermittent flow troubles but only when in the CS converter not in a cartridge. The same brand and colour of ink. After some discussions with Martin at The Writing Desk, I decided that using a converter that was made from material more like the cartridges might help, with viscosity etc so with those inks I use a Faber Castell converter and have no troubles whatsoever.

It's an idea anyway.

[wpk123]

@The Good Captain

 

Thank you for sharing your experience. The pen is now in the post heading back to CS. Hopefully, I'll be able to let you know the results once I get it back. I will certainly give the suggestion of using a Faber Castell converter a go.

 

However, I do wonder how it is that a volume FP producer like say Lamy or Parker can get it mostly right but a handmade low volume FP producer like CS can't. Please don't misunderstand, I loved the writing experience with the CS (when it worked). According to the pengallery shop, they've had only one other CS pen that has misbehaved like this, so maybe it's just my bad luck!

[RMN]

Hi

 

I have 4 CS pens of a similar build, including a doctors pen.

 

I have had problems with flow after about half a page writing in all of them. My first pen went back to CS, in fact I delivered it by hand in Plymouth, nice little factory there, but still had some problems after that.

 

BUT, all those problems ceased at once when I switched from converter to cartridge. My CS pens love cartridges. (I have even used long Watermans in them without problem)

I am going to order some Faber Castell soft plastic converters to see if this makes a difference.

 

I do have similar flow problems in many other pen brands when using an international standard converter. Also my Watermans are not too keen on converters.

At the moment I tend to avoid using converters.

 

My theory is that air bubbles get trapped by static load or a wrong adhesion factor of the converter plastic. It is a known factor as Monteverde and Montblanc have both produced converters with e remedy for that problem. Why none of the other brands follow that example I do not know.

 

D.ick

[wpk123]

D.ick

 

Thanks for your reply. Guess that's the way I may have to go too.

 

BTW, if you don't mind sharing, what is the remedy Montblanc and Monteverde use for their converters and would they fit the CS pens?

 

Thanks

 

PK

[RMN]

D.ick

 

Thanks for your reply. Guess that's the way I may have to go too.

 

BTW, if you don't mind sharing, what is the remedy Montblanc and Monteverde use for their converters and would they fit the CS pens?

 

Thanks

 

PK

Sure.

 

MB have a small metal coil in the converter (Think of the spring in a Ballpointpen)

Alas MB carts are international standard, but their converters are proprietary. Don't fit most other pens (they do fit moidern Dunhills, though)

 

Monteverde have a small ball like in a cartridge, but only in their mini converter, afaik. This one is also made of cartridge plastic, so that may help too. It will fit the CS pens, but has even less capacity than a cartridge.

 

 

D.ick

[wpk123]

Thank you for info.

[DM48]

I wanted to buy a new Conway Stewart fountain pen (I have several that I purchased second hand) but reading of all the issues with ink flow on this and other posts I think i will leave Conway Stewart out of my buying plans for the future. Hope they get their act together as their pens Look wonderful.

[wpk123]

I'm hoping that the factory will sort out the ink flow problems for my pen. it's such a great writer when it was working, So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and give it another chance.

[penpointer]

I have more than 10 modern CS pens and have experienced only once a flow problem. The retailler send it back to CS and they fixed it. They are not only beautiful to see, but are really fine writers. Try to find a retailler where you can test the pen before buying. There are retaillers who always test the pen before sending it to you.