Lamy Safari + Converter + Waterman Black = Skipping

[LoboLusitano]

Hello fellow FPN members,

 

 

Recently I bought a Lamy Safari converter and a bottle of Waterman Black ink. I decided to go for the Waterman since I've seen it recommended in various places because it flows very well.

 

The pen always wrote very well with the default cartridge but as soon as I started using the converter with the new ink I've been having skipping issues, very bad first strokes, scratching and uneven ink flow when writing. I've tried with both an F nib and a 1.1 Italic nib and it's noticeably worse with the italic nib for some reason, but it does happen with both.

 

I've already cleaned my pen thoroughly with water twice but the problem persists. If I force some ink to the nib by using the converter piston it writes great and smooth until it begins to dry and the ink begins flowing from the converter and the problems begin again.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

- LoboLusitano

Edited March 11, 2014 by LoboLusitano

[Tsuki yo]

I found my Safari skipped with Noodler's X-feather, which is a bit of a thicker ink. I flushed the pen a few times with mildly soapy water (one drip of soap to 2 cups water) then flushed it with clean water, then slid off the nib, cleaned the underside of the nib, flushed it again with the nib off and let it dry for a good long time before I put it back together and re-inked it with the same ink and it seems to write just fine now. I used a rubber ear syringe to ensure that the water was really being pushed through there.

 

Ammonia apparently good for cleaning built up ink out of pens, haven't used it personally but lots of people do.

 

You CAN take the feed out to clean it. I haven't tried that though, because there are fins along the side that fit into grooves in the inside of the section, so if you twist at all while you're removing the feed you can accidently snap them. But it is doable.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Tsuki yo

[Mike 59]

Hi, The Safari and Waterman 'Intense black' ink, is a good combination, I use the same in several Safari's.

Also agree with the second post, above, put a few drops of dish washing up detergent in a glass of water, give it a stir to mix it well.

Put the nib + finger grip section in the water, let the water flow though several times, and if you can, leave it overnight.

Next day, stand the nib section on a paper towel to get the water out of it, then plug in the converter and test.

Sometimes this may need to be done more than once, but you should find that the pen writes very reliably after a few 'flushes'.

It is possible to get the feed out of a Safari, but it's very tight, and you can easily slide the nib off of the feed to clean, it if you need to.

You can also 'flush' the converter, filling and emptying several times with the same water + detergent, to clear out any slight oilyness that may be there.

You mentioned about a scratchy nib, this can be caused by poor ink flow, rather than any fault with the nib.

Once the ink is flowing well, you may well find that the pen writes much more smoothly.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Mike 59

[LoboLusitano]

Thank you both for your input.

 

Like I previously said, I did clean the entire pen very well. However, I did not use soap/detergent. I will give that a try and see if it works. Very frustrating trying to write something simple that takes forever in this situation. And yes, the scratchy nib is caused by poor ink flow.

 

Will report back after I've done it to see if it made any difference.

Edited March 11, 2014 by LoboLusitano