Waterman Carene - What A Disappointment:(!

[Morwen]

I bought a Waterman Carene this summer, as my first "expensive" pen. I know, 120 pounds may be normal for a pen, but for me this falls in the relatively expensive category. I chose it because it looks amazing and had good reviews. I wanted a pen that looks elegant, a bit of a luxury item for the cases when I have to dress up, so my pen matches the "looks". Yes, it looks amazing, yet - that is all it has going for it. First, even though the nib is supposed to be M, it is very broad, broader than a Lamy broad. But that is something I can live with. What can't live with is how poorly it writes. I cleaned it up and filled with iroshizuku Take-Sumi (Tried later with asa-gao as well). And - the pen has false starts all the time, and skips. It is smooth, but very dry, yet at the same time it drips if you move your hand sharply. How can a pen both be dry, and drip! And misperform with an ink that makes even the cheap Parker Jotter write well!

This is a total waste of 120 pounds... It is in flawless condition, only been used a few times, yet I do not think I can sell it, it is not a good pen and my conscience would not allow me to lie. Perhaps I could offer it at less thah half the price to someone who wants to tinker with it... Anyway, I am never buying another Waterman! The TWSBI pens 1/3 of the price behave much better, let alone the Platinum 3776s in the same price range...

 

 

ETA: Decided to add this to be fair to Waterman and in case people do not get to the end of the thread. The pen behaves much better with a cartridge - only occasional skips and no dripping, so there is a chance I just got a faulty convertor or something. Apart from the suggested bulb/tube flush, I might buy another convertor and see if there is a difference.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Morwen

[Left FPN]

Hi Morwen,

 

£120 does not sound the price of a brand new pen unless it was sold to you as NOS. Where did you get it.

 

Certain pens don't like certain inks. Have you tried it with a Waterman ink.

 

The mediums can and do write slightly wide and wet.

 

If it is new then it is still under warranty. Return it to the shop and tell them your experince.

 

Stating you would not buy another Waterman is rather drastic after trying one pen.

[Postscript]

Funny, my Carenne is one of my favorite and best writing pens; reliable and also a handsome devil like yours. I guess everyone's experience may differ somewhat.

 

Post Script

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

How unfortunate that your Carene is misbehaving.

 

From what I understand, the ink is not flowing well, and 'drips if you move your hand sharply'.

 

My first SWAG is that the pen is not breathing properly: the capillary action is dysfunctional.

 

I'm not sure how you went about the initial clean-up of the pen when it arrived, but it just might be the case there is some sort of obstruction in the ink path or breather hole and/or a problem seating the cartridge/converter to the reservoir nipple on the section. (I use only Waterman converters on my Waterman pens.)

 

I suggest back-flushing the pen from the nib end: acquire a length of soft [surgical] tubing with a large enough diameter to fit over the nib and form a seal on the section, then flush with water. As the Carene has a massive feed+collector, a good flush could take a while, and several liters of water.

 

Let us know how things progress - the Carene is an excellent pen, so should become one of your absolute favourite writers.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited October 14, 2014 by Sandy1

[Morwen]

Thank you guys for the advice! I guess I was ranting a little - well, a lot . It is a brand new Carene, got it from Amazon.co.uk, this is it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterman-Carene-Lacquer-Medium-Fountain/dp/B000J3TZBS/ref=pd_bia_nav_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ENMSZE8X4F6PRKT2919

 

I got it a couple of months ago so I am not sure I can still return it.

 

I guess I just do not have a lot of experience yet, and I did not expect a problem from a relatively pricey pen with good reputation and it disappointed me, so I got a bit, well, over the top.

 

Sandy1, thank you for that suggestion, I'll give it a try as soon as I find a tube like that. I got my first Waterman ink bottle a couple of days ago, will give it a try when I clean the current iro ink out of it and the pen is dry.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Morwen

[Sandy1]

Thank you guys for the advice! I guess I was ranting a little - well, a lot . It is a brand new Carene, got it from Amazon.co.uk, this is it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Waterman-Carene-Lacquer-Medium-Fountain/dp/B000J3TZBS/ref=pd_bia_nav_t_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ENMSZE8X4F6PRKT2919

 

I got it a couple of months ago so I am not sure I can still return it.

 

I guess I just do not have a lot of experience yet, and I did not expect a problem from a relatively pricey pen with good reputation and it disappointed me, so I got a bit, well, over the top.

 

Sandy1, thank you for that suggestion, I'll give it a try as soon as I find a tube like that. I got my first Waterman ink bottle a couple of days ago, will give it a try when I clean the current iro ink out of it and the pen is dry.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

To keep any foreign matter from becoming lodged in the pen, kindly consider keeping the pen filled with water until you acquire the surgical tubing. That should be readily available from either a well-stocked chemist, pharmacy, drug store or shop selling home care supplies. Take your Carene along so you get the correct gauge of tubing. I use a length of about 1.5 meters, which is long enough to set-up a siphon for extended duration gentle back-flushing.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited October 14, 2014 by Sandy1

[Morwen]

Very, very strange - I decided to try the pen with one of the cartriges that came in the box, and it behaves much better - still would skip occasionally, but not often enough to irritate, and doesn't drip. It would be very funny if I got frustrated with the pen, and the fault is actually in the converter . I am using the converter that came with the pen, but maybe it has a fault... hm....

[Chrissy]

If I was considering returning the pen to Waterman for a nib exchange, then I would use the ear bulb method of flushing rather than putting surgical tubing over the nib (that may cause marks that will exclude it from any possible exchange). The ear bulb flush merely pushes water through from the internal connector of the pen in the same way that you connect a cartridge or the adapter. Rubber ear bulbs are readily available from chemists or pharmacies, and would clear any obstruction from the normal ink flow direction.

[Left FPN]

The Carene should have come with a converter as standard and you should not have paid more for one. Looking at that advert it implies they are extra. If the converter is one with a black plastic mouth they have known problems. It must also be pushed well into the section.

 

It must also be filled correctly otherwise it may contain 50% air (bubbles)

 

The Carene is known to have a big tank (feed and section). Wind the piston fully in and place the nib into the ink. Wind the piston out, then invert the nib and leave a while for the air to rise. Wind the piston back in until ink appears at the breather then pop the nib back into the ink and wind the piston out again. Hold the section above the ink and wind the piston in a few turns then wind it back out. Remove excess ink from the section and nib and she's ready to roll.

[Morwen]

Hi Force,

The convertor came supplied with the pen, I did not buy it separately, but it is with a black plastic mouth. Thank you for the tip, I'll give it a try when I use up the cartridge (yeah, I have 60 bottles of ink yet I am stingy with it ).

 

Thank you everyone for your good advice and nice tips, despite my initial rant. You are wonderful!

Edited October 14, 2014 by Morwen

[Left FPN]

OK very good.

 

It is fair to say that some pens will have their faults, from new, as not all are tested with full tanks.

 

Certainly most complaints about the Carene and some other models have been with the new style converter which you have...not to mention those that hold the section close to the nib wings and get inky pinkies.

 

It might pay to look out for an old style converter on ebay. I have posted picture of three styles here.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Force

[Koyote]

If the other suggestions don't fix it, send it to the Waterman service center in your country for a nib exchange. Send it in sans convertor and they will send you another one of those, too, so you will have replaced the two most likely culprits.

[pajaro]

I have three Carenes with five nibs. All are perfect writers. Sometimes, though, you get a pen that skips or otherwise misbehaves. I have a Montblanc 146 like that. Skips always. The feed is probably bad on the 146, and I should have gotten a refund, but I kept trying to straighten it out. Send yours back. There's something wrong, and you might never get it right. Let Waterman make it right, or ask the seller for a refund. No harm in asking.

[Left FPN]

We have not yet proven there is a problem.

[Sailor Kenshin]

OK very good.

 

It is fair to say that some pens will have their faults, from new, as not all are tested with full tanks.

 

Certainly most complaints about the Carene and some other models have been with the new style converter which you have...not to mention those that hold the section close to the nib wings and get inky pinkies.

 

It might pay to look out for an old style converter on ebay. I have posted picture of three styles here.

I'm one of those who gets inky fingers, but of my two Carenes (a Coral M and a Shinmering Sands B ), both write flawlessly, cart or con. I do suspect the con in this case. Edited October 14, 2014 by Sailor Kenshin

[Left FPN]

What nobody has mentioned, but probably thought, what a good price for Black Sea Gloss, boxed, converter.cartridges and delivered....£118.

 

Last week I noticed these were £190 in John Lewis and it had a bent nib.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Force

[HamFist]

I have a carene and I used waterman blue inks and asa-gao no problems. And yes the nibs tend to run large.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

I'm glad that the problem is not an obstruction, rather it seems to be a matter of getting the correct mating of the converter or cartridge to the section nipple, which should get the capillary action sorted-out, and allow a better / more complete flooding of the feed+collector.

 

@ Member Chrissy: Thank-you for sharing your concerns about the use of tubing. I am fussy about good care of my pens, and would not suggest a method that is high risk. I've been using soft surgical latex tubing over the sections of many pens for years with nary a problem. An effective seal is achieved with the gentlest finger pressure - no rubber mallets or clamps. I came upon the back-flushing technique as I was trying to rescue a Parker 61 capillary filler. I thought 'Why try to push gunk from the ink reservoir through the bottleneck of the nib+feed ink path?' I still back-flush my 61s, and during rescue of 'found in the wild' c/c pens. A bit of back-flushing is also advantageous for c/c pens with inlaid, inset and conical nibs whose feed is shrouded.

 

Bye,

S1

[Left FPN]

another appropriate time to show the complexity and size of the feed and how cleaning it can be time consuming. I use an ultrasonic cleaner and jumbo syringe that fits inside the reservoir end.

 

 

and the current new style converter fitting onto the nipple.

 

Edited October 14, 2014 by Force

[pajaro]

If the OP had a skipping issue, there is probably a problem using the pen.

 

If you buy a new pen and it skips, you might take it apart and so on.

 

I am no longer going to do that. If it doesn't work properly, whether the problem is the ink, the pen or the loose nut in the chair, send it back and get a refund or exchange. Out of the box a new pen should be perfect.