Waterman Phileas Kultur, Aka "translucent". Ink Evaporation Fix?

October 31, 2015

Has anybody been able to fix the quick ink evaporation this pen has? I inserted the long cartridge that came with it last week, didn't write more than a page or two and the cartridge is almost half empty. Everyday when I pick it up I notice the first few letters write a lot darker. And the ink seems darker too. It flows perfectly though.

It is such a nice pen, good looking, but the evaporation makes it some kind of ink waster. I looked inside the cap and maybe I could put wax under the top, but I suspect there is some side vent near the clip that might be troublesome to close. I searched threads and some people talked about dropping glue inside the cap. This €10 pen could be a killer if it wasn't for that.

October 31, 2015

As you may have already seen, I glue-fixed my Kultur and it stopped evaporating ink thereafter.

I tested it now, and it wrote immediately after pulled out from the pen case.

I kept it unused more than two weeks in the drawer.

My only advise is not to use too much glue.

Once applied, it's very difficult to remove.

My previous post is here.

October 31, 2015

Thank you. That seems hard to do. I've never seen a glue gun that could reach the inside of the cap. What if I used some wax? I have some wax used by people with dental braces, it's pretty malleable. Maybe I could use the eraser bit of a pencil to push it there until it shapes correctly. But I see the problem you had removing the excess, it must be pretty hard to scrap it out if the nib starts to touch there.

The design of this cap is strange, it actually has a fake "inner cap" because in the middle of the cap there are lips that will click on the lips of the section, near the nib area. Might be a cost saving feature.

October 31, 2015

Most post 1960 Waterman pens ink will evaporate because there is little seal, if any, between the cap and barrel connection. The ambient/stored condition will also dictate the rate of evaporation.

November 1, 2015

Most post 1960 Waterman pens ink will evaporate because there is little seal, if any, between the cap and barrel connection. The ambient/stored condition will also dictate the rate of evaporation.

Really? Which are the most recent Waterman pens you have that act like this? I thought this was a problem with the "school pen" Translucent only. Actually that is a great way to increase sales of ink cartridges...

November 1, 2015

The Edson. I have two and if I load them and leave them on my desk, capped and unused, after a week or so much of the ink has evaporated.

Those who use their pens daily may not notice the loss.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Force

November 2, 2015

Carene. I overcame this by putting a Carene into a Shaeffer Imperial desk base.

November 2, 2015

A cheap fix if you do have a number of pens loaded is to store them in one of these.

Not forgetting it also serves as a good way of loading ink into the pen.

Edited November 2, 2015 by Force

November 13, 2015

Carene. I overcame this by putting a Carene into a Shaeffer Imperial desk base.

Was it a modern Carene you had this issue with? Evaporation has made me ditch several pens already, so I'd hate to buy a pen in this price range and have it disappoint me in that regard.

November 13, 2015

Modern Carene. Extra fine nib. The Carene does not dry up as fast as a Kultur, for example. It will dry out after a couple of days, but a bit of water revives it. Still, I sidelined three out of my four. The cap not posting on the section was the other reason. In a desk holder that becomes irrelevant, but the others are sidelined for that too. Yes, it's a lot of money to pay when the pen dries between uses and the cap won't post.

There is a decent inner cap in the Carene. Far better than Parker Sonnet, for example. You can blow air through a Sonnet cap. The Amber Marine finish attracted me to Carene, and then Sea Garden. Well, three baubles in an expensive pen case, along with a Parker 51 Plum. Extra fine (Parker), fine Blue Carene, medium Amber Marine Carene and broad Sea Garden green Carene. A full set (of ordinary nib sizes).

Edited November 13, 2015 by pajaro

November 14, 2015

Modern Carene. Extra fine nib. The Carene does not dry up as fast as a Kultur, for example. It will dry out after a couple of days, but a bit of water revives it. Still, I sidelined three out of my four. The cap not posting on the section was the other reason. In a desk holder that becomes irrelevant, but the others are sidelined for that too. Yes, it's a lot of money to pay when the pen dries between uses and the cap won't post.

There is a decent inner cap in the Carene. Far better than Parker Sonnet, for example. You can blow air through a Sonnet cap. The Amber Marine finish attracted me to Carene, and then Sea Garden. Well, three baubles in an expensive pen case, along with a Parker 51 Plum. Extra fine (Parker), fine Blue Carene, medium Amber Marine Carene and broad Sea Garden green Carene. A full set (of ordinary nib sizes).

Ah, that's too bad. It's a shame that a pen in this price range has this problem. By contrast I have a $3 Platinum Preppy that's suffered no discernible evaporation after sitting unused for the past 3-4 months. Started right up on the first stroke too.

I wonder if some kind of sealant could solve the problem, as was suggested for the Kultur in this thread. Is the clip the problem? I'm not very familiar with the Carene construction.

November 16, 2015

Ah, that's too bad. It's a shame that a pen in this price range has this problem. By contrast I have a $3 Platinum Preppy that's suffered no discernible evaporation after sitting unused for the past 3-4 months. Started right up on the first stroke too.

I wonder if some kind of sealant could solve the problem, as was suggested for the Kultur in this thread. Is the clip the problem? I'm not very familiar with the Carene construction.

Yes, I have two Kaigelu 356s, one with their medium nib and one with a Montblanc 144 nib, and both stay moist ad infinitum. About three bucks the pair, shipped. Plus the surplus MB nib, of course. They look like a matte blue Sonnet. They actually write.