Ink Leaks And Nib Issues

[holgalee]

I have four inked Esties right now, and when I look at into the caps with light above me, I always see glistening ink coating the inner caps. The ink also gets onto the sections/threads, and I often get inky fingers as I'm caught unawares.

 

I asked the same question on the ink forum some weeks ago, but that was with regard to Pilot inks and Esties. Some FPNers asked if my nibs might have a bit of detergent left in them, and I thought so. However, even after lots of flushing and changing to other nibs that have never been cleaned in soapy water, I get the same problem. This happens whether I store the pens horizontally at home, or carry them to work in pen cases.

 

Another issue which I have is with the nibs. Most of the nibs which I have are either too dry, too scratchy, or misaligned. This is true for both NOS and used nibs. I know that given the price of the nibs, I should not expect them to be perfect right out of the box. But it bothers me that I have more 'misses' than hits. Also, I find the 1xxx/2xxx series nibs to be smoother than the 9xxx. How do your experiences compare? I know I can tweak the nibs, but I'm just curious about whether this is common or I've just not been lucky with nibs.

 

Hope to hear some thoughts. I love the aesthetics of my Esties, their durability, and the interchangeable nibs. At one stage, I even thought of Esties as the 'near perfect' pens! But I find myself using other pens more often, due to the above issues.

 

P.S: I have a friend who's crazy about one of my Esties, but I want to fix the 'leaking ink' issue before lending it to her. I'm hoping to gain another fountain pen-toting friend! Hope I don't sound too terse as it's less than an hour to midnight and I was nodding off in front of my PC. TIA.

[FarmBoy]

Lets address the leaking issues. Leaking or excessive ink flow is often the fault of an air leak into the ink sac. So first question: Has the sac been replaced. Is the Renew Point installed and tight? Is the proper sac installed--a sac that is to large will cause issues.

 

Start with a good cleaning of the caps and seating the nib and report back.

 

As for the nibs. They can be anywhere from great to blah but all of them can be tuned up and write very well.

 

Todd

[Rob G]

All of my Esties - all of them - have traces of ink inside the caps. I just rinse them out from time to time.

 

Whenever I pick up one which hasn't been used for a while, I wipe the end of the section with a damp paper towel so that my fingertips don't wind up with little blue stripes on them.

[ZeissIkon]

I'm going to give +1 on both of the above posts: actual leaking, especially if it happens while holding the pen, can be either a leak into the ink sac, or a too-big sac (or low ink level) allowing warming of air in the sac by your hand to force out ink beyond the feed's ability to buffer it -- but my J, with a brand new sac and nib unit tightly installed, does expel a little ink into the cap from time to time, especially if I let the ink level get low and then put the pen in a pocket.

 

First thing is to clean the cap, flush the pen and clean the section and feed, and let everything dry. Then fill the pen carefully, allowing a full 15 seconds for ink to draw into the sac after releasing the lever, to get it as full as possible. Then use the pen normally and see if you still have ink appearing in the cap; if so, you need to find out if it's coming from rough handling (especially a problem with the older flat feeds, which have much less buffering capacity), or if it's actually a leak. If you hold the pen in writing position, but with the nib not touching paper, you shouldn't see the feed filling or ink gathering in the breather or at the tip, no matter how long you hold the pen. If you do, check if the pen does the same thing when held in the same position with a clamp, or wearing a heavy winter glove, so heat from your hand doesn't transfer to the sac. If it leaks both ways, you've got an air leak somewhere. If it leaks only when in direct contact with your hand, when the sac is as full as possible, it's probably got a #18 sac by mistake. If it doesn't leak in either of these tests, but still leaks when you carry it, you're probably too active when the pen is in your pocket...

[holgalee]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I've cleaned out my pens and given the nibs ultrasonic baths. I've also shortened the sac of one of the pens, which turned out to be way too long. It seems to me that the inks expel themselves only when the pens are not in use, and this happens even with the pens that just stay in the drawer. I'll screw on the nibs properly and re-ink the pens, and let you know what happens.

[MidasAU]

Would you use silicon grease on the threads for the nib? I wiped my nib off earlier today and left it laying on my desk. Now there is ink on the nib and seems to be some around where the nib threads into the section.

[pajaro]

Would you use silicon grease on the threads for the nib? I wiped my nib off earlier today and left it laying on my desk. Now there is ink on the nib and seems to be some around where the nib threads into the section.

 

I wouldn't use silicon grease for this. I had such an issue and used beeswax on the threads to seal them, on the suggestion of another member. I think there is a concern that the silicon grease might migrate into the ink and contaminate the feed. Possibly the threads on the nib collar are worn from a lot of nib changing. Try another nib?

[gweimer1]

I've also run into a few nibs that just didn't seat into the section very well, even when screwed all the way in. Beeswax was what worked for me, and I carefully applied just a layer on the middle thread of the nib to be sure nothing worked its way into the sac.

[Tom Heath]

An ink sac which is oversized my be part of the problem.

 

Sometime repairers think they can second guess Esterbrook designers by removing the pens sac protector in order to get a larger sac to fit. A sac having too much interior room could place extra force on the feed

 

So you might want to carefully remove the section with feed attached and look at the rubber sac and inside the barrel to see it the protector is there... The usual ink sac for most of my Esties is a #16 sometimes a 14 with the protector out a larger sac may be employed but then you are re engineering the industrial art piece.

 

Good Luck

[Phonz]

Interestingly , I have never had any ink leaking from any of my wonderful old Esterbrook pens; however, the new ”esties” are another story, specially the ones with the new push button filling system. In my experience the only valuable things in them are the nib and the feeder, that by the way, are Jowo not Esterbrook, thank goodness!