Colibri Fountain Pen Writing Trouble

[ingyaningya]

My pen has a horrible time writing. It wont write at all, then I have to shake it for a while, then scribble with it just to get it to begin writing.

What can I do to make it... well, normal?

Any help will be very appreciated.

[DanielCoffey]

It sounds like you have a partially clogged feed. First thing to do is to give it a thorough clean - hand-warm water with a dot of fairy liquid and an overnight soak of the nib assembly then a good rinse with clean water should fix most problems of this type. An ultrasonic bath is a more vigorous clean.

 

Out of interest, what brand of pen is it, what ink were you using and is it cartridge or bottle-fill?

 

If you fill from a bottle, check your bottle for anything that shouldn't be in there - excessive sediment (invert gently and check the bottom) and fungus (SITB). Dip a clean toothpick in and stir it slowly then see if anything can be fished out on the end.

[ingyaningya]

It sounds like you have a partially clogged feed. First thing to do is to give it a thorough clean - hand-warm water with a dot of fairy liquid and an overnight soak of the nib assembly then a good rinse with clean water should fix most problems of this type. An ultrasonic bath is a more vigorous clean.

 

Out of interest, what brand of pen is it, what ink were you using and is it cartridge or bottle-fill?

 

If you fill from a bottle, check your bottle for anything that shouldn't be in there - excessive sediment (invert gently and check the bottom) and fungus (SITB). Dip a clean toothpick in and stir it slowly then see if anything can be fished out on the end.

 

 

I'm not sure of the brand, all it says on the actual pen is "Colibri" and "R.O.C.".

The ink I'm using is Higgins Indian Fountain Pen Ink, and nothing seems to be growing in it.

[DanielCoffey]

The Higgins site states the ink is fountain pen safe but it is an India Ink so I would suggest your pen is just due a good clean.

 

Remember not to use water any hotter than hand-hot and only use a dot of dish washing liquid detergent. Give the nib assembly a good rinse under running water then a few repeats of soaking and rinsing in the warm detergented water then a rinse. An overnight soak followed buy a rinse would probably be a good idea too.

 

Tell us how that goes for you. There are other tricks like using a clean rubber eye-dropper or syringe to get water through the nib but that assumes you can remove the converter. If your pen is a piston-filler or completely closed design, you have fewer options. Can you post a pic of the pen with any unscrewable bits removed?

[ticoun]

It sounds like you have a partially clogged feed. First thing to do is to give it a thorough clean - hand-warm water with a dot of fairy liquid and an overnight soak of the nib assembly then a good rinse with clean water should fix most problems of this type. An ultrasonic bath is a more vigorous clean.

 

Out of interest, what brand of pen is it, what ink were you using and is it cartridge or bottle-fill?

 

If you fill from a bottle, check your bottle for anything that shouldn't be in there - excessive sediment (invert gently and check the bottom) and fungus (SITB). Dip a clean toothpick in and stir it slowly then see if anything can be fished out on the end.

 

 

I'm not sure of the brand, all it says on the actual pen is "Colibri" and "R.O.C.".

The ink I'm using is Higgins Indian Fountain Pen Ink, and nothing seems to be growing in it.

 

higgins say it's fp safe, but it's safer not to use this ink. it would be a good idea to buy some real fp ink. there are tons of them available, and some are very inexpensive. also, as daniel said, flush the pen completely and give it a good soak. you can make a mix of 10% clear household ammonia, 90% warm water to soak the nib unit in overnight.

[DanielCoffey]

ingyaningya - I was thinking... you are in Germany, yes? If you wanted to try a different ink once you have cleaned out your pen, you could try the Pelikan fountain pen inks. They might be cheaper for you to buy rather than an imported ink and should be readily available from your local stationers. I appreciate India Ink is very black and waterproof but as you have seen, it has a habit of clogging fountain pens.

 

If waterproof was important, you could buy Noodler's Bulletproof Black but that would be more expensive in Germany than, say, the other dark blacks that are not so waterproof. If you search the Inky Thoughts forum you will see many threads on "blackest" or "best" blacks but the shortlist of readily available inks in Europe is usually J Herbin Perle Noire, Aurora Black, Diamine Onyx Black and probably a few others.

 

Get the pen good and clean then look in inky thoughts to see if you find an ink you would like to try that would not have such a tendency to clog.