Kaweco Sport Troubleshooting

[Narnian]

I ordered a Kaweco Sport (Skyline) with both fine and extra fine nibs earlier this week and it arrived yesterday. Used the F with the Kaweco cartridge right away, and loved how it wrote--except for the skipping. Played around with it a bit but then decided that I should have flushed it first, so I dutifully flushed both nibs with distilled water and let them dry overnight. I put the cartridge in a small (empty) medicine bottle and snapped the lid on, hoping that would be enough to keep it from drying out.

 

Today I put on the EF nib, popped the cartridge back on, and went to town. It was great at first. Then it started skipping again, and worse, after writing with it for a while the ink flow gradually decreased until nothing was coming out. Squeezing the cartridge would start it up strong again--for a while. I thought maybe that the first ink cartridge had dried out a little bit, so I swapped nibs for the clean F and put on a new cartridge. Still the same problem.

 

I did notice, in holding each of the nibs to the light last night after cleaning them, that there was little to no light at the tip of the Kaweco nibs (that's probably not the technical term; sorry, I'm still learning fountain pen lingo) compared to my Metro with a medium nib, which let through a thin sliver of light all the way to the tip. That may be normal, given that the F end EF nibs are both finer than the Metro M. I don't know, just putting it out there in case it helps with a diagnosis from more experienced fp users.

 

Advice? Should I flush it all again, and if so, use a bit of dish soap this time? Fill one of the cartridges with a different ink? I have some Noodler's samples, which seemed wetter than the Namiki ink in my Pilot Metro, so maybe a wetter ink would work well here?

 

I love the delicious compactness of this pen; it is so cute. I like the size of both the F and EF nibs, and the way it writes--when it writes. But obviously I need to figure out why it isn't writing consistently for it to be truly usable.

[dgreenwood116]

I love the style of the Kaweco, though i had the exact same problem I sent the first one back and the second acted the same way. Maybe i was doing something wrong though! I ended up getting a poche ohto to carry around in my pocket and i love it!

[FoszFay]

I also encountered this problem with my recent purchase of an Al-sport. It would skip now and then on the down strokes, and wouldn't write immediately after sitting for only 5 seconds. I was using the blue included cartridge.

 

After flushing it and disassembling it a few times, I was convinced it was the ink rather than the pen. The nib (m) was perfectly aligned; smooth and clean slit.

 

I flushed the cartridge out and filled it with Kon-Peki. Problem solved.

 

I still wanted more so I smoothed the nib even more on a nail buffing/shining pad and opened the shoulders a bit to make it wetter, not that it was dry. It now writes super smooth and quite wet; beautiful.

 

Good luck,

Tom.

[bullet08]

if you flushed it properly, the next step is making sure that tines are aligned properly. after that, floss the space between the tines. use thin brass shim stock. i have AL and Classic. both of them worked properly out of the box, but they were little dry. after flushing and flossing, they worked fine. the original nib on the AL was little misaligned and that did cause some problem, but more of scratchiness than skipping. the reason was one of the tines was longer than the other. i replaced that with another nib and the new nib is very smooth and wet, but i cleaned it and flossed it before using it. the flossing can open up the space between the tines just enough for ink flow and also clean out whatever was left in there from the factory.

[Ste_S]

I bought a Kaweco Student with a Medium nib, and then later a 1.1 stub for it. Both nibs/feeds required a few flushes (as did the converter) to get working well.

[FountainPenCowgirl]

Also try a different cartridge brand or ink with converter. I've not been at all impressed with the Kaweco stock cartridges. I toss them and use PR or Diamine cartridges in mine.

Edited September 15, 2014 by FountainPenCowgirl

[Narnian]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

 

What I have done to clean the pen: flush the whole nib section with distilled water, then remove the nib and feed and soak for a while, then flush again and let dry completely on paper towel before reassembling. Should I use a bit of dish soap, or is that a no-no? I also read somewhere (now I don't recall where) about taking a soft toothbrush to the feed to remove any bits left over from the manufacturing process. Is that OK to use or it will cause damage? Anything else I should be doing?

 

I cleaned out two Kaweco cartridges and will try some other ink in it. I have on hand samples of Noodler's Black, Bad Black Moccasin, Bad Blue Heron, Polar Black; and Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi. Hopefully one of them will work better.

 

if you flushed it properly, the next step is making sure that tines are aligned properly. after that, floss the space between the tines. use thin brass shim stock. i have AL and Classic. both of them worked properly out of the box, but they were little dry. after flushing and flossing, they worked fine. the original nib on the AL was little misaligned and that did cause some problem, but more of scratchiness than skipping. the reason was one of the tines was longer than the other. i replaced that with another nib and the new nib is very smooth and wet, but i cleaned it and flossed it before using it. the flossing can open up the space between the tines just enough for ink flow and also clean out whatever was left in there from the factory.

 

The tines looked OK to me (says the complete novice). Would it be obvious without putting the nibs under a magnifying glass?

[bullet08]

i noticed that 3 nibs i have played with from Kaweco Sport were all "oily". not sure if it was machine oil or something from the factory. when i took the nib and feed out of the sleeve, they were covered with that thing. i washed then in little soap and water to get that off.

 

i can't see if they are exactly even with naked eyes. i have to use some type of magnifying glass. also, the tip of two tines shouldn't really touch completely. they should should be very little space between them, just enough to let the ink flow to the paper. also try this... once your pen stops writing, keep the nib down and unscrew the body to see if the ink in the cartridge is near the nib end or the other side. the cartridge shouldn't have this issue, but sometimes with one of my other pens, i notice that ink is no longer in contact with the feed and i'm not getting anything on the paper.

 

one last thing is when you are putting the nib and feed back into the sleeve/section, make sure that little line of the top of the feed aligns with the line on the nib. also the broad part of the feed matches the broad part of the nib when you are looking from the bottom of the nib.

[dneal]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/267969-not-liking-the-flow-of-my-kaweco-sport/?p=3014735

[Narnian]

i noticed that 3 nibs i have played with from Kaweco Sport were all "oily". not sure if it was machine oil or something from the factory. when i took the nib and feed out of the sleeve, they were covered with that thing. i washed then in little soap and water to get that off.

 

i can't see if they are exactly even with naked eyes. i have to use some type of magnifying glass. also, the tip of two tines shouldn't really touch completely. they should should be very little space between them, just enough to let the ink flow to the paper. also try this... once your pen stops writing, keep the nib down and unscrew the body to see if the ink in the cartridge is near the nib end or the other side. the cartridge shouldn't have this issue, but sometimes with one of my other pens, i notice that ink is no longer in contact with the feed and i'm not getting anything on the paper.

 

one last thing is when you are putting the nib and feed back into the sleeve/section, make sure that little line of the top of the feed aligns with the line on the nib. also the broad part of the feed matches the broad part of the nib when you are looking from the bottom of the nib.

 

Mine weren't visibly oily, but maybe a bit of soapy water wouldn't hurt anyway. The cartridges seemed to be behaving OK--at least, every time I opened the pen to squeeze the cartridge the ink was down toward the nib end already (and I always had my nib down when I did this). The nib and channel were properly aligned. I will look at the tines more closely and if I can, I'll get photos and post. Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/267969-not-liking-the-flow-of-my-kaweco-sport/?p=3014735

 

I appreciate the link, although I had already read and bookmarked it. That's how I knew to check that the nib and channel alignment was OK--your photos and instructions there were wonderfully detailed and helpful. But I wanted to make sure my Kaweco woes weren't due to user error or something more easily remedied before trying the brass sheet or knife (eek!) method of improving ink flow. Seems a bit extreme for a new pen!

[dneal]

The brass sheet isn't extreme, but the razor stuff is (and is a last resort).

 

How long are you waiting before writing? You can prime the feed by squeezing the cartridge, but I think it's better to let it saturate on it's own (i.e.: rest it nib down (cap on) and wait 10-30 minutes (it varies by pen)).

 

Your description tends to indicate that it's running out of ink. I would floss the feed channel to make sure the capillary flow isn't blocked.

[Narnian]

The brass sheet isn't extreme, but the razor stuff is (and is a last resort).

 

How long are you waiting before writing? You can prime the feed by squeezing the cartridge, but I think it's better to let it saturate on it's own (i.e.: rest it nib down (cap on) and wait 10-30 minutes (it varies by pen)).

 

Your description tends to indicate that it's running out of ink. I would floss the feed channel to make sure the capillary flow isn't blocked.

 

I wrote with it immediately after putting in the cartridge, but when I found that the ink flow kept decreasing I left it sitting (sometimes horizontally, sometimes propped up so that the nib would be down) for a couple of hours before trying again with no change. Even after sitting overnight it was no better this morning.

 

How thin does the brass sheet need to be? I know Goulet Pen Co. carries some and theirs is .002" thick, but I am trying to find some locally so that I don't have to wait for shipping. The best I have found so far is .005" thick. Is that too thick for flossing the feed channel on F and EF nibs?

[bullet08]

one at goulet will work. go as thin as possible. if that doesn't work go up next size. i got mine from different place. whole set of smoothing supply was rather nicely priced.

[dneal]

 

I wrote with it immediately after putting in the cartridge, but when I found that the ink flow kept decreasing I left it sitting (sometimes horizontally, sometimes propped up so that the nib would be down) for a couple of hours before trying again with no change. Even after sitting overnight it was no better this morning.

 

How thin does the brass sheet need to be? I know Goulet Pen Co. carries some and theirs is .002" thick, but I am trying to find some locally so that I don't have to wait for shipping. The best I have found so far is .005" thick. Is that too thick for flossing the feed channel on F and EF nibs?

 

The feeds are all the same, so it doesn't matter what the nib size is. The .005" should be fine. You're not cutting into the channel, just getting any residue out of there.

[rougeetnoir]

I had the same problem with one of my Kawecos. All nib flossing and cleaning and such didn`t help. After screwing out the nib section and putting it into a bath of pure ink, so that it was immersed in the ink, and let it sit in there for four days, was the thing that helped to fully saturate the feed with ink. Since that it functions without any skipping.

[bullet08]

I had the same problem with one of my Kawecos. All nib flossing and cleaning and such didn`t help. After screwing out the nib section and putting it into a bath of pure ink, so that it was immersed in the ink, and let it sit in there for four days, was the thing that helped to fully saturate the feed with ink. Since that it functions without any skipping.

 

that seems to indicate a problem with feed.. something blocking it, or it's dirty. soaking in the ink might have loosen up whatever that was blocking the ink flow.

[rougeetnoir]

No it doesn`t. I had the feed out before and mechanically cleaned it.

[Narnian]

The only thing I noticed was that on the F nib the very tip (on the underside) is not quite even; it doesn't look angled like this on the EF nib or on my Pilot Metro M nib. I'm not sure if this is a defect or if it's normal. Best photo I could get under a cheap magnifying glass:

 

The Kaweco F with light behind it:

 

The Kaweco EF:

[Narnian]

 

The feeds are all the same, so it doesn't matter what the nib size is. The .005" should be fine. You're not cutting into the channel, just getting any residue out of there.

 

Great, thanks!

[raggedpoet]

New here, but I have a Kaweco Student 70s Soul which I fell in love with on sight, but the nib, ugh... I chose a broad but it was dry scratchy and skipped all the time. I flushed the pen well, added a teeny spot of dish soap the second time, I then flossed the nib and smoothed it a tad with micromesh. It seemed less scratchy, but still skipped. So I read around the web and pulled the nib and feed out and washed again, it still skipped! I then using my phone magnifier app thought I saw a piece of gunk in the feed, right in the ink slot (sorry if I am not using the right terms), I flossed it very gently with a the very tip of my scalpel, and bingo! Not sure if it was a teeny piece of plastic or what, but the pen writes like a dream now, and I was so proud of my fix... very satisfying! Hope this helps someone.