Noodlers Ahab Leaks

[Bklyn]

Hi all:

 

I have a new Noodlers Ahab that I bought from Nathan at the Pen Show in Boston. (He is a good guy)

 

I did not like the nib so I bought a #6 Goulet in Broad. It writes WONDERFULLY with Noodlers Concord Grape but every few days, it leaks a bit not the cap.

 

I think it is all lined up right and the feed and nib are inserted securely right up to the B in Broad on the nib.

 

Any idea on a fix or a reason why this is happening? It is a lovely pen with a wonderful grip but the leaking is not all that good.

 

Thanks and to all a good holiday if you happen to celebrate it.

[jdllizard]

I started out in this hobby with vintage Estys and Parkers. A Noodlers Ahab (2 actually), were my first modern fountain pen purchases. Bought them off Amazon from a recognizable named pen shop. Sadly as soon as I got them all my excitement quickly waned as they just felt to cheap in my hand compared to my vintage pens. I wound up sending them back for a full refund without ever even inking them.

 

After hearing later about how easy it is to put great, flexible yet relatively cheap nibs in them, I now wish I had kept at least one to franken and tinker with.

 

Best of luck with yours, sorry I can't help with your leaking issue, but there seems to be plenty of Ahab users here who hopefully will have some good advice on what may be causing it.

Edited November 26, 2015 by jdllizard

[Hospitalier]

I have one Ahab, with which I have a very love/hate relationship; I love the size, ink capacity, ease of cleaning, and of course the very flex nib; however, yes, ink does leak into the cap - albeit only very little, if you have a demonstrator Ahab such as I, then you will see the ink filling the section underneath the feed. I am disappointed by the lower build quality in certain details of the Ahab, but it still serves me admirably as a flex practice pen - I even use it to write envelopes.

[Randal6393]

If the nib is too far up on the feed, Ahabs leak. Try readjusting the nib to be a bit more forward.

 

While working on the pen, lube the threads the converter screws onto so that there is less air leaking into converter.

 

Have you heat set the feed? That can also help get rid of the occasional leak.

 

If all else fails, try the heresy of using a different ink -- non-Noodlers -- noted for being drier. Say, Waterman Black or Montblanc Violet. Or any of the Diamine inks. My personal favorite is rapidly becoming Rohrer und Klingner.

 

Best of luck,

[dk76]

Question: is the section not supposed to have ink in it? When I try to fill the pen up with the piston, ink gets into and sits in the section.

 

Perhaps i should heat set the nib and feed separate from the section?

[Manalto]

I've found that the best way to avoid trouble with the Ahabs is to drop them gently in the trash.

[Randal6393]

Ah, Manalto, but then you miss having a pen that is truly tuned to your needs. As I have often said, Noodler pens aren't for everyone. But feel free to send yours to me for looking at, writing with, and (possible) return to you at a later date.

 

A fountain pen is a controlled leak of ink, from the reservoir into the feed and nib, and out onto the paper. Unless you have removed the converter and are using the pen as an eyedropper, you should have no ink in the pen body, only in the piston converter. Thus, the use of a small quantity of silicon grease on the threads where the piston converter attachs to the pen section. That is one of the spots that I have found leaks on occasion.

 

Other points that have slow leaks upon occasion are the o-rings that create the seal for the piston. Every so often, I completely disassemble my Ahabs and put a small amount of grease on the o-rings. So now the converter is sealed and no extra leakage should occur there.

 

Looking at the nib and feed, air may leak into the system if the nib or feed is misaligned or not seated properly. So that needs careful inspection once in a while and careful seating. Heat setting of the nib to the feed is another way to ensure no extra air finds its way into the pen.

 

The maintenance of Noodler pens is well documented in videos on Goulet Pens website, SRE Brown's YouTube site, and Nathan Tardiff's (InkNeedLastForever) YouTube site. Highly recommend looking at these if you are not happy with the performance of a Noodler pen.

 

Enjoy and best of luck,

[Bklyn]

If the nib is too far up on the feed, Ahabs leak. Try readjusting the nib to be a bit more forward.

 

While working on the pen, lube the threads the converter screws onto so that there is less air leaking into converter.

 

Have you heat set the feed? That can also help get rid of the occasional leak.

 

If all else fails, try the heresy of using a different ink -- non-Noodlers -- noted for being drier. Say, Waterman Black or Montblanc Violet. Or any of the Diamine inks. My personal favorite is rapidly becoming Rohrer und Klingner.

 

Best of luck,

I think that the nib might be too far up the nib and I will adjust it to see what happens. This is great advice. I thank you. I really do love this pen but I can't very well pull it out at work and have it leaking over my hands.

[Bklyn]

My thanks to you ALL for the insights!!

[Hospitalier]

I've found that the best way to avoid trouble with the Ahabs is to drop them gently in the trash.

Or pay them forward; which is what I quite often think of doing with mine but I'd want to keep the nib and it is good for testing new ink recipes, so I guess it'll likely never happen.

[Manalto]

Or pay them forward...

 

Done. (The "trash" comment was facetious.)