Waterman 52 Bchr Actling Like It Runs Out Of Ink (Noob Question)

[sundragon]

Hello All,

 

I recently purchased a Waterman 52 BCHR that was restored before purchase. It writes very well, no flow problems/railroading but it does something weird.

 

I can write a couple of pages and then it acts like it's running out of ink in mid sentence. The first time, I figured it had run out (surprisingly in a short time) but when I pulled the fill lever over the sink, it sprayed quite a bit of ink. I figured it was an aberration.

 

Fast forward, I flushed it with water and filled it again with a different ink.

 

I've again written a few pages and it started drying out in mid sentence. I remembered the first time and I gently lifted the lever a couple of mm and it sprayed ink. Now it's writing again...

 

It's not like it's a hard start caused by a nib drying out it's in mid sentence and it fades, then railroads, and stops writing all together.

 

What causes this? I know it's an old pen but it's pretty simple design. Could the sack be twisted? Is there a way to fix it?

 

 

 

[Erik Dalton]

Sounds like a plugged up breather tube on a P51, but I know nothing of what's inside your pen. You might check with Ron Zorn in the repairs section here.

Just curious as to who the restorer was?

[sundragon]

Sounds like a plugged up breather tube on a P51, but I know nothing of what's inside your pen. You might check with Ron Zorn in the repairs section here.

Just curious as to who the restorer was?

 

 

I bought it on ebay, I don't know who did the restoration. I will have it looked at. Is that something easy to clean?

[Mauricio]

sundragon,

 

The term "restored" is grossly abused nowadays. Some people simply change the sac in a fountain pen and consider that to be a restored pen, even if the sac is the incorrect size and without the use of shellac in between the sac and the section.

 

Based on what you tell us, it can either be that pen has not been properly restored, that has incorrect, worn or damaged parts, a nib or feed improperly set, a nib with a big gap in between the tines, and so many other things in terms of a faulty pen/nib. It can also be operator's error in terms of improper filling the pen with ink and/or improper use. Seeing some of the crazy stuff and abuse some people are inflicting onto their nibs, its is not uncommon to see nowadays what you are describing.

 

If it were my pen, I would send it to someone who restores pens professionally. I hope you can sort it out

[sundragon]

Thanks for the advice, I cleaned the ink out and tried filling again but kept the nib in for a count of 10... I read online that it takes a few seconds to fill the sac - 3 pages of writing and it's still going. As a noob to vintage pens, I didn't know this little nuance to filling

Edited May 14, 2017 by sundragon