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Kaweco Sport Dries Up And Stops Writing Every Few Pages


antoipod

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I recently purchased a Kaweco sport classic and have been using it with an included pack of cartridges (Kaweco Caramel brown) for the last week and a half with no issue. After finishing the last of the cartridges I inked the pen up with Diamine Asa Blue using the Kaweco piston converter but I found that the pen would get progressively drier as I wrote and would stop writing after a few pages, needing to have the feed re-primed to get back to writing. I tried flushing the pen and switching to Parker Quink but the problem only got worse so I decided to ditch the converter and refill a cartridge with Quick and have been writing with it all day without any issue so far. I'm wondering if the converter is the issue and how I can fix it?

 

In case its relevant, the pen arrived with a bad case of baby's bottom but I was able to fix that with some micromesh and it is now one of my favorite writers.

 

Edit: Forgot to mention that the feed slit isn't perfectly aligned with the nib slit. I tried to remove the nib and feed to fix that, but it won't budge.

Edited by antoipod
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If you fill the converter with just water, then plug it onto the feed (or stem inside the gripping section) and drive the piston in the converter down rapidly, does the water go anywhere other than through the feed and nib?

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Silicone grease at the nipple and grease the piston.

 

Also, check the piston of the converter. I have one converter that can't be retracted more than halfway without losing connection to the side of the tube - either the tube is distorted, or the piston o-ring isn't big enough.

 

So, yes, it can be the converter.

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If you fill the converter with just water, then plug it onto the feed (or stem inside the gripping section) and drive the piston in the converter down rapidly, does the water go anywhere other than through the feed and nib?

I tried this and it the water only went through the nib and feed. I also submerged the converter while expelling air and didn't notice any air bubbles coming from anywhere but the exposed end where it attaches to the pen's section.

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I don't have any Kaweco pens here, so I don't know whether the converter can be disassembled in the manner that many other brands will allow — by unscrewing the metal collar from the clear plastic tube — so that you can insert an agitator (e.g. a small metal spring, or plastic/glass/stainless steel ball) inside the cavity of the converter to help break the surface tension of the ink held therein.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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I don't have any Kaweco pens here, so I don't know whether the converter can be disassembled in the manner that many other brands will allow — by unscrewing the metal collar from the clear plastic tube — so that you can insert an agitator (e.g. a small metal spring, or plastic/glass/stainless steel ball) inside the cavity of the converter to help break the surface tension of the ink held therein.

If it is one of the Kaweco mini piston converters you can just pull the silver plastic part straight off the back and it will dissemble to allow you to put an agitator in (previously I've pulled the little spring agitators out of some super cheap Chinese converters to do just this). One issue with this is that it makes getting a full fill of the converter more difficult, which is already a challenge with these tiny converters. But its worth a go.

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I'd wager you're just getting ink starvation.

 

Grab a small box of 2.5mm ball bearings, disassemble the back side (as described above) and pop 1 or 2 in.

 

Or, barring that, just refill a cartridge with an agitator in it using a syringe.

 

Or, buy a delike alpha that can use a proper converter, pop the kaweco nib in it, and avoid the problem altogether

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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I'd wager you're just getting ink starvation.

 

Grab a small box of 2.5mm ball bearings, disassemble the back side (as described above) and pop 1 or 2 in.

 

Or, barring that, just refill a cartridge with an agitator in it using a syringe.

 

Or, buy a delike alpha that can use a proper converter, pop the kaweco nib in it, and avoid the problem altogether

Cut open a cartridge and use the plastic agitator - that way you don't have to order ball bearings.

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Cut open a cartridge and use the plastic agitator - that way you don't have to order ball bearings.

 

I kinda like the feel of ball bearings in the converter over the plastic agitators, which sometimes don't weigh enough to actually do the job.

 

But that works too.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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I kinda like the feel of ball bearings in the converter over the plastic agitators, which sometimes don't weigh enough to actually do the job.

 

But that works too.

I agree that ball bearings are better (at least once you wash the oil off of them), but most people have a couple of loose cartridges they could sacrifice :)

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Wouldn't it be simpler to just refill cartridges with a syringe?

If you are to be ephemeral, leave a good scent.

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Vapor lock in converters is and has been a problem for a long time....the spring has been rated as best and the heavier ball bearings next best....plastic ones often work.

My suggestion is to get a vintage piston Kaweco sport.

 

I don't recall any one with a piston pen having vapor lock........how ever I know nothing of the new Chinese piston pens.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Vapor lock in converters is and has been a problem for a long time....the spring has been rated as best and the heavier ball bearings next best....plastic ones often work.

My suggestion is to get a vintage piston Kaweco sport.

 

I don't recall any one with a piston pen having vapor lock........how ever I know nothing of the new Chinese piston pens.

The Wing Sung 3008 doesn't tend to vapor lock, but it does have slow creep sometimes. I suspect it's because the surface tension doesn't hold things in place over the larger surface area of the body, like it can with a converter. (or Jinhao cartridges. I get vapor lock from those sometimes)

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Disassembled and greased the converter while including an agitator but the pen ended up drying up twice so far today. I noticed that the ink level in the converter isn't going down unless I push the plunger down a bit to resaturate the feed; its like ink isn't flowing at all. I also noticed that I am consistantly getting full fills with this converter, something I have yet to experience with other converters, and that there is usually a couple of tiny bubbles at the sides of the converter.

 

Am I destined to a life of refilling cartriges or is there some other way I can get this to work?

Edited by antoipod
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Wouldn't it be simpler to just refill cartridges with a syringe?

 

I dunno why but for anything other than platinums cartridges, it just feels so...

 

Pedestrian.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Disassembled and greased the converter while including an agitator but the pen ended up drying up twice so far today. I noticed that the ink level in the converter isn't going down unless I push the plunger down a bit to resaturate the feed; its like ink isn't flowing at all. I also noticed that I am consistantly getting full fills with this converter, something I have yet to experience with other converters, and that there is usually a couple of tiny bubbles at the sides of the converter.

 

Am I destined to a life of refilling cartriges or is there some other way I can get this to work?

 

Are you leaving the pen uncapped for long periods of time (like more than 60-120 seconds) without writing?

 

Some pens just HATE that, and others don't care as much.

 

Also make sure the agitator you installed isn't that goofy goldilocks size where it falls straight into the feed hole and blocks flow

 

You could also try a monteverde converter or the kaweco squeeze converter (which some people hate but I don't seem to mind)

 

Cheapest test yet - eyedropper the pen. Just fill the barrel about 1/2 to 2/3 full of ink and if you have some silicone grease, grease the threads of the section. If it still dries out (and you aren't doing the whole "leaving it uncapped excessively" thing) then we've officially narrowed it down to your pen having a bum feed and you need to either send it back for warranty work or drop $15-20 on a new nib unit with a new feed.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Are you leaving the pen uncapped for long periods of time (like more than 60-120 seconds) without writing?

 

Some pens just HATE that, and others don't care as much.

 

Also make sure the agitator you installed isn't that goofy goldilocks size where it falls straight into the feed hole and blocks flow

 

You could also try a monteverde converter or the kaweco squeeze converter (which some people hate but I don't seem to mind)

 

Cheapest test yet - eyedropper the pen. Just fill the barrel about 1/2 to 2/3 full of ink and if you have some silicone grease, grease the threads of the section. If it still dries out (and you aren't doing the whole "leaving it uncapped excessively" thing) then we've officially narrowed it down to your pen having a bum feed and you need to either send it back for warranty work or drop $15-20 on a new nib unit with a new feed.

I usually cap my pens immediately if I'm not currently writing so I doubt that's the issue. As for the agitator, it seems to be a big enough size not to fall down the feed hole.

 

I managed to eyedropper the pen with some plumbers tape and silicone grease and the result is good flow with no drying out, so I think it must be the converter. I'll look into the monteverde and squeeze converter.

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Well at least we narrowed that down!

 

And lastly, sometimes, even drier/wetter inks just do not play nice with all pens and all converters. some don't have very good surfactant quantities, some have too much, so maybe try something wet and good flowing like waterman blue as well.

 

Or, why not just get a little thing of silicone grease and just use the sport as an eyedropper? ED fills on that little pen last FOREVER.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Or, why not just get a little thing of silicone grease and just use the sport as an eyedropper? ED fills on that little pen last FOREVER.

I'm tempted to do so but I worry it would leak or burp, since I carry it in my pants pocket where it will experience above ambient temperatures and be jostled around a bit. Do you think this would be the case?

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I'm tempted to do so but I worry it would leak or burp, since I carry it in my pants pocket where it will experience above ambient temperatures and be jostled around a bit. Do you think this would be the case?

 

Nope. Eyedroppers should never burp until they get down to about 1/4 full. And even then, you shouldn't notice it in a pocket if you keep it nib up and the burping should be super minimal when it's "ready" for a refill.

 

If you use eyedroppers enough you will very quickly get a feel for when they need refilling, and when they're kept normally above 1/3-1/4 full (which is like 20-30 converters of ink, really) they will never burp.

 

And all that said, the majority of eyedroppers never burp anyways. It will start to get more wet, yes, but the pen most likely won't burp. the eyedroppers I use most - a noodlers charlie, a noodlers boston safety, a moonman C1, M2, penbbs 323, variopus vintage japanese eyedroppers, and a Ranga 8c, don't ever burp. They just start to get wet, I use them that way throughout the day, and then refill them, which only ever seems to need doing rarely since they hold so much darn ink.

 

Don't leave them somewhere where they get very cold, and if you do, just hold it upright in a closed fist for 10 seconds or so to equalize it a bit and you're good to go for the rest of the day.

 

Also, keeping them close to your body in a pocket is ideal, the risk they run into for burping mostly arises

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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