Ink flow problem due to 100% filled piston?

[dms525]

I have one of the new Leonardo Momento Magico, piston filling pens. It has a 14Kt stub nib and an ebonite feed that are friction fit to the section.

 

I was having problems with ink flow. After completely filling the ink chamber, the nib wrote beautifully, until the ink stored in the feed while filling was exhausted. Then it stopped writing. It seemed the feed was not getting ink from the piston. After trying a few different inks, I filled the pen again, but left the chamber about 20% un-filled. The pen seems to be drawing ink normally now.

 

I can rationalize this behavior, but I have never experienced it before with any of my other piston fillers (Stipula, Pelikan, Aurora, etc. Maybe the Leonardo is easier to fill completely. I dunno, so I'm looking for comments, experience, etc.

 

David

[maclink]

This doesn't sound unlike the problem I had with the Leonardo Pura I recently picked up.  It wrote well  but would run dry after a couple lines of text; all despite a full piston.  I flushed and refilled twice with the problem persisting. 

 

So I pulled the nib and feed and examined the feed with a 10x loupe only to realise that a piece of manufacturing related gunk was stuck in the ink channel.  It was stuck enough that flushing wasn't enough to get it out.  I manually removed it, inked up again, and it's been great since.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have '50's MB and Pelikan instruction sheets....let out three drops of ink after filling, so there is a little air pocket at the top of the piston to grow as you write.

 

Tid bit.

That was back when one used the same ink mostly, so recommended cleaning the pen every 3 months.

[dms525]

3 hours ago, maclink said:

This doesn't sound unlike the problem I had with the Leonardo Pura I recently picked up.  It wrote well  but would run dry after a couple lines of text; all despite a full piston.  I flushed and refilled twice with the problem persisting. 

 

So I pulled the nib and feed and examined the feed with a 10x loupe only to realise that a piece of manufacturing related gunk was stuck in the ink channel.  It was stuck enough that flushing wasn't enough to get it out.  I manually removed it, inked up again, and it's been great since.

I believe my problem was different.  The nib would write for a page or more before crapping out. I think BoBo hit the bullseye.

 

25 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

I have '50's MB and Pelikan instruction sheets....let out three drops of ink after filling, so there is a little air pocket at the top of the piston to grow as you write.

 

Tid bit.

That was back when one used the same ink mostly, so recommended cleaning the pen every 3 months.

 

My experience suggests the Leonardo piston's behavior is as your MB and Pelikan's. Thanks for the confirmation.

 

David

[senzen]

I fill up my piston fillers to 100% or however much they take in, never had a problem: 8 Pelikan, 1 Artus, 1 Reform.

[dms525]

3 hours ago, senzen said:

I fill up my piston fillers to 100% or however much they take in, never had a problem: 8 Pelikan, 1 Artus, 1 Reform.

I have not had problems with my MB, Pelikan, Aurora, etc piston fillers. However, my impression is that they don't really fill quite completely. At least not for me. The Leonardo is easier to fill 100% full. 

[maclink]

7 hours ago, senzen said:

I fill up my piston fillers to 100% or however much they take in, never had a problem: 8 Pelikan, 1 Artus, 1 Reform.

I long ago stopped squirting out 3 drops of ink with piston fills and I always expel and refill after the first go to ensure a good fill. Not that I haven’t taken the caution onboard.

[Bristol24]

There needs to be a vacuum in the ink reservoir in order for air to be pulled in to replace the ink consumed.  If there is absolutely no air at all in the reservoir then the column of ink cannot move down to the feed without some air getting in there first.  My guess is that you managed to get the pen so full there was no air space that would allow for even the slightest movement of ink.  Another guess is that some piston filler designs take this into account and actually make it difficult to purge every last bit of air from the reservoir so that sort of lock cannot happen.

 

Cliff

[Bo Bo Olson]

100%...   -3 drops is no big deal to the pen being full.

 

I seldom fill my piston pens full, in I'll be wanting to change pens and inks, so there are times I only fill to 1/3 to 1/2. I have too many pens.

 

My Hunter Toledo (new pen) and my Artus Ballit (new ink, in a forgotten pen; a very nice one) were filled 100% and not let three drops out......worked fine. They are in my Pelikan two pen holder, not in the pen cup, so I will use them more.

 

.....But the advice of three drops was to stop ink starvation, cause by not having space for air in the top of the ink chamber.

[Detman101]

Yep, that's the one thing I learned from the "Noodler's ink" guy...

"For ink to flow, the air needs someplace to go"

[Bo Bo Olson]

I was if course referring to wider longer piston fountain pens...which don't suffer from vapor lock.

 

.Not narrow short converter piston that often suffer from vopor lock.

One puts a bit of cut ball point spring or plastic ball in one from a Pelikan cartridge to prevent vapor lock.

 

In I seldom use my few converters, never think of that.