Help With My Waterman Le Man

[AndWhoDisguisedAs]

Hi Fountain Penners,

Once again, I'm here hat-in-hand asking for help and guidance.

 

Back in March of this year, my best friend of 50+ years passed away. We spoke every day and among our many shared interests were fountain pens. He left me his cherished Waterman Le Man which you helped me identify. I’ve had the pen restored, the nib tuned, but the pen still isn't working properly. Ink cartridges don’t seat properly, nor does the converter work right. I'm told the housing is the issue, not the feed though the back part of the feed isn't the sturdiest making it only a matter of time before it breaks. I'm at a loss as to what to do. Any suggestions?

 

I await your replies!

[jmccarty3]

The parts inside the section (attached to the feed) of these pens are very fragile. They tend to break, causing leaks. This is a difficult problem, as such parts are hard to come by. A few years ago, I put out an inquiry here on FPN and was able to obtain a replacement feed/section insert that solved my problem.

 

It's a shame that Waterman has failed to keep up with the need for replacement parts for these excellent pens, not only the Man 100, but also the L'Etalon and other marvelous models. It would be a shame if these marvelous instruments were reduced to being used as dip pens.

[encremental]

Just a thought  before you start to spend money - I don't know how much experience you have with pens in general and Waterman pens in particular - but it is worth noting that although Waterman converters and cartridges look identical to standard international converters and cartridges, they are fractionally different, and if you don't use those which are Waterman branded, you may well get leaks inside the pen and ink may not get through to the feed and nib properly. Another possibility is that the nipple (which attaches the converter or breaks the cartridge seal  when it is inserted into  the section) is broken. Do Waterman cartridges and converters just fall out? If so this may be the answer. Look inside the section with a magnifier and see if you can see anything that doesn't look right.

 

Now that's out of the way, I must say I wonder what form the restoration and tuning took if the pen doesn't work? Although the feed/collector is delicate, they're not that delicate and are pretty simple (good job it's not an Edson!). Waterman pens like this have friction fit nibs, so the nib and feed will just pull straight out, after maybe having been soaked for a  couple of days in warm water and a gloop of washing up liquid. If this is done, you can see if the feed is damaged or just needs cleaning. I can understand that this might be scary if you haven't done it before, so you might want to send it to someone else. If there is a pen show near you, this could be a source of parts, or at the worst another Man 100 which you can take the section from. They are by no means scarce or even that expensive as pens go.

 

Let us know how you get on,

 

John

 

[senzen]

If your converter has a plastic head you may want to try with a metal thread converter; they are even more expensive than regular ones though.

[AndWhoDisguisedAs]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for your responses.

What I need is complete replacement for the nib section (NOT THE NIB).

Any suggestions as to where I might find one would be amazing.

Thank you!

[manolo]

In Spain, you can try "T&t reparaciones". They might send to the US.

Email address is teodoro@ttreparaciones.com. Name of the guy is Teodoro. Tell them you were forwarded by "manolo74".