Nib Creep

[aircraft_electrician]

My Esterbrook, a copper colored standard J, which is currently fitted with a Firm Medium #2668 nib has a minor problem. Everytime I take the cap off, there is ink on top of the nib, around the ink feed hole.

 

Is this a common problem for all Esterbrook nibs, or only #2668 nibs, or is it just something wrong with my nib?

 

I do have other nibs, but they are all fine or extra fine, and I prefer mediums, so if I can fix this one, or buy another medium will it fix this problem, or is it something I just have to live with?

 

Thanks a bunch!

Tom

[Brian Anderson]

Tom-

 

Check to make sure your breather holes are free and clear by using a pin or other small pointy object to clear them. The ink on the nib problem can happen if there is too much pressure in the cap when you take it off. It happens more often with friction fit pens, but can happen with screw caps too.

 

Also, make sure the nib is firmly screwed in to the base too, never hurts to check that.

 

Best-

Brian

[aircraft_electrician]

Brian,

 

Thanks for the reply. I checked the breather hole in the cap and it's open, and the nib is screwed in tightly.

 

I guess I should be more specific about my problem. The longer I leave the pen alone, the more ink is on the nib. If it sits for 2 or three days, almost half of the topside of the nib is covered in ink, but if it sits for 3 hours, there is just a bit of ink around the feed hole and slit.

 

I'm stumped, like I said, I'm not sure if it's a problem with the nib, or maybe it just doesn't like Waterman's ink.

[KCat]

i was going to ask you what ink you were using - but since you've said WM - I've never had this problem with WM inks. Noodler's is known to do this, especially on gold nibs. Can't imagine why it's happening in this case with WM ink and a 2668. I have several of those nibs and haven't had a problem except when i had Legal Lapis in a desk pen.

[Gerry]

Interesting problem. Certainly not usual for the 2668's as far as I know.

 

How is the nib normally? Dry writer, wet writer? Tends to flood, blob or anything unusual?

 

Gerry

 

BTW, I do have this problem on a little school pen Maja found that has a sailor nib. It's an XF nib, and the pen was converted to an ED filler. I am thinking it was due to the conversion (ie sealing the section / nib part at the barrel threads). Since the cap has no breather, I was assuming that the pressure and temperature changes was 'pumping' the ink to the nib as there wasn't a chance to equalize. Perhaps I'll poke a hole in the cap to see if that changes the effect...

[ReNew-Nib-o-holic]

I'm sort of new to fountain pens, but do you generally carry the pen with the nib facing up? Is it in your pocket sideways when you are sitting?

 

Gravity has a way of showing off it's stuff when the nib is facing down...if you already know about this, my apolgy...it was news to me when I was learning.

 

[Kelly]

If it's any consolation, I've got the same thing going on: Esterbrook SJ with a 2668. I love the pen (super writer) and have only had it inked for a couple of days now and have seen the nib creep you have described just from having it sit overnight on a pen rest. I have it filled with Noodler's Legal Lapis and I see that KCat mentions a similar problem with that ink...but you're using WM so perhaps it just can be a characteristic of these particular nibs? I don't really see this as a problem, but then I haven't left it alone for more than 24 hours so don't know how creepy my creep is

[wimg]

These pens all have sacced ink reservoirs, I assume. Therefore, you need to store them nib up, in my experience anyway.

 

In my accumulation there are a few vintage and modern lever fillers, and most have this problem.

 

BTW, tiny leaks in the sac (pin holes) may lead to the same problem. If the holes get slightly bigger, you may get ink blobs coming out, occasionally. The solution to this problem, is to resac the pen.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Kelly]

I just got my second Estie SJ today (in the glorious red) and it also has the 2668 nib. I have inked it with the Legal Lapis as I did my green one. I'm monitoring it for nib creep and will update. I'm just curious to find out if it's the nib, the Estie, or the ink that's making this happen....stay tuned.

[coarse07]

Normal air pressure changes can cause the air that has been bled into the ink bladder to expand - I once took a high-speed elevator up 25 floors and then opened the top of my Esterbrook to find the entire ink load had been ejected into the cap. The problem was air bubbles stuck to the sides of the bladder below the ink level - as these bubbles expand, they can force ink out the top of the pen.

 

A few hints:

1) Fill the pen everyday - this will allow the air in the pen to equalize pressure with the outside air before things get out of hand.

2) Store the pen upright, the same as it would be clipped in your pocket: nib up.

3) This last is something Sam Himoto, at the Universal Pen Hospital in Chicago, once taught me: If you're putting the pen aside for awhile after having it inverted - i.e. you've been using it to write with - the small air bubbles that have been bled in to replace the ink you've used may not move to the top of the pen. Hold the capped pen upright - nib up - near the top of the cap with a couple of fingers and "flick" the the lower part with a fingernail of your other hand three-four times. This will hopefully joggle the air bubbles loose and cause them to combine at the top of the reservoir, where they can "breath" - expand to the outside atmosphere - without forcing part of the ink load out also.