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Hi all, I am starting this thread because my first ever Sheaffer pen is currently on its way to me, and I would like to ‘pick the brains’ of the FPN ‘Hive Mind’ for some information about it. Although the pen that I have bought (from an auction site) was listed as being an ‘Imperial’, I believe that the correct name for it should be ‘Triumph’ (despite it having an inlaid nib, rather than one of the conical ‘Triumph’ nibs). My pen has the ‘brushed chrome’ finish, chrome trim, chrome clip, and a stainless steel nib. I believe therefore that it is a ‘Triumph 444’ (not a ‘444X’, or a ‘444XG’). It is the same model that is shown on… https://www.sheaffertarga.com/Imperial and Triumph/444 Chrome C.T.html …although mine has a ‘short diamond’ inlaid nib, rather than the ‘rounded V’ inlaid nib shown on that page. Which detail makes me think that it is a 1980s example of the pen, as shown on this webpage (it is directly underneath the picture of an Imperial Triumph 797 gold-plated ballpoint pen, in the small picture on the right). So, on to my questions: 1- the Name of the Pen? do you agree that I should refer to this pen as a ‘Triumph Brushed Chrome CT’, or should I call it a ‘Triumph 444’, or something else (apart, obviously, from naming my individual pen ‘Lucille’ 😉)? 2- Converter compatibility? the pen is coming to me with one of the squeeze-converters that has a sac enclosed within a metal shroud, and a bar to compress the sac. I would prefer to use one of the Sheaffer twist-action piston converters in the pen (so that I can see how much ink I have left in the pen), but will one of those fit into this pen? I have looked for lists of models that are compatible with those piston converters, but I have not yet found one that says that they will fit into the ‘Triumph’ model (or into the ‘Imperial’ for that matter). I have also looked for lists of models that are known to be incompatible with the piston converter, but those lists also seem to not be exhaustive and, from what I can tell, the pens listed on them seem to mostly be the slender/slimline Sheaffer models. My hope is that any pen that can take the squeeze converter is also going to be wide/long enough to take a twist/piston converter - but I am also aware that Sheaffer changed the shape of its cartridges at some point, so I fear that the twist converter might only be compatible with pens that were made to take the later cartridges. I am wary about that because my pen is coming to me with two of the older type, flat-at-both-ends-cylinder, ‘Skrip’ cartridges, so is presumably built to accept those. So, can any of you offer me any clarity about the compatibility (or not) of the twist/piston converter? Will it fit inside my pen? Will its open end be compatible with the feed spike/grip-section of my pen? Or did Sheaffer change the geometry of the feed spike/cartridge mouth interface when they changed the shape of their cartridges, and is the twist converter made to those specifications? 3- Cleaning? As this pen has an inlaid nib, I suspect that the task of dismantling it to remove the feed for ‘deep-cleaning’ would be very much a ‘non-trivial’ task. Certainly not one that is as easy as unscrewing the nib/feed unit of e.g. a Parker 45, Parker Sonnet, or a Pelikan M205. I don’t intend to attempt it, unless my pen is severely clogged with old ink, or something else. I am hoping to only need to run water through the grip-section, flush the pen using the squeeze converter, and maybe soak the grip-section in plain water for a few days. If those actions don’t work, I may move on to flushing/soaking with a solution of ammonia, but: should I avoid using the converter in conjunction with ammonia solution? Should I avoid soaking the whole grip-section in ammonia, and only flush that stuff through the inside of the grip-section? If the worst comes to pass, and I find that I need to try to dismantle the grip-section to get at the feed for a deep-clean, how do I go about attempting that process? Would the disassembly of this pen’s grip-section e.g. require the same procedure as for dismantling the grip-section of an ‘Imperial’? Or a different procedure? My apologies for the length of this essay, and my thanks to you in advance for any clarification that you can offer me. Oh, I would also welcome your ink recommendations - given the inlaid nib/difficulty of deep-cleaning the feed, I don’t intend to use my i-g inks or pigmented inks in this pen, but are there are any inks (apart from vintage Skrip) that you think that it will particularly like, or particularly dislike? I have inks made by Waterman, Parker Quink, Pelikan (4001 & Edelstein), Diamine, Pure Pens, and also some ‘ancient & venerable’ Noodler’s Black, which may have ‘gorn orff’ by now. Again, my thanks to you all in advance Slàinte, M.

Well this is a new one for me. I've cleaned and repaired countless pens now. I had a Waterman Stalwart with a very stubborn section I needed to remove to change the sac. I was doing what I normally do. Soak, heat, soak, and also some ultrasonic cleaning to get the section out. I have been trying for days off and on. This morning I put the pen in the ultrasonic and when I took it out it was very hot. Just the pen not the water. It blistered the pen on the opposite side from the lever. This area is above the waterline as I was only just above the nib section with water. I have no explanation as to why. All the other times I had cycled it it hadn't heated up. Any thoughts?

Hello, I'm planning to purchase a Pilot Custom 823 and while searching on how to clean and maintain the O rings, I saw lots of warnings on how even unscrewing the piston assembly once, with the right tool, can result in the barrel cracking (and ofc loosing the warranty). Is there any way to lubricate the O ring without this risk? Is lubricating the ring even necessary?

Hey all, I have been doing research as I recently acquired a Parker Shadow Wave (Speedline) in Golden Brown. I need to get the pen open, and in the past, I normally just soak the entire pen in distilled water for a couple days to a week or until I can get it open, but I received some advice from an individual not to the do that with this pen, but offered no explanation (other than "you just don't want to do that), so now I am not sure if I want too. I haven't had issues with soaking pens before (hard rubber oldies excluded of course--do NOT even bring water near them lol)... The Speedline button works just fine, it moves up and down. I plan to use my vac block to take that rear vac plunger out, but it's the section threads that need the soaking. I know they were most likely sealed, so before I use heat, I always like to soak the pen just to loosen things up as much as I can. This also helps with removing the nib and feed once I get the section removed--all details I am sure you all already know. So, the million dollar question is, can I soak this pen in water? Everyone has their do's and don'ts, and I was trying to search the forum for specifics, but I could not find anything that directly related to my question, so here I am asking. I appreciate it!

Does anybody have any advice for a newbie like me on the best way to wipe away the ink from the nib and section of a fountain pen after filling from an ink bottle? Some videos would be appreciated if you have any. What napkin or cloth do you use? Do you clean the section first, or the nib first? Wet or dry? For the section, do you wipe in strokes from the barrel towards the tip, or do you just wrap napkin or cloth around the section and twist around? While twisting, do you work towards the nib or towards the barrel? If your section has ridges like the TWSBI 580ALR, how do you get the ink out of the ridges? How do you deal with the flat circular area of the section that surrounds the nib and feed? For the nib and and feed, do you just wipe the top of the nib, or do you try to get any excess ink in the lower part of the feed? Should I just accept that there is a good probability of getting ink on my fingers during the inking process? As a related question, do you cap the bottle first before doing any of the above cleaning? If you had cats, pets, or young children would you cap the bottle first, or simply lock everyone out of the room? While capping the bottle, where do you put down your pen, or do you just try to juggle the pen, cap, and bottle?

I hope that I’m posting this in the right forum. What follows is in cash related, and is a “recipe” of sorts — but it’s for removing ink., not for making ink. Moderator, if this doesn’t belong here, please move it wherever it does belong. To gently and immediately remove even the stubbornnest fountain-pen/dip-pen inks, and most (or maybe all) marker inks, from your skin (and anything else, as far as I have been able to test), just rub in a TINY dab of Freezer Frost Remover liquid: not on Amazon, just now, but sold here — https://pmi.green/products/pa-8662-klean-logik-freezer-frost-remover-16-fl-oz — and naturally intended for the purpose described by its name, so it’s good to have this around the house in any case. You won’t need much at all — start with a few drops, and work up from there as needed: rub it in, wipe it off, and enjoy that it’s nearly odorless and it actually feels soft and smooth: somewhere between hand lotion and baby oil. What I used to rely on, before a very minor household accident clued me into using Freezer Frost Remover instead, was Nair or any similar depilatory — BUT left on/rubbed in for only 30-60 seconds rather than left on as directed for several minutes — Which dudnt quite fill the bill, as it’s lye-based: smells harsh, feels harsh on the skin, and can damage fabric and a lot of other things that you might need to remove ink from. Try Freezer Frost Removal for ink removal, too! You’ll love it! UPDATE: Another source of the product is https://www.smallapplianceparts.net/freezer-frost-remover-16oz/#:~:text=Unique formula contains MeltX to dissolve away frost%2C,have to add to your kitchen cleaner products! What does the magic (on a freezer or on inky hands) Is apparently an ingredient that the firm has trademarked as “MeltX” (I have been unable to find out what “MeltX” actually is, but maybe you know someone who could. Do you have any friends with a chem lab?) 😉

Hi all, many years ago I gifted my father with a Caran d'Ache Ecridor, which he's probably never correctly cleaned. As expected, he's been experiencing many problems with the ink flow. He's now tasked me with fixing all his flow troubles. Anyway, I'd like to remove the nib (if possible) and thoroughly clean his pen but I've been unable to find any information regarding the removal of an Ecridor nib. Does anyone out there know how the nib is held in the feed? Is this a single unit that Caran d'Ache wants customers to replace as opposed to fix? If there are any workarounds I'd be very grateful to hear them. And if this topic has been explored already in some far-off corner of the FPN, please forgive me. I did some searching but couldn't find anything with an answer to my question. Thanks in advance for any Ecridor nib-removal advice!

I have recently purchased a new box of nibs, Zebra comic G, for copperplate calligraphy. They're nibs I used in the past with happy results, very flexible and nice fine lines in my opinion. I used them with regular fountain pen inks (like Waterman, Pelikan, Lamy, MontBlanc and so on) but also with some self-made mixes and gum arabic. The old set worked just fine as soon as it was out of the box, no need for cleaning or set-up: they just held ink perfectly. This new box seems exactly the same, same finishing, and it was purchased by the same vendor. However the nibs don't hold ink properly: it will pool around the reservoir and refuse to flow towards the tip. When it does flow, it very often comes down all at once creating splotches. I tried different ones, so it's not just a faulty one of the box. I have tried cleaning them with: saliva - which had worked fine in the past with other nibs: slightly better, but the issue is definitely not solved water - no improvement, almost made the issue worse if possible flame - held it over a lighter, at first just a second, then when it was not working I held it for several seconds: again the situation got somewhat better, but it's not solved Things I heard but haven't tried yet: toothpaste - I'm afraid to ruin the tip: should I go for it? chemicals, like solvents: acetone, nitro thinner or simple kitchen degreaser - I really don't know what's going to happen with the metal and/or the ink. I'm not keen on playing the little chemist, so I'd rather leave this as a last resort. intervening on the ink - maybe some inks will solve this problem? Maybe they need to be thinner? Do you have any recommendation or low-risk methods I could try at first? I really want to solve this because I love these nibs and would be very sad to start looking for different kinds to fall in love with also I have a deadline coming up for a job and need to sort this out rather quickly! Thanks and apologies for my English.

Hi, I have got two old Cross classic century gold fountain pens from my father. I'm not sure about the age. They are marked: 1/20 10KT GOLD FILLED with 14KT M nibs. They have problems with ink flow, dryness and scraping. The pens have now been cleaned in water for over 24 hours. No more ink is coming out. But, I have problems removing the nibs for further cleaning and adjustments. Is it possible to remove them at all or are they fixed? They are not moving at all when pulled. I'm trying with a rubber band between my fingers for better grip, but no :-( Hope you have som good solutions for me :-)

Title basically sums it up! I have just finished repairing a hard rubber Duofold, but in my excitement to get it writing again, I forgot to disassemble and clean the nib and feed before I glued the ink sac on. Because of this I'd rather not have to cut the sack off to clean the feed and nib. I do not plan of course to soak anything in pen flush; just rinse. With that being said, are pen flushes containing ammonia safe for the hard rubber and the sack?

Only today did I come across this official announcement made by Sailor nearly three months ago back in February 2022. Has anyone else noticed? There's also this advisory earlier in April:

I have a metro that I use on a daily basis and because of that the body and the cap was full of grease. I made a light dish soap solution, I put the body and the cap in there for 12 mins and then I took them out and rinsed them. Was that a good decision?

I am refilling cartriges. Is there a way to clean them?

Hello, All. I've had my Pilot Custom 823 for about a month now, and I love it. It writes beautifully and I've only ever inked it with one type of ink: Pilot Irushizuko take-sumi (black). Earlier today though, I inked it up again for a long writing stint..and it started to feel clogged and not so smooth. It would lay down light ink at first then get dark, then light again. Also, the feedback started to feel more "scratchier" on a Leuchtturm notebook where just last night it was smooth as butter. So I thought I would flush it out. I have a GouletPens flushing solution and so I went about flushing it out with water first, then used the solution...but as I did, I noticed a weird stain on the inside of the barrel that no matter how hard I tried to flush it out, would not come off. I'm very hesitant about disassembling my PC823 for fear of voiding the warranty, but wondering if there's anything non-intrusive I could do to try and remove this weird stain. It probably isn't hurting why ink per se, but it's just me knowing it's there that's probably the main issue. Still I don't like that a really expensive pen (at least for me) has a stain on the inside of the barrel.

I'm having trouble identifying exactly which model this Montblanc Monte Rosa is. Based on searches I think it's an 042 or 412 with a 14K gold nib, but what's throwing me off is that the other images I've seen have the star on the cap and sometimes the clip as well. Pictures are included, but here are the highlights: Silver metal screw-on cap with MONTBLANC in all caps and Monte Rosa in script at the base Gold nib stamped tip to collar: MONT / BLANC / 14C / MONTBLANC / 585 Diamond ink windows MADE IN GERMANY stamped above the ink window area Piston filler The tines are bent and the feed looks like something chewed on it. The nib also seems too loose, and I'm wondering if the unit isn't inserted as far as it ought to be. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the piston. It seems like I ought to be able to remove the nib, but neither pulling nor turning seems to work (it's also super gunked-up and I'm still soaking it in water to try to get it clean. Ink and water will come sort of down the feed but the pen will not write. I'm chalking this up to the super dirty feed and I might try to floss between the nib and feed. Sometimes when filling with water or ink some of it bubbles through and comes out of the screw/piston area, so I think that a seal might be loose somewhere. That, or I need to fill and empty extremely slowly. Thanks for whatever insight you're able to provide. ETA: I managed to wiggle the nib out and it looks like the stamp is 342. So I guess the pen model is 342G? There's no G on the stamp but it's a gold nib, so it only makes sense. Still, it doesn't match any of the images I've found online and now I have to figure out how to get the feed out.

What could be wrong with (or dirty or clogging) a nib? I have had two Preppies and one "disposable" Zebra with what I thought was a similar problem. I see plenty of ink and if I wipe the sides or back vent hole with a damp paper towel, ink immediately wicks out. But when I wrote, nothing came out. With the Zebra, I pulled the nib out and noticed with some magnifier help that there seem to be a teenie bit of dried ink between the tines. I scrubbed it with a cotton swab with some rubbing alcohol and sure enough some ink-color staining on the swab. I "deform" the nib a little bit to expose the inner-edges to the alcohol. I put the Zebra back together, and all is fine. I did the same with a Preppy, but it's still not writing. I recall now this is the same problem I encountered about 8 years ago and is why I gave away my Preppys. However, I want to try again. I should note that this is clogging on BayStateBlue. The cloggy Preppy is better with the included cartridge. The other non-clogging Preppy is filled with Monteverde. These Preppys are all newer models, not the ones with the painted colors on the nib-backs. (Too bad, they are cute.) Or maybe BSB is like any drier ink and I should "do something" to the space between tines? Or "deform" it a bit to be farther away from the black part? Thanks for any tips! Btw, I refilled a "disposable" blue Zebra with BSBlue and it writes terrifically -- thin lines, thinner than the Preppy 03 but maybe a little wider line than the Preppy 02. No hard starts and good cap-off time. Is anybody using Preppy+BSBlue?

Hi all, I've bought this pen on a flea market and been cleaning it for two days already, but still some dried ink flakes are shooting out of it when flushed with a converter, and still stains the tissue that I wanna dry it with, any idea how to clean it thouroughly? Thanks in advance 😋

Hi friends, had a quick question for any knowledgable or science-minded pen owners out there. I have an Opus 88 Omar — which I love — but when I clean it, something odd happens. The barrel, which is usually transparent, frosts over as soon as I empty the water out. Where water remains, it's perfectly clear, but it gradually fogs up entirely. I thought that it was simple condensation, but it seems to stay there for good (unless there's water present). As soon as it's not in contact with water, it frosts over. I can watch it happen. It doesn't scrub away with a q-tip or paper towel, either. I don't really mind the effect, but I was curious what caused it. Anyone else had this experience? I haven't seen this is any other demonstrator pens, but admittedly my pool isn't that large. Picture:

I have just received a beautiful restored Parker Vacumatic in the mail from Ebay. Got it for $83. It has a nasty strong perfume odor on the body and cap. I tried cleaning it with windex, light laundry soap and soft sponge, and alcohol wipes. Also tried "Pet Odor Remover" which normally takes any organic smell away. And, it still reeks so bad that my hand smells from holding it. Questions: 1. Can the smell be removed? . . . How? 2. Is the smell absorbed into the plastic? 3. Should I just try to return it? Thanks for your help. jim

Hello folks, I'm seeking your advice on what to do about the weird smell on two of my ranga pens. They are both made of black ebonite with a matte finish. I don't know if the matte finish is more susceptible to fungi or bacteria setting up shop there. I'm using one as an eyedropper filler so even inside the barrel there's more funky smell. I'm not talking about the rubber smell which is expected. I think the smell can be best described as "sweaty socks". Not very pleasant when you uncap the pen to start writing with it. The 4C has that smell on the section and barrel, and the sugarcane has a really bad smell inside the barrel. Should I just soak overnight in a diluted solution of ammonia? Other cleaning solution? What's your preferred recipe/concentration level? I believe I ordered this product "Shaklee® Basic-G® Concentrated Germicide" several years ago on Amazon based on previous advice from someone on FPN. I received the cleaner but never actually used it till now. If this would be better than ammonia, what concentration should I go for? Thanks for any help.

Hi everyone, I am new to the fountain pen network but have already used the large knowledge base here to guide my recent purchase of a used Montblanc 149 from the 90s. I'm very grateful for the the useful information here. Unfortunately, I may not have read quite enough. The pen arrived yesterday from an antiques store in Spain (I'm in NYC). It came with a little ink inside so I used the pen and found it writes wonderfully. However, while flushing the pen for the first time, I noticed there is a considerable amount of ink on the screws of the piston as you can see in the picture I included (that is supposed to be a shiny brass screw!). Also, I noticed that after a day of flushing, it is still not coming out clear, although it is significantly improving. More importantly, I tried to dry it by surrounding the nib with lint free wipes, and it seems like it could be leaking from either the red arrow, or blue arrow region in the picture of the nib, although I am not sure of this. Is this where a leak would/could form? It seems like there is ink everywhere inside. Most importantly, can this be fixed? If I took it apart, and cleaned and greased the different parts, would this fix whatever is wrong? If not, I'll be trying to return this.

The pen has been allowed to dry out twice & I wondered if it is possible to extract the nib & feed to give the assembly a good scrub. If that is not possible. How strong a cleaning agent can I use apart from dish soap? It has not been left with something nasty inside it, like Diamine Registrars Ink, just bog-standard dye-based ink. I did the trick with very dilute Ammonia solution to clean a '51's innards. However... The Reflex is not made of quite such good materials. The pen has some minor sentimental value, but it was only £12.50 back in December 2004. BTW it was made in Newhaven. I really liked it for the grip.

I have two vintage Pelikans a 400 Tortoise and a 400N green striated. Love them both and use them regularly but often I will rest them for a month or two. I was wondering if after cleaning it might be good to leave them with a bit of water in so that they wouldnt dry out?

I got a Noodler's Creaper in translucent Truk Lagoon and decided to test out the new pen with a sample of Noodler's Revolution Blue that I had previously purchased because it looked like a nice dark blue and I had a couple of letters to write. The pen had some kind of really weird "spoiled milk" smell when I uncapped it and continues to have that smell, but I assumed that was something in the plastic off-gassing and that it would eventually go away. It hasn't really yet, but I don't know if that's actually abnormal. Fast forward to now, a little over two weeks later, when I've used up the ink I put into the pen and am trying to clean it out. The ink has smeared past the plunger and there are little flakes or curds of ink floating around in the ink chamber (when filled with water) even after about two days of off and on cleaning and soaking when I'm in the house and not out running errands. The plunger itself seems like it might have a layer of this flaky ink curd stuck to it, too. The ink that migrated to the top of the pen needed a lot of wiping with a paper towel to come off, and I can see the rest of the feed section is just thick with it. I've tried warm water so far, and am not sure where to acquire ammonia (and don't particularly want ammonia, to be frank). What's left in the sample vial that I have is quite opaque, but doesn't look like it has flake or curdles except maybe along the air edge of where it was sitting inside the vial which is probably just a bit of dried ink stuck to the side. How do I clean this out of the pen, and what did I do wrong? I don't know how to take it apart to get into those parts to manually clean it, either... I don't get a lot of time to spend with my fountain pens and haven't had something like this happen to my other couple that I have inked up before, and I'm now nervous about inking up anything else I have in my queue to try out because I don't want to repeat the same mistake, especially with a more expensive pen!