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Inspired by a Goulet blog and instructional video, I've discovered a new way to clean Waterman fountain pens which use converters or cartridges. I've always flushed the pen by filling and rinsing, filling and rinsing, etc., with a converter. The new way is to remove the converter or cartridge, then use running water to flush out the nib and feed, and fill and rinse the converter by itself. I've got a bulb syringe on order. However, I've immediately run into a problem. After doing this flushing, if I insert an ink cartridge and start writing, the writing is very faint. It takes a lot of writing before the writing darkens to a usable level. Dipping the pen in ink makes very little difference. Any suggestions on how to speed up the process of getting my writing to be dark enough? Relevant details: Waterman Expert GT and Waterman Phileas pens, Waterman Intense Black and Serenity Blue 75mm cartridges. The Phileas is about 10 years old, the Expert ir 6 months old. I use a variety of inks.