Mb Ink Flow Problems Anyone?

[bevan]

Hi guys,

I'm new here so pls be patient if this kind of problem has been covered before... My MB Chopin fountain pen just won't write properly. Sounds daft I know. It's been back to MB for repair twice and allegedly had the nib (fine) replaced. And still, with daily use for writing my diary, - say 10-20 lines A4 per day - the ink flow stops & I end up shaking the pen violently (not good) or dabbing the nib (!!!!) to try and get some ink flow again.

My wife bought it as a 40th birthday present a couple of years back so I don't want to put it in a drawer & forget about it but I'm so fed up with it & the (lack of) service from MB UK that I'm left with no other options. I try cleaning regularly & that doesn't seem to help; I've only use MB ink - except when I tried alternative cartridge and piston filler! Really Stucke Meisterly!! Any recommendations might just save a pens life. Thanks in advance.Bevan

[gregpickens1961]

I have the same issues with my 146 when I lay it up for a few days. I wrote to a solid nib man in the US, and he recommended multiple flushes with cold water and then to floss the nib. He says to use an old photograph negative strip to GENTLY slide between the tines and the feed and then to slip a corner of the negative strip in the slit on the top of the nib and move it, again Gently, from the breather hole to the tip. He writes that if you can get away with pulling the negative strip out of the slit before the end of the tine, it reduces the chance of damaging the tipping material.

 

If this doesn't work and you are not comfortable soaking the feed and nib assembly, I would send it to a nib person.

 

Hope this helps and I am interested in other information regarding this issue - feel free to correct.

[jar]

First, I would suggest trying a few different inks, Waterman Blue or South Seas Blue always seem to be very wet inks. See if that makes a difference.

[Thornton]

I'm not sure if this would effect a find nib, but my Chopin with a medium nib had a terrible case of baby bottom. The ends of the tines were too rounded and the ink would not flow properly onto the paper. I ended up sending it to a nibmeister and the problem was solved. Just a thought.

[pkoko]

My MB 149 had a similar problem and couple of overnight soakings in water & dish detergent and once with 1:10 ammonia solution cleared the problem for me and my pen now writes extremely well. All I did was flushed the pen through the solution couple of times during soaking. I think I soaked it 3 nights in water and dish detergent and one night in the 1:10 ammonia solution. Then I cleaned properly was water and left it overnight to air dry then refilled it.

[georges zaslavsky]

Never had any ink flow problems. Maybe you should just flush it.

[BrandonA]

Both ink and paper can affect how a pen writes, I'd therefore try mixing it up.

[Michael R.]

Just like with any other fountain pen brand I have had (and still) have a few Montblancs with skipping and flow proble issues.

 

In most cases Montblanc was able to take care of this resolving the ussues with nib adjustment and/or feed replacement.

 

In some cases I switched nibs and/or feeds by myself to get rid of the problems.

 

Sometimes individual feed and nib just don't match

 

 

Also you might want to try a different ink if flushing of the pen does not help. My experiences with e.g. Diamine inks & Montblanc pens are pretty good.

 

 

Ask Montblanc for help again, including a written sample showing the flow problem and ask them to actually try out the pen filled with ink for a few pages.

 

If possible demonstrate the problem in a boutique in front of the staff.

 

I really hope that you can enjoy your pen soon!

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[CS388]

Welcome to FPN, Bevan.

 

Some good advice from previous posters. Personally, I'd go for a few flushes and then try using a wetter ink, first.

 

I find that Waterman inks flow nice and wet in my MBs. I also use MB inks, but find them much drier.

 

If it has been back to MB twice already and still has the problem, you're well within your rights to contact them again, if the above doesn't work.

 

As Michael R says, show them a sample of your (problematic) writing - if you're within easy reach of a boutique, take it in and demonstrate the problem to them.

 

Hope you get it sorted out.

[Dr Lopez]

I find MB inks a little drier than other inks, some colours more than others being Sepia the driest ink I have tried so far. They are supposed to be designed for MB nibs which are typically very good flowing. This is why, specially for broader nibs, MB inks behave better than say Waterman's on MB pens.

 

You seem to have got the baby bottom problem. This is particularly annoying when using very smooth paper like Clairfountain. You may find that your pen skips more or less depending on the paper you use. The recipe I use to cure this is to pick some bag brown paper, the one used to wrap things, and write a series of loops like 8 and 00 of increasing sizes and with normal angle and force applied as when you write. I do this for one min and go to the normal paper and try. If not enough I go back to the brown paper for another short series and so on. The brown paper is slightly abrasive and removes tiny bits of tipping material until the rounded point gets enough flat surface to drag correctly on paper. This has cured the skipping of a few of my pens.

 

Before you try something the question would be: Is there any chance you have used an irongal ink (I think MB blue-black is irongal based) and left it dry on the pen?

[bevan]

Many thanks to all for constructive suggestions. I think I've exhausted the cleaning options - tried many times with various methods. Lower viscosity ink seems to help a bit without rectifying the problem completely.I think I may send the pen to a nib expert for a look. As stated earlier, two returns to MB have not helped resolve things. My pen supplier said that MB UK don't actually do anything to repair returned pens with writing problems - they just swap out the entire nib/feed assembly. Anyway I suppose I'll grit my teeth & spend some more money on seeing if a real pen tech person can help.

Grrrrr.

Bevan

[OPG4711]

I had the opposite problem with my new, vintage 149 --- the ink (Noodlers Bad Kingfisher) would just flow and flow making the Medium nib more like a B or BB!

 

So, I plunked down $17.50 at my local MB boutique and bought a bottle of MB black. I must admit, it now behaves much better is actually a Medium nib line width.

 

Perhaps trying Noodlers Eel inks (lubricated) would help. I know this has worked in some old FPs I inherited that had EEF nibs and were very persnickity about inks.

[Dr Lopez]

I had the opposite problem with my new, vintage 149 --- the ink (Noodlers Bad Kingfisher) would just flow and flow making the Medium nib more like a B or BB!

 

So, I plunked down $17.50 at my local MB boutique and bought a bottle of MB black. I must admit, it now behaves much better is actually a Medium nib line width.

 

Perhaps trying Noodlers Eel inks (lubricated) would help. I know this has worked in some old FPs I inherited that had EEF nibs and were very persnickity about inks.

 

Using more lubricating inks would increase flow, wouldn't it? and you just want the opposite, don't you? I copy from my previous post on this thread:

 

I find MB inks a little drier than other inks, some colours more than others being Sepia the driest ink I have tried so far. They are supposed to be designed for MB nibs which are typically very good flowing. This is why, specially for broader nibs, MB inks behave better than say Waterman's on MB pens.

 

Pelikan pens also tend to be good flowing needing drier than average inks, that must be why Pelikan inks are generally on the dry side.

[pavoni]

Hopefully by now bevan you have your problem sorted. I think I got my MB 145 Chopin for my 45th birthday, five years ago. It skipped and I tried different writing angles and differing pressures to alleviate the problem. It very nearly put me off. However, I did more or less what pkoko did. I flushed the pen in warm water until the water ran clear. I then soaked it, just past the nib, in water (I used filtered water but it I’m sure it doesn’t really matter) with just one drop of washing up liquid over night. In the morning, I dried it gently and sat the pen upright in a glass stuffed full of kitchen towel to dry it out. On my return from work that evening, I put in a new MB black cartridge and the pen has written wet for the past five years without any problems what so ever.

 

I now flush my bottle ink pens prior to each refilling, and my cartridge pens monthly using exactly the same method.

 

Pavoni.

[draeroheli]

<br />  I flushed the pen in warm water until the water ran clear.  I then soaked it, just past the nib, in water (I used filtered water but it I'm sure it doesn't really matter) with just one drop of washing up liquid over night.  In the morning, I dried it gently and sat the pen upright in a glass stuffed full of kitchen towel to dry it out.  On my return from work that evening, I put in a new MB black cartridge and the pen has written wet for the past five years without any problems what so ever. 

 

I now flush my bottle ink pens prior to each refilling, and my cartridge pens monthly using exactly the same method.

Pavoni.

 

 

Excellent advise +1

Edited January 29, 2011 by draeroheli

[fojeremiad]

Bevan, thanks for your post. I ended up here with a similar problem. I had sent my MB 144 to Dallas for problems with not writing without intense pressure. It came back with everything replaced but the nib, the barrel, and the clip. Feed, section, cap were all new. But this "high end pen" still couldn't keep up with my $3 Pilot Varsity FP, which was frustrating. Why don't they test it before returning it?

 

I tried flushing, soaking, a drop of dish soap, 10:1 water/ammonia. No dice. I made a few half-hearted attempts at flossing, but that proved more difficult than it sounds. Other posts suggested you needed to dissasemble the feed/nib/section, which is not straightforward with a MB.

 

On another post on FPN about increasing ink flow, teej47 recommends bending the nib shoulders with your fingers. Tried that. The pen is still a little wanting in the experience it provides, but it will at least put down a line of ink as good as my Varsity now.

Edited January 31, 2011 by chessjhm7

[nik911sc]

Bevan, thanks for your post. I ended up here with a similar problem. I had sent my MB 144 to Dallas for problems with not writing without intense pressure. It came back with everything replaced but the nib, the barrel, and the clip. Feed, section, cap were all new. But this "high end pen" still couldn't keep up with my $3 Pilot Varsity FP, which was frustrating. Why don't they test it before returning it?

 

I tried flushing, soaking, a drop of dish soap, 10:1 water/ammonia. No dice. I made a few half-hearted attempts at flossing, but that proved more difficult than it sounds. Other posts suggested you needed to dissasemble the feed/nib/section, which is not straightforward with a MB.

 

On another post on FPN about increasing ink flow, teej47 recommends bending the nib shoulders with your fingers. Tried that. The pen is still a little wanting in the experience it provides, but it will at least put down a line of ink as good as my Varsity now.

 

I have had the same problem with MB Service Centre here and the pen is back again to fix the problem. Could well be a dodgy nib.....

Edited February 1, 2011 by nik911sc

[draeroheli]

Bevan, thanks for your post. I ended up here with a similar problem. I had sent my MB 144 to Dallas for problems with not writing without intense pressure. It came back with everything replaced but the nib, the barrel, and the clip. Feed, section, cap were all new. But this "high end pen" still couldn't keep up with my $3 Pilot Varsity FP, which was frustrating. Why don't they test it before returning it?

 

 

I know your feeling, sometimes, I just wonder why we are fuss about these expensive MB Pens, the other time, very delightful feeling when you own one which writes so well. Out of my 9 MB pens, 146 is the only one not to my liking, when I think about that pen carefully, a lot of them are due to my false and the type of paper I have to use at work. The more I think carefully, the more I realize that it is the circumstances which lead into this frustration and due to our high expectation from MB. In the end, I have a full confidence that every MB pen's problem could be solved with patience and careful thought.

 

Wish you all the best.

 

Htin

Edited February 1, 2011 by draeroheli

[nik911sc]

Bevan, thanks for your post. I ended up here with a similar problem. I had sent my MB 144 to Dallas for problems with not writing without intense pressure. It came back with everything replaced but the nib, the barrel, and the clip. Feed, section, cap were all new. But this "high end pen" still couldn't keep up with my $3 Pilot Varsity FP, which was frustrating. Why don't they test it before returning it?

 

I tried flushing, soaking, a drop of dish soap, 10:1 water/ammonia. No dice. I made a few half-hearted attempts at flossing, but that proved more difficult than it sounds. Other posts suggested you needed to dissasemble the feed/nib/section, which is not straightforward with a MB.

 

On another post on FPN about increasing ink flow, teej47 recommends bending the nib shoulders with your fingers. Tried that. The pen is still a little wanting in the experience it provides, but it will at least put down a line of ink as good as my Varsity now.

 

I have had the same problem with MB Service Centre here and the pen is back again to fix the problem. Could well be a dodgy nib.....

 

Got the pen back from MB and they claim it's not the pen but rather the Rhodia paper I am using even though I don't have the problem with any other of my mb pens with same sized nibs using the same ink. I also confirm the problem occurs on other paper as well. Given the feed has been changed and the only thing common to the problem is the nib, I may try to smooth out the nib to see if that helps. I won't be taking it to mb as they seem clueless.

[jerrold Lyle]

ink flow problemsI have a 149 with a medium nub. I bought it new 8 years ago. It never would write with MB black ink. All the other MB inks worked fine . I have never used Blue-black in it. I have always flushed it out every two weeks. I would say it was a dry writer. I took it to a Mont Blanc dealer who said the nub was to close together. He adjusted it and said that I could adjust it either with a piece of film(negative) or tighten it by pressing it lightly with my fingers to make it dryer. Now it writes very well with any ink and on all types of paper. It never skips and writes smoother than it ever has. Now it is an average to wet writer that makes MB black ink look very black not gray and it has very good flow without having to much and it is very even also.