Mb Ink Flow Problems Anyone?

[Bart1979]

Well I have a Chopin with an F nib, and never have had any problems with it... I however do find that inks influence it quite a lot. It however performs well with Herbin Eclat de Saphir and with Montblanc Royal Blue.

It should of course write well...so send it in for assessment with MB.

 

Good luck!

[cellmatrix]

for what its worth, I had flow problems too, but with a MB 149. I had sent it to the texas service center twice. All they did was swap the feed and piston but the flow problem persisted. Finally I sent it to Greg Munuskin and its been writing extremely smoothly ever since.

[masterFAF]

I have a small personnal story to share with you about the same problem.

 

I bought a montblanc 144 a few weeks ago. I was super excited because it is my second MB but my first in the MEISTERSTUCK range ( the other I own being the old classic/221). Then I realised that after a few lines, it stopped writing, every time I used it, untill I forced more ink into the feed.Then I said to myself : ********* It is handmade top of the line, tested, supposed to be perfect for the amount of money.... Then I started to try all of your advices guys ( all very good ideas by the way) soaked it, cleaned it, realigned it..... Nothing worked ! It was good for the gabage and me to write with my lamy safari....

 

last night, I had an idea based on something i experienced long ago with a cheaper pen. I removed the converter (standard montblanc genuine screws in place type ) and replaced it with a old montblanc converter (very standard push type) even if my pen was not (I think) designed for it. clipped in place very well and BOOOOOM it wrotes endlessly and perfectly for the first time !

 

Mabye you should try this. It worked with a montblanc converter and a faber-castell converter for me.

 

And I would like your experts comments too about this please ! I still have a lot to learn. But I think it is better to have a "unconventionnal' pen that writes than a pen that don't wirte at all !

 

-FAF-

[Uncial]

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.

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I've been having problems with a MB 149 medium nib and MB's customer service...or lack thereof.

I'm getting the same nonsense from them about Rhodia paper and it's very annoying. When I got it I filled it up with MB Royal Blue - an ink which is a tad dry, but not especially so. It was well flushed before the first fill. It has hard starts, it gradually dries out as it writes to the point where you have to apply a little pressure to get it to write at all, it regularly skips and sometimes dries up completely. The second fill was done with a very wet ink - all the same issues except it now had an extremely variable line. It writes like I have to force it to put ink on the page; almost as if it's stiff. I can't express enough the bitter disappointment with this as it's been back and forwards three times now and they are quite happy to ask all sorts of silly questions to try and get enough information to lay the blame for their faulty pen at my feet. Very, very annoying. I will never buy a MB again, but I am at a total loss now as to what on earth to do with a very expensive pen that does not write.

 

*edited to add:

I use Rhodia a lot, but it does this on all types of paper.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Uncial

[Uncial]

Well, it seems it pays to buy out of a brick and mortar store. They have agreed to replace the faulty pen with a brand new one.

Apologies for my ranting, but I was a little irritated.

[meiers]

Well, it seems it pays to buy out of a brick and mortar store. They have agreed to replace the faulty pen with a brand new one.

Apologies for my ranting, but I was a little irritated.

This is true If the brick & mortar people value their customers.

Fountain Pen Hospital, for example does this. Their customer service is exceptional.

Edited January 16, 2015 by meiers

[Uncial]

This is true If the brick & mortar people value their customers.

Fountain Pen Hospital, for example does this. Their customer service is exceptional.

 

It's as well they do. I would have been really stuck without their commitment. I now have a very beautiful pen that writes like a dream, but it has sadly soured what should have been a really good experience. I had a similar experience with Visconti and a dodgy nib, but they immediately committed to swapping out the nib for a new one even before they saw it - no questions asked. That said, I am still a bit wary of buying another Visconti.

[meiers]

I use rhodia paper all the time. It's great fountain pen paper. Your pen needs a nib adjustment.

[TLMG]

I had the same problem...

 

Two things helped:

1) This ink (I must have bought 15 different black inks to test out!) : http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MP1X4I/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002MP1X4I&linkCode=as2&tag=rebates1010d-20&linkId=YR2KGUOSJPZRQXZP

2) Having Mike over at MikeItWork nibmeist my pen.

[agentdaffy007]

Yup, mikeitwork.com

 

I sent many many MB to him. Last time, it took 3 tries before getting it done right but in the end, it worked out. Make sure you tell him exactly what you want to the smallest detail.

 

I told him i wanted my nib to be juicy but man, it was wayyy to juicy. Had to send it back and it came back still too juicy. The 3rd time, it is more manageable. Just need to use drier inks. Still love my MB 149 from 1959. )

[Bigcahones]

I have been battling with inkflow for a long time without any clue how to solve it until I found this thread. I have a 146 and a 149. Both have been annoying me as they tend to skip on ink while doing an upward stroke ruining my signature. I tried flushing and soaking with water overnight but nothing worked until I tried the negative trick described above although I was hesitant as I feared ruining the pens. But I managed to find a strip of 35 mm. negative that I slid it gently in the slit above the nib. Pushing the nib gently but firmly down an a piece of paper opens it up slightly for easier insertion. That seems to have improved the flow but I keep my fingers crossed. There is no pen repairshop in Iceland. The last pen repairman died of old age a few years ago :-( I also have a Parker 75 Cicele Silver but find it a tad to petite for my taste but it writes perfectly.

Edited February 17, 2015 by Bigcahones

[danielfalgerho]

Acquired a MB Noblesse NOS from the bay, I couldn’t resist the Deutsche Bank imprint, it was catnip to a news junkie. The pen had been dipped and the ink had dried, as ink does. It underwent overnight soaking, ultrasonic cleaning and bulb flushing in water with ammonia and detergent, all to no avail: the ink flow remain very light to none under light pressure and gets wetter under medium/firm pressure. Being new to MB I hope I don’t have to take anything apart or wait months for a professional to do the work. I would like to have advice from experienced users. experienced users.

[Ambien]

Lately, I got a vintage MB 144 and the ink flow problems started up after I flushed the pen and used the converter. Currently, I have it soaking in some water and I hope it'll clean out the old ink and I bought MB cartridges for later. 

 

I admit, the pen had been stored for awhile looking at the listing but still not the most confident way to start out the evening with MB.  

[meiers]

Using Montblanc Midnight Blue has helped me restore ink flow on two different fountain pens. I followed the advice given to me by the good people at Fountain Pen Hospital. And it worked both times.

[KAC]

Interesting that this old thread has risen Phoenix-like from the archives. I had all sorts of similar troubles (hard start, ink flow dried up while writing, skips) with my only modern MB (a 149/90 Anniversary).

 

As a result of other issues (i.e., the barrel developed an apparent spontaneous through-and-through crack), I sent it to MB service in Texas. I also mentioned the ink flow problem which was present since I purchased the pen new and directly from MB: I had too many pens to otherwise bother with this and my pessimistic nature suggested another issue would eventually motivate me to send it in...and it happened.

 

Anyway, the service dept. tweaked it and it worked perfectly...until I filled it with MB "Cool Grey" ink. With Rhodia paper and this ink, the problem recurred. It's not an issue with other inks and the "Cool Grey" works fine. I'm not sure exactly what this anecdote illustrates other than the combo of nib (broad), paper (Rhodia) and this ink ("Cool Grey") is not a felicitous one.

[DrWabbit]

15 hours ago, KAC said:

Anyway, the service dept. tweaked it and it worked perfectly...until I filled it with MB "Cool Grey" ink. With Rhodia paper and this ink, the problem recurred. It's not an issue with other inks and the "Cool Grey" works fine. I'm not sure exactly what this anecdote illustrates other than the combo of nib (broad), paper (Rhodia) and this ink ("Cool Grey") is not a felicitous one.

 

Another example of a problematic combination: fine nib plus Rhodia paper plus MB "Mystery Black" ink.

 

I have experienced an annoying ink flow problem with my MB 145 (Fine) when using MB Mystery Black. The ink flow stops on the curve of some letters, such as 'e' and 'c'. I am also using Rhodia paper.

 

Perplexingly, the ink flow problem was worse when I had a medium nib, which was exchanged for the current fine nib (it should surely be worse with a fine nib because there is less ink flowing out compared to a medium???).

 

I have cleaned the pen thoroughly after using Mystery Black and used other MB inks thereafter without any flow problems whatsoever. But whenever I return to using Mystery Black, this ink flow problem recurs.

[Ambien]

Luckily my situation improved in a few hour as I wrote fine with Rhodia paper now. 

[lemonde]

On 5/15/2021 at 5:49 PM, meiers said:

Using Montblanc Midnight Blue has helped me restore ink flow on two different fountain pens. I followed the advice given to me by the good people at Fountain Pen Hospital. And it worked both times.

What is the complete advice, please?

 

I ask because I find Midnight Blue to be a great ink, and I do get ink flow issues with other colors sometimes.