Carene That Skips

[speculator]

I'd like to know if any other forum folks that write with Waterman Carene fountain pens encounter trouble with what feels like "skipping," which is to say the point needs a lot of coaxing to either start up or continue writing. I'm using a medium point, and find I'm increasingly having to write at a nearly vertical angle. Otherwise the ink flow is problematic. It used to write better; this is a new problem. I've also tried soaking the nib section.

 

Any similar stories?

Any suggestions to remedy this?

 

Many thanks in advance!

[Koyote]

I presume you have tried flushing and different inks. Others may suggest more extreme measures such as a soak in a 10% ammonia solution.

 

If nothing else works, send it to Waterman USA service in Wisconsin. Heck, they replaced a Carene nib for me, and I had buggered it up myself!

[RMN]

How long do you have the pen?

 

Did it write normally before?

 

Did you do something different after which this problem started (like starting to use a converter instead of a cartridge?)

 

 

D.ick

[haldane3]

Yes, I have. The problem overwhelmingly (with multiple Waterman pens I have had) is a baby bottom nib issue which needs a careful hand or the help of a nibmeister (recommended).

 

Other possible problems:

 

-Manufacturing material/oils in nib requiring soap, water, and/or ammonia to remove.

-Dried ink gunking up your nib causing flow isseus requiring soap, water, and/or ammonia to remove.

-Converter can affect the surface tension of the ink stopping ink flow.

-Defect in nib tines, misaligned causing scratchiness and flow issues.

-Ink that doesn't play nice with your pen.

 

Symptoms to pay attention too: timing of skips, scratchiness in nib, and whether using cartridge or converter.

 

I recommend: J.B.'s Perfect pen flush, using a cartridge containing Waterman serenity blue ink (also known as florida blue), and seeing if this issue persists. If so, time for a nibmeister to look at it!

 

My 2 cents.

 

Dan

[speculator]

Thanks to all of you for your advice.

I tried to re-soak, this time with a bit of dish soap, and for 2 days.

After being thoroughly dry, I re-inked (with Mont Blanc Royal Blue ink), and there is still some skipping: specifically, on the "ascent," as you may imagine beginning to write a cursive "h" or a "b" or an "l." I find I have to re-draw many of my letter-characters.

The ink flows slightly better after the re-soak, but it's not as consistent as it used to be.

 

I'm going to explore the warranty service idea someone here brought up. The pen is barely a year old, and its misbehaviour is something entirely new.

[Shaporama]

I went thru 2 nibs with my Carene and finally called it quits. Both were balky and overly dry writers. I cleaned them in an ultrasonic bath of ammonia and soap (my treatment for all new pens)and tried a number of nib tweaks that have helped other pens perform better but all of this made no apparent difference. The Waterman Edson had been my "grail" pen, but the Carene experience has me rethinking that too.

[speculator]

I went thru 2 nibs with my Carene and finally called it quits. Both were balky and overly dry writers. I cleaned them in an ultrasonic bath of ammonia and soap (my treatment for all new pens)and tried a number of nib tweaks that have helped other pens perform better but all of this made no apparent difference. The Waterman Edson had been my "grail" pen, but the Carene experience has me rethinking that too.

 

 

Wow. What a story!

I'll contact Waterman, since I bought the pen new within the past year.

Before the recent couple of weeks, it was fine.

 

But I must say, it never wrote as smoothly as a Waterman Hemisphere, or my old faithful Caran d'Ache pens.

[Left FPN]

The warranty covers 3 years and is easier with the purchase receipt.

 

http://www.waterman.com/images/warranty/pdf/waterman_english_international_final.pdf

 

To repeat D.ick (RMN) did it write well before or when new. You mention it wrote better but was it skipping at times then.

 

I will add, having removed a nib from the section, if when assembled the adhesive gets in the wrong place I suspect ink flow to the nib would suffer.

 

Here is a pic

 

 

and here you can see adhesive near the feed.

 

Edited January 19, 2013 by Force

[Bluey]

Well rather than starting a new thread, I thought I'd bring an old one alive. My Carene used to skip. I flush every pen before I first put ink in it, of course, so that wasn't the problem. I'd followed all the guides and advice about filling up the converter, then emptying, and repeating 3 times so that the huge feed can have a chance to become fully immersed.

Still skipped.

 

Then I changed from using the converter to using the supplied cartridge, and all issues with skipping disappeared! I suppose it could be the supplied Waterman (Serenity Blue) ink, but I've tried different inks from different companies and it still performs flawlessly - I don't bother using converters anymore, unless unavoidable. Cart + pipette/syringe is the way to go.

 

It's now my favourite journalling pen by a mile because the Pelikan is disappointing and temperamental and the Lamy 2000 has the same issue as the Pelikan with being finicky on paper which has lots of hand oils(near the lower half of each page) with certain inks. The Cerene has no such issues.

I'm really not sure why the converter should be the issue though.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Bluey

[Left FPN]

Interesting. Can you put up a picture of the converter.

[Bluey]

Interesting. Can you put up a picture of the converter.

[Left FPN]

I think I can say it's what I (we) were expecting to see, the new version converter.

 

There are many people having problems with this version.

 

If you still want to eliminate it and try a converter you should try one of the earlier versions with the chrome collar.

 

Refer to the pinned topic Waterman Cartridges and Converters, Item 11 to 14