Cartridge Pens Leaking

[kamel]

Hi all - I have 2 pens that I only use cartridges in. One is a Cross Compact and the other is a Bexley Jitterbug. Both pens work great until I'm down to about 1/4 to 1/2 ink in the cartridge. Then all the ink left in the cartrdige will leak into the cap of the pen. Fortunately I haven't ruined any clothes but I am concerned.

I read in one post where a change in temperature could cause this. What else can cause this to happen? I love both these pens but I am very concerned about carrying them.

[kamel]

Just looked at the section of my Jitterbug more closely. The nib and feed asembly eas not tight in the section. Not sure if this caused the issue or not.

[rwilsonedn]

An air leak that would allow air to get into the cartridge could certainly cause the problem you are seeing. So could a change in temperature or in barometric pressure, under some circumstances, but normally modern cartridge pens are able to absorb into the feed any ink forced out by temperature or pressure changes. So I'm guessing you have a leak. But in both pens? It could be bad luck, or something else. Do you by any chance use a lot of pressure when you write, so that you might be bending something?

ron

[kamel]

I use a light pressure when I write. Which is one reason I love fountain pens. Both pens will be fine one day and the next they have a lot of ink inside the cap. In fact the cartridge will be completely drained.

[jar]

Yup. Air leak. And now likely ink between the cap and inner cap. You need to patiently keep soaking the caps until all ink is gone and they are fully dry.

[jsolares]

Are you sure you're using the correct cartridges for them? are they new? if you've refilled them a lot the opening of the cartridges might've warped enough to allow air to get in and empty the ink into the cap.

[kamel]

These are brand new cartridges from J. Herbin and Cross.

 

Air leak? How does one fix this?

[jar]

These are brand new cartridges from J. Herbin and Cross.

 

Air leak? How does one fix this?

 

You first need to find the leak. Often people mess with their nibs or feeds and so cause a leak.

[Steven]

It may not be a leak. As the ink in your cartridge gets used, the air volume in the cartridges increases to replace the used ink. When the air heats up it expands and pushes the ink out causing it to drip out of the nib. My Parker 100 did this all the time. I could always tell when the ink was low because the pen starting writing real wet and occasional dripped ink. Keep the pen vertical when not in use may help. My experience is that there is no cure. It is poor design since the manufacturer did not take this into account. All my other pens have not done this.

[kamel]

Both pens are brand new and had not been used before. I'm leaning towards the air explanation. Wish there is a way to fix that.