Help! After cleaning and refill my MB Meisterstück Chopin doesn’t work very well

[Mangew69]

As above, it works fine for a while and then it’s like it runs out of ink (MB Permenent Blue). Only if I turn the converter for some drops it works for a few lines, then the flow stops again. Most disturbing!

Any advice, Pen Pals?

 

[nemo]

Partially clogged feed is the usual culprit when after half a page the feed needs to be re-primed.
Longer soak with a 10% ammonia solution for the nib section may work, if not try the bulb syringe.
Goulet Bulb Syringe 2oz

Curious, did you change inks to the MB permanent blue?

 

[Mangew69]

Thanks for reaching out, Doug!

After some googling I started a stubborn cleaning process with water (the mrs thought we hade a water leak somewhere) and so far it seems to work. Now I can fill a few pages without repriming, and there is another flow.

I changed to the Permanent Blue from MB Black/Blue, which I suppose is not the most wet ink.

Once again, thanks. As a newbie around here, it feels great not to be alone when you need some wise advice.

/Magnus

 

[trashcanmagic]

Hey Magnus,

I'm a big MB fan and actually own one of these. I found it a bit challenging especially compared to my usual cadre of pens that just dump ink on the page at an astronomical rate (which frankly is why they are my favorites). In this particular pen I found it necessary to go full wet/free flowing to get the kind of results I personally wanted.

Your inclination to change inks is probably correct; Iroshizuku works admirably, if you can take the color Private Reserve Tanzanite is extremely free flowing, or perhaps better than that is to take an ink you like the color of and add a high quality surfactant to it. Photoflo is reasonably acceptable.

FWIW I clean my pens out between refills so the last option, while a bit nuclear in nature, has not proved to be a problem for me. Though I probably wouldnt use it in a sac pen.

 

[tankerjohn]

I’ve recently encountered the same problem with my Platinum 3776. I’m blaming the ink. The 3776 is a somewhat dry writer and Visconti Blue is somewhat dry ink. Not super dry, but I guess dry enough to get sluggish in the 3776. I’m sorta bummed, because I love the dark blue color. I need to try one of the Pilot Iroshizuku or Sailor blues; I imagine Japanese ink will flow better in that pen. I hadn’t thought to flush the nib and feed; I’ll try that too.

The afore mentioned problem with loss of ink flow caused an embarrassing situation with my wife. She already thinks I’m a goober for insisting on using a fountain pen in public. There we were, filling out forms in an office. I’m using the 3776, which up until then was impeccably behaved. Then on this one form, it dried up mid-signature. So I open it up - plenty of ink in the converter. I figured it needed a little priming, so I twisted the knob a bit. But I went to far and blobbed ink all over the table. And then proceeded to make a bigger mess trying to wipe it up. Needless to say, SWMBO was not impressed. I did get it cleaned up and managed to finish the forms. But I was not the best ambassador for fountain pen usage that day.

 

[trashcanmagic]

I’ve recently encountered the same problem with my Platinum 3776. I’m blaming the ink. The 3776 is a somewhat dry writer and Visconti Blue is somewhat dry ink. Not super dry, but I guess dry enough to get sluggish in the 3776. I’m sorta bummed, because I love the dark blue color. I need to try one of the Pilot Iroshizuku or Sailor blues; I imagine Japanese ink will flow better in that pen. I hadn’t thought to flush the nib and feed; I’ll try that too.

The afore mentioned problem with loss of ink flow caused an embarrassing situation with my wife. She already thinks I’m a goober for insisting on using a fountain pen in public. There we were, filling out forms in an office. I’m using the 3776, which up until then was impeccably behaved. Then on this one form, it dried up mid-signature. So I open it up - plenty of ink in the converter. I figured it needed a little priming, so I twisted the knob a bit. But I went to far and blobbed ink all over the table. And then proceeded to make a bigger mess trying to wipe it up. Needless to say, SWMBO was not impressed. I did get it cleaned up and managed to finish the forms. But I was not the best ambassador for fountain pen usage that day.

Iro flows better than Sailor, fwiw.

also you may want to clean the inside of the converter with a surfactant, as well, just to break up surface tension in there. some even come with little balls or springs to do the same.

100% honesty I avoid pens with converters because I too have experienced them deciding not to work at what seems like the most inopportune time. Though I do have a Pilot 743 which has proven remarkably well behaved, I still carry a pen I trust a little more thoroughly with it just in case.

 

[tankerjohn]

Iro flows better than Sailor, fwiw.

also you may want to clean the inside of the converter with a surfactant, as well, just to break up surface tension in there. some even come with little balls or springs to do the same.

100% honesty I avoid pens with converters because I too have experienced them deciding not to work at what seems like the most inopportune time. Though I do have a Pilot 743 which has proven remarkably well behaved, I still carry a pen I trust a little more thoroughly with it just in case.

Thanks for the pro tip! So it might be the converter? Hmmm. I have some silicone grease; that work? That makes me feel a little better about VB. So, before VB, I ran Monteverde Sapphire, which flowed beautifully and without issue. Before that, I had the Platinum Black cartridge that came with the pen. That, of course, worked great too, which I would expect for a same-brand ink. The Platinum cartridge does actually have a little ball bearing in it. It is sort of clever, I think. The ball serves as a cap to the cartridge and then after you insert it, it bobs around the cart keeping everything mixed and moving. It did rattle some, which was sometimes annoying.