Noodler Charlie

[PGrevie]

I bought a bottle of Noodler Heart of Darkness ink that came with a free pen. The pen that was included is called the Charlie. I really like this pen. It's a cheap pen and has some scratchiness, but for some reason I just like it. The problem is that it tended to leak a drop of ink periodically after sitting for a period of time. I decided to take the pen apart and clean it before refilling it. Now the pen leaks through the feed within about 10 seconds of filling.

I have read that this can be a common problem with this particular pen. It appears that the problem is due to the feed groove being too wide and deep. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix the problem?

 

[bberg100]

I have a couple Charlies and they are a fun pen. The feed is real fussy, one of my Charlies the end of the feed has to be flush with the section, the other the feed sticks into the barrel 1/8" or so. They are a burpy pen, as you have discovered. I find keeping them on the desk with the nib down minimizes the burps, I think it helps to keep air out of the barrel. Also, they have to be at least half full, the lower the level the messier. A napkin sits right next to what I'm writing on, when I see a drop building on the feed a dab on the napkin keeps it from burping on my notes.

Fill it with a fun ink, like Dragon Napalm, and go at it.

 

[Traveling Man]

I got a Charlie the exact same way (with a bottle of Heart of Darkness), and mine acted the exact same way you describe. I tinkered and worked with it for a long time, and the way I finally ended the problem was to throw it in the trash.

I say that as an absolute Noodler's fan.

 

[kcore]

My Noodlers Konrad did the same thing and heat setting the feed worked really well. The only time it tends to leak is when the temps go from cold to not too quickly. They can be fun pens if you enjoy being the tinkering type of person who likes to solve problems. Good luck with the pen

 

[nemo]

I really enjoyed my Noodler's pen -- I had a lot of fun with my Konrad, I put a firecracker inside and blew it to smithereens!

Worst $20 I ever spent on a writing instrument if you could even call it that.

 

[Doc4]

The Konrad is far superior to the free pens that come with the bottles of ink. (Unless you get a Preppie ... some of the bottles come with Preppies. Some even come with both a Preppie and a Kuretake brush pen, again a basic plastic model intended for eyedropper fill.)

For a cheap fix, I suggest a Preppie set up for an eyedropper fill, and go with that.

 

[PGrevie]

Thank you for the input. I will tinker with the freebie as I have time. I'll give heat setting a try too.

 

[chado006]

Another thing to play with is where you have the feed placed with the nib, the tip of the feed being closer or further away from the tip of the nib. That may not help the burping so much but it can affect how wet the pen writes. Have fun tinkering!

 

[MichaelRB88]

I received one of these with an ebonite Konrad I bought from Goulet Pens. I just got it today. I filled it up and got it writing. Neither it or the Konrad is overly wet, but perform well so far. The Charlie appears to have an ebonite feed as well. Can anyone confirm this? I've considered attempting a nib creaper nib and feed in it, but thought I'd leave it for now.

 

[PGrevie]

The Charlie performed well for me too. It wasn't overly wet for me either. Just the issue of occasional leaks; which I now know is burping from temp changes. Hoping to have some time to tinker with it this week.

 

[MichaelRB88]

The Charlie performed well for me too. It wasn't overly wet for me either. Just the issue of occasional leaks; which I now know is burping from temp changes. Hoping to have some time to tinker with it this week.

I like mine for cheaper notepads supplied at work. Though I've not had it long, the flow seems perfect for them.

 

[jmwebster]

I have not gone as far as Nemo, but i certainly understand the desire to do that.

I have many other pens that I enjoy and don't require any tinkering to make them a delight to use. Because of that and my unwillingness to tinker for hours to get the thing to work properly, I just don't get the appeal of the Charlie pen.

 

[MichaelRB88]

I actually installed a flex nib in my Charlie pen last night. I found the feed much wetter than expected. Maybe it was the non flex nib that made it seem finer/drier. Either way, the non flex went into my nib creaper and I found myself much happier with both of them. I did heat set them before trying them out though. The flex nib wasn't even close to fitting flat on the Charlie feed. Just a thought for some people who have both pens. I like the thought of an eyedropper flex pen.

 

[bberg100]

Charlie is not an everyday pen, nor one you want to trust good documents with. You will learn a bit about how FPs work and to tune one. Just a fun pen that likes to surprise you, kind of like the guy who sit quietly at the end of the bar, except for frequent loud obnoxious burps.

 

[PGrevie]

Thank you gentleman for the info. I haven't had much time recently, so the Charlie Pen has just been sitting empty. Today I was working on the computer and pulled it out to fiddle with while I was working on the computer. I have it working decently now. I used what I had left of an ink sample, so it's only half full. It still burps a little bit, but I'm attributing that to it not being fully inked. I know most see this as a garbage pen, but I like it. As Bill stated above I'm going to leave it at home and not risk taking it to work. I'm stoked that I can at least use it at home on occasion.

 

[BLOU]

I really enjoyed my Noodler's pen -- I had a lot of fun with my Konrad, I put a firecracker inside and blew it to smithereens!

Worst $20 I ever spent on a writing instrument if you could even call it that.

The Charlie pen is free

 

[Rory1262]

I've been enjoying this pen, not least because it came for free with a bottle of Noodler's Heart of Darkness.
It hasn't burped on me. My only issue so far is starting.
If I go longer than a day without using it, I have to unscrew the feed half a turn to prime it for the ink to flow.
I've been keeping it nib up. Maybe I should keep it nib down instead?

 

[gpjoe]

Can't hurt to try.

I keep my pens horizontal, which feels neutral, and even after sitting for a bit (sometimes weeks) they are ready to write.

 

[Doc4]

My only issue so far is starting.

I've been keeping it nib up. Maybe I should keep it nib down instead?

Experiment with it ... IMHO "nib down" storage usually ends with ink leaking into the cap after a while but maybe it's worth trying. Just check the cap when you go to use the pen and see how it is.

 

[Heron]

This thread answered my question whether I should get the 4.5 oz bottle with the Charlie or get the 3 oz bottle and buy a Preppy. Preppy it is. It'll take me forever to use 3 oz of ink, anyway.