Fountain Pens

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Why don't ink refills work (programming.dev)

submitted 3 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/fountainpens

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I have a great pen from lamy that I used for a could have years and really enjoyed. I found it a delight to write with and found it more consistent than ball point pens. Then I ran out of the prefilled ink cartridges it came with. I grabbed a refillable cartridge and some waterman ink and it has been downhill from there. I have two pens, not sure what the other one is, but neither seem to be able to write at all with the refills. They leak more often, constantly seem to dry out, and I have ended up going back to sharpie sgels because I need my pens to write when I need to write.

What am I doing wrong? Do I need better refill cartridges and if so can you recommend one, or are the cartridges really so much better? Or is there maintenance I am supposed to preform on the nib that I have neglected that could be causing my issues? Thanks for any advice, I would love to get back to using these pens.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

FYI, Never had any issue with Lamy and their (official) converters (the only difference being that they carry less ink than a cartridge), no matter the ink brand I have been using. And I have been using Lamy since the late 90s.

As suggested, you may want to rinse your fountain pen (and let it dry for a few days). You may also learn to disassemble the fountain pen entirely (which for a Lamy Safari means removing the nib and the feed) to do a deep cleaning (you will find guides on YT). When not using a fountain pen for a long time, ink can dry in it and should be cleaned (with standard ink, barely warm water should be more than fine)
Waterman, like Pelikan, is a great (and cheap) ink, I've been using it since I was a kid (back in the 70s ;) but you may want to check what exact type of ink you're using. Make sure it is ink for fountain pens and not India or acrylics which would ruin any fountain pen.
Another possibility: check you're using a genuine Lamy converter. There are cheap knock-offs. And just in case: don't try to use a Lamy converter on any other brand of fountain pen.
Last suggestion: contact Lamy support. They're not the fastest but they're good. I had them help me with a 2009 model a few months ago, without any issue. I place them right next to Twsbi as far as customer support goes, and Twsbi is real excellent ;)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

You might be right about the cheap knockoff. I just grabbed one on Amazon not realizing that they would be so finicky. I am new to this type of pen and so thought some of this was standardized. I will try to find an official one and after cleaning the nib as another poster suggested give it a try.