# have a problem with FP



## avbill (Dec 29, 2007)

I made a Churchill FP with cocobolo  for my son for Christmas.  I finished it in September  It wrote beautifully.  Its now dried up.  Is there a way to get the nib to work again?  Thanks

Bill Daniels


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## PenWorks (Dec 29, 2007)

Unscrew the front section and put it in a cup of tap water for awhile, then rinsce it out. That should do it.


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## Tea Clipper (Dec 29, 2007)

Often times only a few drops of water on the nib will reactivate the ink enough to get it flowing again.  If the ink/nib is really dried/crusty then unscrew it from the pen and soak it in water for awhile (10min, an hour, a day, all depends on how clogged it is).


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## stevers (Dec 29, 2007)

Come on FP snob, where are you.


Oh Lee????


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## jjudge (Dec 30, 2007)

warm water ... run over the nib
Don't press hard, to try to get it working again -- you might hurt the nib.

You also might want to use the converter pump to suck water in, then back out, the nib.

Fountain pen inks are water based -- so keep the pen cap on, when not in use. Store the pen with nib upwards. If you don't plan on using the pen for a long time, consider cleaning it out and leaving it w/o ink.

-- joe


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## Ligget (Dec 30, 2007)

Yep, I would go for the submerge in warm (not hot) water, checking frequently.


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## Texatdurango (Dec 30, 2007)

Now that the question has been answered, how about a related question?

Recently I read from several sources to clean a nib in cool water, NEVER hot or even warm water.

To those who know why, what's up with the temperature difference?


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## Firefyter-emt (Dec 30, 2007)

Sorry Steve, been out in the shop!

Yes, it is a common practice to use only cold water as some pens can be damaged or warped on plastic parts. Our kits may not suffer as bad as the "real" pens, but still why chance it.  If the water alone does not fix it you can try 1 table-spoon of ammonia to 1 cup of water and flush that thru the pen.  You can also take the nib out and use this solution and a toothbrush to scrub the feeder.(I would get one just for this and not use you own toothbrush) 

Do you use a ink punp or just those refills ?? It's a lot harder to flush without the pump.


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## Scott (Dec 30, 2007)

An eyedropper or one of those rubber bulbs they sell at pharmacies for use with babies is quite handy for flushing out fountain pen feeds and nibs.  I use cool water.

Scott.


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## ashaw (Dec 30, 2007)

The best thing that I have done.  Was to take the nib out of the retainer and soke both in water for a while.  Make sure the fins of feed are clean. good luck


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