Revitalising a fountain pen

stefano

I have a fountain pen which has not been used for a long long time, and was left with an ink cartridge attached. I put in a new one, but nothing's happening. How can I revive it?

DigForVictory

Disassemble & immerse in warm water. Opinions vary as to washing up liquid.
Rub, gently, with a lint free cloth (miocrofibre or chamois/shammie.)
Make sure the nib is clean.
Rinse with more warm water.
Dry all parts, reassemble with new cartidge & squeeze cartridge to get ink into the pen.

It should now write.
If not, soak the nib unit for several hours & try again.

paddyrg

Lots of soaking with occasional gentle agitation and gently blowing through it. Keep going until the water runs clear (or clearish anyway). If you want to give it a spin in meths that's probably just fine too if the body is plastic or metal, and it may work better for softening some dried inks. Don't put it to your lips with meths though!!

Honeythief

This is an old thread, but for anybody else in the same situation I would also like to suggest paying a visit to a site like Richard's Pens - that guy knows a lot about fountain pens. They are almost always well worth fixing!