Why did this fix my problem?
I just got a new shiny black Safari with an EF nib, converter, and some Noodler’s Air Corps ink. Without flushing or cleaning, I just filled the converter and started writing (in a no-name, average journal that I’ve been using.)
The performance was very weird: the amount of ink through the nib and onto the paper was fine, but there was a very large accumulation of ink on the underside of the nib–so much so that it was dripping onto the paper. A lot. Again, the writing was normal, not particularly wet/rich but the pen seemed to be leaking like a sieve underneath. It didn’t leak unless I was writing. If i stopped writing, the leaking stopped. I did have some nib creep, but no more than with my F nib in the same model pen, with another Noodler’s ink (which I know tends to flow freely, which I like.)
For the heck of it, and just to establish a baseline, I emptied the converter and flushed/cleaned it and the nib with some warm water with a drop of dishsoap (while leaving the converter in/attached to the pen.) I dried it, refilled it as usual, and now it works fine. The leaking issue is gone altogether.
Why did that work? It’s counterintuitive, no? Normally, I’d flush and clean a pen to improve/in