Platinum Regent getting dry while writing

[ppmiranda]

Yesterday I received my first piston filler, a NOS Platinum Regent made by Senator (formerly Merz & Krell) in the late 80's.

Today I filled it with Sheaffer Skrip turquoise and started writing. It has a very fine line, and it's not scratchy. However, after a few lines, it gets completely dry. If I cap and wait a few moments, it writes again.

Here's a photo of the problem.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160126/5e0b55de65381d31fd6441aa49ce2be0.jpg

Can someone please help me fix this?

The pen:
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160126/6f76e42310741f28fce48aed2add4840.jpg
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160126/00feb295bb9187735a9cbfff4b542453.jpg

[mhosea]

First advice is always to clean the pen to remove any residual manufacturing oils or debris. Often that doesn't work. IME, it usually turns out that the feed is too tight against the nib. Can you insert a sheet of ordinary notebook or printer paper between the nib and end of the feed? It should "grab" a little bit, but it should be easy to insert the paper.

[Wile E Coyote]

First advice is always to clean the pen to remove any residual manufacturing oils or debris. Often that doesn't work. IME, it usually turns out that the feed is too tight against the nib. Can you insert a sheet of ordinary notebook or printer paper between the nib and end of the feed? It should "grab" a little bit, but it should be easy to insert the paper.

This gets my vote for the most complete concise helpful reply to: "Help, my new (insert pen name) isn't performing as expected."

[ppmiranda]

Thanks for the replies.

I flushed the pen a couple times and it's now working. I never had to do this before. Is this a piston filler problem only?

I didn't try the sheet trick, but it's now added to my repertoire of troubleshooting tricks.

[mhosea]

I didn't try the sheet trick, but it's now added to my repertoire of troubleshooting tricks.

Well, it's a diagnostic test only. The treatment comes after it if you find that you can't get get a sheet of paper between the two. What I've sometimes done when I did not want to remove the nib and feed is cut a strip of very thin brass (the flimsier of the two pieces that are sometimes sold together for flossing nibs), and force it between the nib and feed by pushing back on the nib to give me a little space, if need be. Then I boil some water in a cup with the water an inch or more deep. Then I insert the nib and feed and brass sheet into the just-boiled (but no longer boiling) water, taking great care NOT to get any hot water on the pen's grip section. I hold for 2 or 3 seconds, then remove and rinse in cold water to set. Then I remove the brass, and voila!

[ppmiranda]

Well, that's way more complex than I was expecting. I'm relieved I didn't need to do this.

Thank you very much for the explanation!