Pilot pen- dumb question for the day

[dankdan63]

I have a Pilot pen. It writes well, nice fairly wet line, but it has one problem.

When I do a straight line going down, it skips on a regular basis. For example, the l in the letter B is invisible or something.

It's not the way I'm holding the pen. The flow of ink is fine. It's just that one line.

Any thoughts? Thanks,

dan

[sharmon202]

Are you keeping the nib square to the paper or rotating it a bit? Some times we do not realize it is not square on paper.

[D Armstrong]

Heh. That's not a dumb question. It's a frustrating issue, that can be caused by a number of things.

So, start simple: clean your pen. The channel controlling the flow of ink from the reservoir (converter or sac or cartridge) is very, very small. Over time, there can be a build-up of pigments and sediment that can obstruct the flow of ink. Ink will seep into the feed, but is quickly used up.

Flush your pen by filling it with a warm solution of 95% tap water, 5% household ammonia (pure ammonia, not an ammonia-based cleaner), and a drop of dish soap. This solution is cheap, and safe for all pens' filling systems. Fill the pen, and empty it again several times.

Other causes might be tine misalignment (a good possibility, if it's the ascenders and descenders which are the problem in writing), or air exchange issues, but those are not safely do-it-yourself repairs. But start simple, and it may just solve the problem.

We've had a run of flow problems in pens, which were all exactly this problem. One poor lady had a Montblanc which never wrote properly for her, and ended up in the drawer for twenty years. When we opened it up, we had to scrape ink residue out of the feed, and then it was fine. The best we can figure is that someone at the MB boutique used it as a demonstrator, then let it dry out. Then sold it.

Flushing your pen regularly (say, every ten fills or so) is like changing the oil in your car. You can go a long time without doing it, but sooner or later it will cause problems.

[dankdan63]

Thanks for the replies. I'm comfortable with knowing I was holding the pen straight to the paper (nib flat to the paper, not turned). It's an older pen, and I got it and tossed it in the ultrasonic cleaner but there could still be ink in there.

I have a giant syringe (looks like a plastic syringe, almost the size of a turkey baster). After this fill I'll give the pen a good flush. It's writing better but still occasionally misses on that one line. I'm not even sure what model it is.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/0agAAOSwFqJWjAFQ/s-l1600.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/I9QAAOSwoydWjAFh/s-l1600.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/1BoAAOSw5dNWjAFt/s-l1600.jpg

Cost less than $10 and wrote out of the box, so I can't complain.

I trust with some use and a better cleaning it'll turn into a nice little pen.

Thanks again for the help.

dan

[penwash]

The problem you describe usually plagues flexible nibs, where the nib is lifted off the feed just enough to cut out its own ink supply.
That Pilot doesn't look like it has a flexible nib, even though it's not hooded like P51, it still looks like a nib that is molded with the feed, so this is likely not the problem.

With old pens like this, it's probably need a good flush.
Or, what I would try is soaking it in cold water for a day (or two).
I am always surprised to find out that no matter how clean the pen already is, there is always some ink left at the bottom of the container along with the water.

[stub]

My Pilot pens, much as I love them, are annoyingly finicky about ink.

Pilot or Iroshizuku (not my favorite) usually fixes the problem. Congratulations Pilot. heh.