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GTown_Dave
December 22nd, 2012, 01:43 AM
And by "failure" I don't mean a few drops of ink leaked onto my clothes, I mean "failure", like this:

1542

The plastic body of the cap has sheared itself completely free at the top of the metal cap band, rendering the pen unable to be capped. I presume this is due to the torque of repeated uncapping/capping of the pen over the past ~1.5 yrs, as this Diamond 540 is my favorite & most often used writing instrument. That said, I have always taken great care to screw the cap onto the body of the pen just snug, & avoid unnecessary tightening. Honestly, I'm a bit shocked this happened. While I was aware of the earlier Diamond 530/540 grip section cracking issues, nothing of the sort has ever been an issue for me. Has anyone else experienced the same or similar issues w/ the cap(s) of their TWSBI pen(s)?

snedwos
December 22nd, 2012, 06:44 AM
OW! That's so sad!

fountainpenkid
December 22nd, 2012, 07:46 AM
And by "failure" I don't mean a few drops of ink leaked onto my clothes, I mean "failure", like this:

1542

The plastic body of the cap has sheared itself completely free at the top of the metal cap band, rendering the pen unable to be capped. I presume this is due to the torque of repeated uncapping/capping of the pen over the past ~1.5 yrs, as this Diamond 540 is my favorite & most often used writing instrument. That said, I have always taken great care to screw the cap onto the body of the pen just snug, & avoid unnecessary tightening. Honestly, I'm a bit shocked this happened. While I was aware of the earlier Diamond 530/540 grip section cracking issues, nothing of the sort has ever been an issue for me. Has anyone else experienced the same or similar issues w/ the cap(s) of their TWSBI pen(s)?

Oh...that's sad :( I never have seen this before, but really, it doesn't surprise me (sadly). They obviously have a very serious issue with their plastic--I've heard speculation that it might not be the plastic itself that is weak, but the way they inject it--possibly bad injection molding. But I saw a topic on FPN saying that the Mini has now been reported to crack--mind you, this is after TWSBI themselves said they solved the cracking problem. I don't know what to think with TWSBI at this point. Their pens have so much potential, but the possibility that your pen won't last over a year is quite a turn off. (posting this just reminded me that I should update my review of my mini) If they ever do solve it, I'd be interested to see what really was the problem. At this point I don't think it matters how good their customer service is--they either fix the problem or decline.

Best,

dannzeman
December 22nd, 2012, 08:07 AM
Dave, have you contacted TWSBI about this? I'm guessing they'll replace that for free.

fountainpenkid
December 22nd, 2012, 08:24 AM
Dave, have you contacted TWSBI about this? I'm guessing they'll replace that for free.

Yup. They definitely will.

GTown_Dave
December 22nd, 2012, 12:43 PM
Dave, have you contacted TWSBI about this? I'm guessing they'll replace that for free.

I did send out an email to TWSBI, & I've no doubt they'll do right by me. Unfortunately their customer service appears more reliable than their products. I think I'm finding out why TWSBI's prices are what they are. Perhaps it's time to shell out a couple hundred bucks & get a pen capable of serving me for years, plural.

fountainpenkid
December 22nd, 2012, 01:37 PM
I did send out an email to TWSBI, & I've no doubt they'll do right by me. Unfortunately their customer service appears more reliable than their products. I think I'm finding out why TWSBI's prices are what they are. Perhaps it's time to shell out a couple hundred bucks & get a pen capable of serving me for years, plural.

Sadly, that may be the case. (though you don't have to shell out $200 to get a pen that lasts a really long time) I can highly recommend a Pelikan m400. (I think I recommend them to everyone). Maybe it would be too small though. At the philly pen show you might be able to decide. See you there!

GTown_Dave
December 22nd, 2012, 03:00 PM
fountainpenkid: Thanks for the recommendation. Who know what opportunities for pen acquisition the Christmas Season might bring! I'll be sure to keep everyone posted (no pun intended). :)

manoeuver
December 22nd, 2012, 07:19 PM
Get a Lamy.

GTown_Dave
December 26th, 2012, 04:13 PM
As expected, I received an email from TWSBI today stating that they will be sending out a replacement cap for my Diamond 540. So at worst I've wound up w/ the same pen, plus a few replacement parts off of the old (broken) cap. I'm still in the market for a higher quality pen or two, but TWSBI is a hard habit to break.

thagbert
March 27th, 2013, 06:38 PM
Wow! Nice clean shear.

gwgtaylor
March 27th, 2013, 06:46 PM
That happened to my passaporto. Sent it to stipula and they fixed it for free but the shipping they chose to send if back combined with what I spent to send it totaled more than I paid for the pen. Oh well. Expensive lesson learned.

1936

jacksterp
June 1st, 2013, 02:15 PM
That's a remarkable failure. Something I have never seen before or even read about.

Should that ever happen to my 540, I won't be returning to TWSBI - unless the entire pen were replaced.

snedwos
October 27th, 2013, 09:13 PM
Just as it was settling in nicely to my daily carry setup...

Ah well, nothing a bit of tape can't fix while I wait (and hope) for a replacement. May be dicey, the 580 has been out for a while now, will they still have 540 caps around?

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4V3bLegR7K8/Um3VX9NXPxI/AAAAAAAAGLE/ULSqSlV5ddg/w663-h495-no/IMG_0103.JPG

kaisnowbird
October 28th, 2013, 04:18 AM
So sad to see all the broken caps. My Mini had all sorts of problems too...

GTown_Dave, a more expensive but much better quality TWSBI-540-look-alike is the Pilot Custom Heritage 92, which comes in clear demonstrator as well as blue, orange and smoke demonstrators. I purchased mine after watching Dan's review. (http://fpgeeks.com/2013/08/video-pilot-custom-heritage-92-fountain-pen-review/)
Buy it now prices on eBay start from $120-ish.

Although there is no factory stub for this model, I must say the 14 gold nib is excellent and a joy to use. It's so good, I'm thinking about getting another one in a different colour.

krazyklod
October 28th, 2013, 04:42 AM
I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about...sure your cap broke but TWSBI clearly stepped up and are servicing a discontinued product. Try getting the same service for a camera or phone. Also did they charge you for the replacement?

snedwos
October 28th, 2013, 06:21 AM
They haven't replied yet, so I don't know if they can do anything about it. And the fuss is that this is not the first time I've had to replace a part in the year I've had the pen, and I'm far far far from the only person to have had problems. I have heard less about it since the 580 came out, so maybe they've gone some way to finally fixing the manufacturing issues.

They do have a reputation for excellent response to problems, but unfortunately that comes hand in hand with a reputation for untrustworthy workmanship. Which is sad, because they are a fantastic company otherwise. With great products that... break...

krazyklod
October 28th, 2013, 07:30 AM
They haven't replied yet, so I don't know if they can do anything about it. And the fuss is that this is not the first time I've had to replace a part in the year I've had the pen, and I'm far far far from the only person to have had problems. I have heard less about it since the 580 came out, so maybe they've gone some way to finally fixing the manufacturing issues.

They do have a reputation for excellent response to problems, but unfortunately that comes hand in hand with a reputation for untrustworthy workmanship. Which is sad, because they are a fantastic company otherwise. With great products that... break...

I can see where you're coming from and it is a pitty that so many people are having them brake. I have only had my 580 for a few months and for the price £40 I wouldn't be so bothered if it broke in a year or two time and got a replacement part from TWSBI but when you consider the lifetime of your 540 compared to a vintage pen that's lasted 60 years it's obvious the difference in quality.

Like you said it is very unfortunate about their quality (hopefully fixed now) but at least we are getting customer service that is exceptional.

cwent2
October 28th, 2013, 07:53 AM
@snedwos Did you send the email speedy@twsbi.com ?

Best point of contact for twsbi usa.

Cw

snedwos
October 28th, 2013, 09:24 AM
@snedwos Did you send the email speedy@twsbi.com ?

Best point of contact for twsbi usa.

Cw

I emailed Philip at twsbiinc@gmail.com, and he got back to me this morning, will be sending me a new cap!

snedwos
April 1st, 2014, 12:51 PM
And again... This time on my Vac700.

With a heavy heart, I must say I will probably not buy another Twsbi. I really like them, but this is a pain.

Maybe a Micarta, which isn't moulded plastic, and less likely to suffer. But three breakages in not very long (all threaded parts shearing off) is a bit ridiculous.

snedwos
April 1st, 2014, 12:52 PM
Oh, and I have to pay for the replacement now.

kaisnowbird
April 3rd, 2014, 08:22 AM
Oh, and I have to pay for the replacement now.

Double bummer!

broadoblique
April 3rd, 2014, 09:34 AM
I'm curious. What are the rules about having to pay? I too would quit TWSBI if that were the case.

The cap failure has happened to me four times on four 530 and 540s. And it always happened when I wasn't touching the pen. One time while I was writing a note to include in the box with a broken 530, a 540 cap I placed on the desk (I don't post) broke.

But Phillip has always sent back a 580 cap immediately, no charge, no questions. He claimed that the 580 caps won't break, and that in any case he's got plenty to keep sending.

By the way, I think he's right about the 580 improvement. On the 530 and 540 I could see very fine cracking develop in the failure area months before catastrophe. I keep checking the 580 caps and haven't seen it.

snedwos
April 3rd, 2014, 12:04 PM
I don't know the rules. I figured I'd pay the $2 and be on my way. I did figure that the free replacements couldn't last forever. But I also thought they'd sort out their issues. Their plastic just doesn't work. I'm not looking for a forever pen, but a few years of use would be nice.

snedwos
April 3rd, 2014, 12:08 PM
And I've just noticed a crack in the barrel of my 540. Never again.

C40
April 4th, 2014, 08:08 PM
The same thing happened on my Vac-700. TWSBI sent me a new cap.

Now when I open or close it I holed on to that shiny part primarily, and just a little bit on the clear cap body.