Aurora Archivi Storici drying out

[dneal]

I bought one of the Aurora Archivi Storici pens from Giardino some years ago when they were offering them for 69euros or something like that.

It's a good writer, and a handy pen; but it seems extremely prone to drying out - as if the inner cap isn't sealing very well.

Does anyone else experience this?

[Dougc]

I bought one of the Aurora Archivi Storici pens from Giardino some years ago when they were offering them for 69euros or something like that.

It's a good writer, and a handy pen; but it seems extremely prone to drying out - as if the inner cap isn't sealing very well.

Does anyone else experience this?

I have one and it is a perfect writer. No hard starts or dryness at all.

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[dneal]

Thanks. Do you use it daily? Mine is fine if I do, but around the 3-4 day point of non-use, the dryness begins.

[Dougc]

I have hundreds of pens so I can't really say. I do know that all of my Auroras seem to work flawlessly.

They are due for rotation soon so I'll try and remember to comment here good or bad.

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[dneal]

My collection is kept to 50-60 pens or so, and I have a half dozen or so inked at a time; but that particular pen doesn't get used often due to the drying out. I was just curious if it is the model or the specific pen. An 88 and an Optima do not have this problem, and I wasn't trying to imply it was a brand issue.

Thanks for your input.

[Dougc]

My collection is kept to 50-60 pens or so, and I have a half dozen or so inked at a time; but that particular pen doesn't get used often due to the drying out. I was just curious if it is the model or the specific pen. An 88 and an Optima do not have this problem, and I wasn't trying to imply it was a brand issue.

Thanks for your input.

Sure.
It wasn't a positive or negative comment on Aurora. It's just that we all know certain brands have 'problem children ' and Aurora isn't one of those for me.

BTW I remember I got my a s at the same sale you did.

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[ralfstc]

My Aurora 022 (the piston one) is the third one of the model I have had. Both the previous ones would blob and leak (they were sold with full disclosure), the current one is stunningly perfect. So my experience has been the opposite of yours!

[dneal]

My Aurora 022 (the piston one) is the third one of the model I have had. Both the previous ones would blob and leak (they were sold with full disclosure), the current one is stunningly perfect. So my experience has been the opposite of yours!

Thanks, and your post made me realize I wasn't specific enough. The pen I'm referring to is the cartridge model Giardino had around 2013. The Aurora cartridges are all I've ever used in it, and the cartridge depletes much faster than just from use; contributing to my thought that the inner cap isn't sealing well.

Two days ago, I installed the Aurora piston converter and I filled it with Herbin Eclat de Saphir - my "go-to" ink for adjusting/testing/reference. Within a day, the nib was drying out. I pulled it and adjusted for more wetness than I prefer, and it seems to have solved the issue, for writing/usability anyway.

I'll clean it and pop a cartridge in, and see what happens.

[dneal]

Aaaannnnndddd, it's the Aurora ink/cartridges. Put one in at 3PM. At 5:30 PM it's hard-starting and randomly skipping.

[Dougc]

My Aurora 022 (the piston one) is the third one of the model I have had. Both the previous ones would blob and leak (they were sold with full disclosure), the current one is stunningly perfect. So my experience has been the opposite of yours!

Thanks, and your post made me realize I wasn't specific enough. The pen I'm referring to is the cartridge model Giardino had around 2013. The Aurora cartridges are all I've ever used in it, and the cartridge depletes much faster than just from use; contributing to my thought that the inner cap isn't sealing well.

Two days ago, I installed the Aurora piston converter and I filled it with Herbin Eclat de Saphir - my "go-to" ink for adjusting/testing/reference. Within a day, the nib was drying out. I pulled it and adjusted for more wetness than I prefer, and it seems to have solved the issue, for writing/usability anyway.

I'll clean it and pop a cartridge in, and see what happens.

All I have ever used for this pen is the converter.

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[Jon Szanto]

Dneal,

I don't have this pen and didn't know the model so I looked it up and there was a very nice example, with many photos, at Peyton Street Pens. It is so similar to the Aurora 88P (of which I have two) that I wanted to pull out my pen.

Inside the cap of the 88P there is a plastic inner cap, but it is not closed at the top, as you can see a slotted nut that must keep the cap top on. You might want to check inside your pen. My though would be, if the same - and this is with caution, but hell, you grind nibs, so... - I might loosen the nut and open the top of the pen and see if I could seal it somehow to avoid any air leaking inside, which would be right by the tip of the nib. If the inner cap can be pushed out from that end, also check to see if it is out of round.

It doesn't look to be a particularly easy cap to seal up but when a pen drys out, that is the first thing I go for, a common fix being an o-ring against the inner cap, which seals against in the case of a poor screw-on cap. Just one mode of thinking, maybe something to go on.

[dneal]

Well, due to this thread I've learned that "Archivi Storici" doesn't refer to just this specific pen, but others as well. That makes sense, since it translates to "historical archives".

Giardino never noted a model number. The price at the time was cheap enough. HERE is a blog post on the solid gold model, but at the bottom is a brushed/satin silver version. Mine looks like that, but not made of a precious metal. I also found a review from Grandmia Pens on YouTube Here. Same pen, different color.

From Jon's post, I looked again inside the cap. It appears to be friction fit. No slot like an Omas, no screw head (like the Visconti Classic), and no nut that I can see. Hmmm.

I guess I'll see how it works with the converter and not-Aurora ink, and figure out the best way to pull the inner cap without damaging it if I have to.

[Dougc]

Mine is the brushed but it is sterling silver. It has a hallmark on it.
The section is black plastic.

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[Dougc]

Mine.

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[dneal]

Thought I'd follow up on this, now that it's a year later.

While browsing the stash a few weeks ago, deciding what to ink; there was the problematic Storici. I had to try again to figure out what was going on; because I couldn't see any reason for it to be drying out. I filled a converter with Herbin Terre de Fue, but I also pushed the cap down pretty forcefully - to make sure the section and inner cap were making contact. Nothing crazy, but more force than "normal" capping.

I kept a log and pulled it out semi-frequently, lengthening time between its use. No issues, and no darkening of new ink samples (usually a tell-tale sign). Hmmm. I flushed out the pen and put an Aurora blue cartridge in, and it's been working fine for 3 weeks now - where usually the nib would dry up in a day or two.

I have no idea, but speculate something wasn't set properly upon assembly, and now it is. Weird, but cool that it's now problem free.

[ralfstc]

Wow, excellent outcome. Random thought; slightly mis-shapen inner cap and your forceful capping re-shaped it?

Auroras, Ferraris, Alfa Romeo, you know . . .

R.

[dneal]

Could be, and as plausible of a hypothesis as anything I could come up with.

[Dougc]

This is a reminder for me to use mine.

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