TWSBI Diamond 580 skipping and not writing.

[joeljackson]

I've read wonderful things about these pens on the forums, so I decided to grab a broad nibbed one in the new rose gold which I think is a very nice looking pen. Sadly, after a week of use, it skips and can't seem to keep writing for an entire page with me needing to muck around trying to get the ink running again. None of my other pens have this problem, and I'm not really sure what to do about it. It seems like it might also depend on the paper a bit, it happens more on Rhodia webnotebooks than crappy supermarket paper. Also, when it stops writing, if I turn it all the way perpendicular to the pad and scribble a bit ink will come out again and I can get back to writing, but that's a bit of a PITA

It kinda sucks to buy a $70 pen that doesn't really work, so I'm turning to this forum to ask for help. What kind of things should I look for or try and do to make my pen work.

Thanks for any help guys!!
Joel

[Jeph]

Is it broad broad, or a 1.1 or 1.5 mm stub? Mine writes flawlessly with the EF nib but the 1.5mm has issues with flow. What ink are you using, and how fast do you write?
The first thing I would do is screw out the nib unit and run it under cool tapwater. It might just have something built up in the feed.

[AndyT]

I agree with Jeph, a flush through and a change of ink is always the best thing to try first.

That said, if it prefers rough absorbent paper to the good stuff there's a fair chance that the tips are over-polished and suffering from a case of "baby's bottom syndrome", not all that uncommon with broad nibs. There is a fix, but best just to do the flush and see what happens in the first place.

[joeljackson]

Thanks, I'll give it a flush tonight with some new ink and see if it will behave itself!

[jde]

Thanks, I'll give it a flush tonight with some new ink and see if it will behave itself!

Flushing your pen is great advice, Joel. Yet if that action doesn't resolve your issue, you should contact the vendor you bought the pen from, to see if they will help resolve the issue for you. If that doesn't result in anything satisfactory, contacting TWSBI directly may be in your best best. My own personal experience with TWSBI customer service is that it's top rate.

[lisantica]

I had a similar issue to you joeljackson, which is why I clicked into this thread. I just finished flushing it out with just cold water and it is MUCH improved.

[stevekolt]

I have a few TWSBI pens, with just about all the different nib sizes they offer, and think that they are formidable pens at their price point. My one issue with an inner cap on a Mini was resolved very quickly after contacting TWSBI directly. But, as others have said above, a good flush and a new refill of ink may work wonders...

[cwent2]

+1 on cleaning and pen hygiene, once every couple weeks or so

Cw

[ndw76]

I just got this same pen as a Christmas present last night (yeah, I open my presents early). Straight away I inked it up and started writing a letter. About half way through the letter it started skipping. Today it was even worse. So I flushed it with cold water then disassembled the nib and feed, scrubbed it with soapy water and tooth brush, and put it all back together. Once again I flushed it with straight water and checked to make sure the ink channel lined up with the nib slit and then inked it up. After a couple of pages, no skipping. I hope it stays that way.

[kaisnowbird]

I just got this same pen as a Christmas present last night (yeah, I open my presents early). Straight away I inked it up and started writing a letter. About half way through the letter it started skipping. Today it was even worse. So I flushed it with cold water then disassembled the nib and feed, scrubbed it with soapy water and tooth brush, and put it all back together. Once again I flushed it with straight water and checked to make sure the ink channel lined up with the nib slit and then inked it up. After a couple of pages, no skipping. I hope it stays that way.

I open my presents earlier too. Sounds like you've got a nice one. Merry Xmas.
I hope your thorough clean up did the trick and it will behave nicely from now on.

[Murfie]

It kinda sucks to buy a $70 pen that doesn't really work

Totally agree with you on that comment! But you can spend a lot more than $70 and you could still get pens that don't write out of the box, with a plethora of different problems - unless it's Japanese that is.

... (It) can't seem to keep writing for an entire page with me needing to muck around trying to get the ink running again. It seems like it might also depend on the paper a bit, it happens more on Rhodia webnotebooks than crappy supermarket paper.

I participated in the initial beta test group of the TWSBI 530 model, which I still have. Since then I have purchased a mini and a Vac 700. I have fine and 1.1mm stub nibs for all three pens. My 530 has Bock nibs, the other two have Jowo. They were all very dry writers, skipped and ran out of ink halfway down a sheet of A4. And it was far worse on Rhodia paper. Some of the dryness and all of the skipping was overcome by fastidious cleaning as described in this thread, and the spreading of the tines to widen the nib slit. I also found that the use of a wetter ink helped a lot.

But as regards the half page starvation, up until recently I have had no luck whatsoever. The stubs seemed to be much worse. I, like many others, came to the conclusion that there is a design flaw of the feed which doesn't allow enough ink to keep up with the nib. This opinion was formed after taking my Vac 700 nib and feed apart and thoroughly scrubbing and rescoring the slits in the feed. After this all three TWSBI's were banished to storage until ...

I have been recently buying Jinhao 159 'Dreadnoughts' and replacing the standard nib with a Knox. I've used EF, F and 1.1mm stubs to do this with great results. I have been so impressed with the Knox 1.1mm stub that I put one in a Noodler's Konrad and it worked a treat. Being adventurous, I took out my TWSBI Vac 700 and whacked the Knox stub into it. Guess what? No starvation. Writes like a dream. Now I am totally confused. I wrote two pages of Rhodia with it and a full A4 page of Tomoe River and not a sign of any starvation. Miracles can happen ...

All I can surmise that the ink starvation problem is very marginal and that the Knox nib has something slightly different about it that encourages a little more capillary action that prevents starvation from occurring. I'm disappointed that I can't take the nib units apart on either the mini or the 530 and do the same trick with them. In the meantime, the Vac 700 has rejoined the inked roster and is enjoying a reprise.

I would welcome any comment or thoughts you guys might have on my experience.

[Woody]

I floss the nib as much as I clean the nib. BUT the caveat is to floss with a small piece of plastic rather than a brass shim. Plastic won't harm the nib that has already been set up. Brass may.