Pilot 78G B (Italic) Nib Does Not Start Reliably

[Federer]

Friends,

 

I have a Pilot 78G that I absolutely love, with just one problem. It never starts writing well until a few moments after being directed downwards (and sometimes I have to let it drop on its own weight from a cm up a few times to get it flowing). Once it's flowing, though, it writes perfectly - so I do not want to adjust the amount of ink coming out.

 

Before it starts flowing smoothly it looks like there is some ink still on the nib, but the writing is always skippy. After it starts up, no problems at all.

 

What could this be? Are there any diagnostic tests or fixes that I could do?

 

Another Pilot 78G that I ground into a very nice 2mm italic nib writes on the first time, every time, and never skips. I wish this B nib would do the same!

 

Many thanks!

[lamder]

Friends,

 

I have a Pilot 78G that I absolutely love, with just one problem. It never starts writing well until a few moments after being directed downwards (and sometimes I have to let it drop on its own weight from a cm up a few times to get it flowing). Once it's flowing, though, it writes perfectly - so I do not want to adjust the amount of ink coming out.

 

Before it starts flowing smoothly it looks like there is some ink still on the nib, but the writing is always skippy. After it starts up, no problems at all.

 

What could this be? Are there any diagnostic tests or fixes that I could do?

 

Another Pilot 78G that I ground into a very nice 2mm italic nib writes on the first time, every time, and never skips. I wish this B nib would do the same!

 

Many thanks!

 

For pens like the 78G, Prera, Plumix that have very similar feeds and keyed to hold the nib in exactly one position, I have found the feed-to-nib gaps are pretty consistent, so I doubt that is the issue.

 

I thing I found out is that these pens do tend to dry out fast, and once they do, occassionally there is not enough ink flow to dissolve/flush the dry ink that is clogging the nib. How often is your pen idle between use?

 

I know you mentioned you do not plan to fix the ink flow (by widening the feed channel for instance), but it's something to consider nonetheless and fairly easy to do. I did it on a couple of these feeds. It helped with the skippiness and I have not seen to much changes in the line behavior as a result of doing so.

 

One thing to try first though is to thoroughly flush/clean the nib/feed. In other words, get it to a point when it is theoretically most ready to deliver ink, then saturate the feed by pointing pen nib down for a bit and see if you still get the skipping. If you don't, then you just had a dirty feed/nib which you have just fixed :-).

 

There are still times (usually if I left the pen unused, nib side up for too long), when I see very similar issues. A temporary solution that I found to work is to get a piece of paper towel/napkin, wrap it a couple of times around the feed/nib, and fling the pen a couple of times. That usually get enough ink out into the feed to unclog the dried up bits.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Sam

[Federer]

Thanks for the reply, Sam!

 

The pen is only idle maybe a couple of hours between use, and the problem persists. I will try cleaning it out completely once more, and I have already widened the nib a bit.

[watch_art]

you might have widened the nib too much. if the gap is too much then ink will have trouble making it's way to the tip.

[fiberdrunk]

 

I know you mentioned you do not plan to fix the ink flow (by widening the feed channel for instance), but it's something to consider nonetheless and fairly easy to do. I did it on a couple of these feeds. It helped with the skippiness and I have not seen to much changes in the line behavior as a result of doing so.

 

Sam

 

 

How do you widen the feed channel? I have the exact same problem with my broad 78G not starting up at first, though once I do, it works great. I'd like it to write a little wetter, too.

[watch_art]

like this:

 

 

watch it at one minute fifty.

 

I mean one thirty.

Edited August 4, 2011 by watch_art

[fiberdrunk]

like this:

 

 

watch it at one minute fifty.

 

I mean one thirty.

 

Awesome! Thanks!

[watch_art]

my pleasure!

[Federer]

like this:

 

 

watch it at one minute fifty.

 

I mean one thirty.

 

I just tried this, hopefully it will work - Thanks!

[watch_art]

Good luck. It always worked for me.

[Federer]

It worked! No more problem. Thanks times a million, watch_art!

[watch_art]

Great! Have fun with it now. Draw a coffee mug or something.