Black Monteverde Pens - Anyone Seeing This Problem?

[Drone]

Hi, is anyone else seeing this problem (pics below) with a black-finished Monteverde pen? This one in the pics is a Monteverde Intima in Volcano Grey acrylic. The pen is about a week new out of the box and the only ink it has seen is Diamine Graphite (which goes well with the acrylic and black finish). The flaking looks like corrosion, it is not wear of any sort. Definitely defective.

 

 

 

Thanks, David

 

[Algester]

*cringe* e... K... welp... I have nothing to say *cringe* SEND IT BACK HOME @_@

[gwyneddd]

Ewwwww!

 

Something has eaten off the epoxy paint and the base metal underneath has corroded.

[Elyptic]

Ewwwww!

 

Something has eaten off the epoxy paint and the base metal underneath has corroded.

 

It seems that, whatever the pen was dipped in, reacted poorly with the materials. I wouldn't have thought that an ink would do this, but what do I know?

[Ted A]

Same pen. Same problem

[Drone]

Same pen. Same problem

 

Hi Ted A. What did you do about this? Did you contact the reseller or perhaps Monteverde (Yafa) direct? I haven't contacted Yafa yet. Bought the pen from Goulet Pens. They were great. Gave me an immediate refund. I sent the pics to Goulet as well. But I'm disappointed to see the Goulet site is still selling this pen given what I see as more people having the same problem (posts here and other places).

 

Edit. It is Yafa, not Jafa. Link to their site:

 

http://yafa.com/

Edited September 18, 2014 by Drone

[Ted A]

I haven't done anything yet. I purchased the pen off eBay and the nib had been through a nibmeister. I was expecting, perhaps, some warranty questions, but yours will help my case. So I'll get to Yafa and see what they have to say.

[brownargus]

I have a Monteverde Prima and I haven't had that problem but after about 6 months light use the finish (lacquer?) on the section started to flake off. I returned it to the supplier who arranged for the pen to be replaced. So far no repeat.

[Garageboy]

Looks like aluminum corrosion?

[Drone]

Thanks everyone for the replies so-far...

This certainly looks like some sort of oxidation. But keep in-mind this pen is brand new. A week or so out of the box I noticed some flaking at the end of the section where the nib unit screws in. When I rubbed the flaking lightly with my finger, then a lot of the black paint flaked of revealing the crud underneath. From that moment on, the situation just gets worse. The nib is fine however, good as new.

The flaking problem seems to be affecting the metal (perhaps) that makes up the section. The clip and finnial are still OK. The converter is unaffected. And of-course the acrylic is just fine.

@Elyptic: As I said in my OP, the only ink this pen has seen is Diamine Graphite, which I have found to be a reasonably well-behaved and safe ink.

@Ted A: Please keep us posted here about what happens with Monteverde. Feel free to point them to this thread so they can see the pics. I've been thinking about contacting them about having the pen repaired but I'm not ready to throw good money after bad right now when it comes to this pen. Shipping and re-importation costs for my location are steep.

@brownargus: Interesting that the finish on your Prima section was flaking off. But you mention it isn't the same problem. Was there any kind of corrosion on your pen where the finish was flaking off? How long have you been using the repaired pen? I'm worried that if I go through the large expense of returning the Intima then reimporting it after repair, the flaking just starts happening again. But if you find the repaired pen holds up over time, I may consider returning my pen.

@Garageboy: In person it behaves and looks like a cheap cast alloy metal that is corroding. Under magnification the metal showing through the flaking black coating appears to be cast, not turned (machined) at all.

Best Regards, David

[Tasmith]

Dissimilar metal corrosion between the section and the nib unit metal parts?

[Ted A]

I also have a Jewelria Mini where all the black paint has flaked off the section. But that section is brass rather than whatever the material is on the Intima. I am not sure whether I'll try to get that replaced or not as it looks kind of nice and it sounds as if there is an issue with the paint Monteverde uses.

[DaveBj]

Y'all prompted me to go take a look at my Invincia -- it's fine.

[Drone]

Dissimilar metal corrosion between the section and the nib unit metal parts?

 

Good idea. I thought about this but discounted it because the nib and the section are separated by the plastic nib-unit that screws into the section.

 

But this is not to say there may still be dissimilar metal interaction as there is an electrical path of-sorts between the nib and the section via the ink itself.

 

I may pull the nib from the nib unit and see if there is any plating loss or discoloration, something I would expect to see if there was some interaction between the section and feed.

[Drone]

Y'all prompted me to go take a look at my Invincia -- it's fine.

 

Thanks for telling us about your Invincia - and good to hear there are some of these pens out there that are not problem cases.

 

I would think that if there is an endemic black paint problem with these pens it would show up on an Invincia for sure. Is yours the "Stealth" model? I looks like the entire barrel on the Stealth is painted black.

Edited September 20, 2014 by Drone

[DaveBj]

 

Thanks for telling us about your Invincia - and good to hear there are some of these pens out there that are not problem cases.

 

I would think that if there is an endemic black paint problem with these pens it would show up on an Invincia for sure. Is yours the "Stealth" model? I looks like the entire barrel on the Stealth is painted black.

 

No, it's not one of the fancy ones, just an ordinary black Invincia fine point.

[brownargus]

@brownargus: Interesting that the finish on your Prima section was flaking off. But you mention it isn't the same problem. Was there any kind of corrosion on your pen where the finish was flaking off? How long have you been using the repaired pen? I'm worried that if I go through the large expense of returning the Intima then reimporting it after repair, the flaking just starts happening again. But if you find the repaired pen holds up over time, I may consider returning my pen.

Best Regards, David

 

There was no corrosion where the finish had flaked off - it was simply shiny metal underneath which could have been aluminium. TBH I haven't used the pen much since it was returned so I can't give any more information about the durability of the finish. Sorry I can't be any further help.

John

[Ted A]

Reporting back. It took me a while to call Yafa, but they took care of the problem. I called and the comment was that there had been a problem and to send it in and what to put on the repair order so as not to be charged.

 

I sent the pen in, it cost me postage to send it to Yafa. Yafa replaced the section and sent it back. It took about 3 weeks and cost me only the postage to send it it.

 

I have to say I'm completely satisfied with the customer service.

[Drone]

Reporting back. It took me a while to call Yafa, but they took care of the problem. I called and the comment was that there had been a problem and to send it in and what to put on the repair order so as not to be charged.

 

I sent the pen in, it cost me postage to send it to Yafa. Yafa replaced the section and sent it back. It took about 3 weeks and cost me only the postage to send it it.

 

I have to say I'm completely satisfied with the customer service.

 

Reporting back. It took me a while to call Yafa, but they took care of the problem. I called and the comment was that there had been a problem and to send it in and what to put on the repair order so as not to be charged.

 

I sent the pen in, it cost me postage to send it to Yafa. Yafa replaced the section and sent it back. It took about 3 weeks and cost me only the postage to send it it.

 

I have to say I'm completely satisfied with the customer service.

 

Follow up on my Monteverde Intima - same experience as yours. Customer service was very professional. The pen took four or five weeks to arrive here in SE Asia. I have had the pen in rotation for a couple of weeks now and there are no problems so far. The finish on the original pen was already flaking off by this time. Fingers crossed... David