So Twsbi stands behind their product, do they??

[Nellie]

Somehow it does not look like that to me after I've been told there were no grip sections that would fit my 530 now anymore. The grip has, of course, cracked - just like the barrel did before. 

Now am I the only one here who uses fountain pens for sustainability among other things? A, what, ten to twelve-year-old pen is not old at all in my book 🤣 - all my other pens are older. So just throwing out an otherwise perfectly acceptable pen (nib, feed, cap, barrel replaced in 2015) just seems wrong to me. Is there a way of saving it?

[shane27]

I wonder if some custom pen maker could make a part, I have a feeling that would be prohibitively expensive though. I kind of figured that TWSBI would eventually run out of replacement parts...

 

 

[Horseflesh]

You can probably fix a TWSBI plastic crack with acrylic solvent. Even if the part has cracked in two, if the break is clean and the parts fit together with no missing parts, it can probably be repaired. 

 

It is nearly impossible to repair small parts with perfect cosmetic quality, though. The solvent will fuse the parts together like new, but any bit that gets on the surface of the plastic will leave a mark. 

[txomsy]

I have always tended to be ham-fisted when writing, and broken many plastic pens/sections.

 

That is why I started a quest for all-metal fountain pens 30+ years ago. The Montblanc Noblesse/Slimline have lasted me all this time with lots of abuse. But they are no longer in production.

 

At the time (end of 80's/90's) I couldn't find better alternatives. Now, there are plenty. The Lamy Logo, the Kaweco AL, Brass, Copper, Steel and their clones, and many, many more, from very cheap to luxury. Pens that will take lots of abuse and hold tight.

 

If you are concerned about durability, then my suggestions are:

 

1) Loosen your grip. That is the main source of cracks, but in my personal experience, if one is prone to tight grips and pressure writing, it will eventually come up when writing hastily and end up breaking the pen as well.

 

2) Aim for all-metal (body and section) fountain pens. These will have a plastic nib unit (sleeve and feeder) that typically will be easily replaceable if you buy from well known brands that use standard/interchangeable nib units. I've found that some cheap clones use special nib units that cannot be substituted by other brand units and, usually too, these cheap clones are short-lived and then disappear and, with them, the chance of getting new compatible nib units.

 

If price is an issue, a Lamy Logo -for example- is very affordable -and light- and nibs (even clones of them) easy to come by and replace. If you look in a middle range, the metal Kaweco Liliput and Sport are nice, sturdy pocket pens.

 

The offer is very large, pens which take standard Jowo or Bock nibs/nib units and are all metal should only need the nib unit be replaced and these units will be affordable and easy to find.

 

[Nellie]

My grip is fine @txomsy- none of my other fps have ever cracked in 40 years 😉 whereas the Diamond 530 is infamous for this.
 

I might have found a solution, everyone. The Writing Desk in the UK - outstanding shop anyway!! - still have some 530 sections and were far nicer than TWSBY themselves 🙂.
(Thanks for your answer @shane27 - I think once the notorious cracking issue became evident, they should have made sure they still made all parts just to be able to send replacements out. Maybe I'll look into acrylic solvent @Horseflesh if both of the new sections break too!)

[Nellie]

OK, I got my sections from TWD - thank you very much, just in case any of you are reading FPN!! - and they were significantly shorter than the original (probably new 580 sections after all?!). So I added some Sugru 🙈 (only idea I could come up with. I also did that to a Lamy ABC when the rubberized upper part of its section had died years ago and so far it's held up). Seems to work well so far. Now here's hoping that the original cap won't break (the blind cap I already have a replacement for, from when TWSBI sent me a new barrel)!

[shane27]

I just saw your solution, brilliant idea to keep your pen going!!

 

 

[The Elevator]

If you're handy with CAD and a 3D printer with ABS or PETG filament you could probably print small parts that don't need to seal ink (like a duplicate grip section or twist knob) with acceptable tolerancing. FreeCad is free and works reasonably well, and in an urban area at least one public library within an hour's drive has a 3D printer you can pay a couple dollars per hour to use. If you make your own, you can even choose the colour .

 

The clear plastic grip section on my Diamond 580 (The newer equivalent of the 530) recently cracked, and I'm considering taking measurements and doing that replacement myself. If I do try this, I'll post and share how it went.

[shane27]

Awesome, I'm quite interested to see if you can make a part that is better than the original part! 

[The Elevator]

I disassembled and flushed the culprit Diamond 580 in preparation to begin 3D printing a new grip, and have now discovered that there is a micro-crack in the barrel where the feed screws to the main body.

 

You can see it here in the picture where the barrel is stained with the blue ink I used in the pen last. With 2 outstanding issues, I am thinking that my Diamond 580 will probably be retired, rather than repaired, which is honestly a shame because I was all excited about 3D printing my replacement bits. Does anybody with recent relevant experience with TWSBI support, or obtaining replacement parts, have an opinion about what I should do here?

[Jamerelbe]

11 hours ago, The Elevator said:

I disassembled and flushed the culprit Diamond 580 in preparation to begin 3D printing a new grip, and have now discovered that there is a micro-crack in the barrel where the feed screws to the main body...

 

Does anybody with recent relevant experience with TWSBI support, or obtaining replacement parts, have an opinion about what I should do here?

 

I don't have recent experience with TWSBI customer support (I haven't had trouble with mine in a while) - but this *should* be covered under their warranty.  I'd be contacting them by email (twsbiinc@gmail.com), with a photo of the crack - and asking for a replacement part.

 

The last time I contacted TWSBI, Phillip Wang was courteous (though maybe a bit less so than previously?), and arranged for the Taiwanese branch of the company to ship me a replacement part.  The only cost to me was postage, which from memory was US$3-5.

 

Fair warning, there are comments on this forum from people whose experiences with customer support were less positive - I've always found that a courteous and constructive email from my end (no accusing tone!) led to a favourable outcome, but I don't know if times have changed...

[Dip n Scratch]

Just wondered if other pens such as the Wing Sung 698 have the cracking issue as well. The 698 is cheaper, but not bargain basement. Compared to the TWSBI Eco, which it most closely resembles.

[Nellie]

Thanks @shane27!

I hope they replace both barrel and section for you, The Elevator, although I'd have been very curious to see your 3D printed version as well! My recent experience with TWSBI's customer service wasn't great but in 2015 they sent me a barrel with no fuss at all, and this time they simply didn't have the part I needed anymore. I did get a reply quite quickly! Let us know how it goes!

[Dip n Scratch]

The Elevator: How old is your TWSBI pen? I am just wondering if the cracking is a symptom of stresses set up in the material they use when the pen is moulded or machined.

A Diamond 580 isn't the most expensive pen, but it is more than chump change for me. I would be pretty annoyed if this sort of thing happened a year or so after purchase and it would make me think more than twice about buying another.

[The Elevator]

@Dip n Scratch @Nellie @Jamerelbe

 

since I didn’t have time to email TWSBI yet, I decided to continue doing research, and stumbled upon this thread: 

 

 

this leads me to believe that the crack in the threaded barrel section is actually beneficial to my ink flow, since I have never experienced the vacuum lock ink problem on this pen, and this pen had the highest reliability rate of my (albeit small) collection. I wouldn’t put money on it, but from what I intuitively know about ink flow and writing I’m willing to bet replacing my barrel is going to ding my pen’s reliability. 
 

of course, I can’t have it sporadically leaking ink into the already damaged grip section, so I’m going to try and engineer an O-ring sealed grip section with my 3D printer. I’ll let you know how it goes. If it works, I’ll post on the TWSBI mods page. And of course, if it doesn’t work I’ll be reaching out to TWSBI for help. 
 

the pen in question is 2 years old this May, and was a gift from a dear friend, so I’d like to keep it running 

Edited February 12, 2023 by The Elevator

[Dip n Scratch]

That is not good for a 2 year old pen. Forgivable if you had a Jinhao 992 at 1/10th of the price.

Could the cracking be a result of stresses that happen in a process of moulding?

 

The phenomenon with the Eco sounds like the feed is not able to keep up at first. However, the poster mentions 'a few pages'. Whether we are talking A5 or A4 paper the issue starts to sound like surface tension of the ink. Some pens with converters have a tiny ball or a sprint that helps to break the tension of the ink & encourage a steady flow.

[The Elevator]

6 hours ago, Dip n Scratch said:

That is not good for a 2 year old pen. Forgivable if you had a Jinhao 992 at 1/10th of the price.

Yeah. Obviously I’m not pleased, but this pen was actually slated for replacement in my general ink rotation because I wanted to put shimmer ink in it. The replacement (a Fine Writing International Fenestro with a #6 Jowo M) has now taken over daily writing duty with Iroshizuku Tsuki Yo. Did I say daily writing? Well this pen hasn’t been in use daily since I broke the grip, but it was one of 2 main writers for 1.5 years prior at college. It had substantial mileage for its age, so all told I’m not too upset. I’m just going to treat this as a way to make it better and hopefully more personal and special. 
 

6 hours ago, Dip n Scratch said:

Could the cracking be a result of stresses that happen in a process of moulding?

It’s possible, but I don’t know for sure. Looking at the size of the crack, I’m not convinced. I’m no expert, but most of the time, a crack from injection molding plastic will happen in an area where there is a lot of material, because the effects of thermal contraction are amplified with thicker material and there is more tension. This pen cracked far inside the barrel, where there’s probably little to no inherent tension stress. 

 

I would guess that means it cracked because the nib/feed assembly was screwed in too tight.

15 hours ago, Dip n Scratch said:

Whether we are talking A5 or A4 paper the issue starts to sound like surface tension of the ink. Some pens with converters have a tiny ball or a sprint that helps to break the tension of the ink & encourage a steady flow.

I think that’s part of the answer to the ink lock problem. According to most users, the other component is the fact that TWSBI uses a cartridge/converter feed in a piston fill pen. Apparently feed problems are solved by drilling out the cartridge nipple to reduce ink flow restrictions, or cutting additional ink channels in the feed with a razor blade. I have had no such issues with this pen, but I have noticed a large volume of ink escaping through the crack in the barrel collar. This leads me to believe that the crack is acting like an auxiliary feed channel, a characteristic that I don’t want to change. 
 

Anyway, back to the issue at hand: I took measurements of my pen yesterday, and will soon be ordering o rings in preparation for the repair job. When I do it, I’ll post pictures of the process, pen specifications, and results. I’ll probably have many extra o rings once I’m done, so eyedropper conversions for other pens (moonman/Majohn S1, preppy, sheaffer no nonsense) will follow ;)

[The Elevator]

On 12/29/2022 at 7:58 PM, Nellie said:

probably new 580 sections after all?

 

Sorry for the double post, BUT

 

Nellie, would you happen to have kept the original cracked 530 grip section? I recently measured my 580 for replacement and modification, and the 3D model required to do this looks like it will be quite simple. Taking measurements of the old 530 part could be useful to the greater FP community if replacements need to be fabricated in the future.

[Nellie]

No, sorry, I haven't @The Elevator 😐

[Shyahi]

Every1 does but too much is blatantly ignoring the issue as well.

 

Like i had earlier contacted twsbi eco having some play at the twist converter after closing all the way in that too from an unboxing video he is stubborn to agree that anything like that happens.

 

He blindly said that the peron might have not assembled the pen back properly.Our pens never have such issues.

 

So then i have blacklisted them.I cannot care to buy a brand who blindly disagrees to anything wrong as if in the future I'm there in that place and the company refuses to any issue at hand. Then it would be waste of money