Namiki Emperor Ink Shut-Off Valve Not Opening

[trillfp]

Hello!

 

This is my first time using this forum but I could tell from other threads that this forum has the best advice and experience with stuff like this. 

 

I recently bought a Namiki Emperor second-hand and it arrived with the shut-off valve being completely stuck and unable to open. I was able to put a lot of force to open it and it was fine for a few days but now it’s back to being shut and I can’t budge it at all. 

 

Does anyone have any experience with this and have any potential solutions? I’ve tried ultrasonic cleaners, soaking it for a few minutes and some of the other “standard” potential solutions but none of it has worked. 

 

I am in the process of sending it to Namiki Japan for repairs but I’d love to hear if there’s an at-home solution for this problem. 

 

Thank you for reading and hopefully someone knows of any solutions!

[mulrich]

I can't think of any reason why that would happen aside from dried out ink. Does any ink come out when you soak it? Maybe someone used a non-fountain pen ink.

Can you tell if the nib works? If there was a non-FP ink ink in the pen you could have problems with the nib too. 

Have you tried a little bit of grease? 

[FromTheNetherlands]

Grease might work, but grease only smoothens the action.

When it's stuck that's because of a reason. Grease isn't going to solve that, I guess.

 

Probably your safest bet is sending it to Japan.

[trillfp]

9 hours ago, mulrich said:

I can't think of any reason why that would happen aside from dried out ink. Does any ink come out when you soak it? Maybe someone used a non-fountain pen ink.

Can you tell if the nib works? If there was a non-FP ink ink in the pen you could have problems with the nib too. 

Have you tried a little bit of grease? 

I had done 2 180s cycles using an ultrasonic cleaner and nothing came out. I bought the pen completely new so there wasn't any ink besides when I had put some of my Diamine Red Dragon. It was working fine when I used it, some hard starts and ink flow issues, but after seeing that I washed out the nib and it was working completely fine. Only issue was just the ink shut off valve being completely closed which led to ink flow issues.

I haven't tried grease, are you saying using a Q-tip or something to stick down the barrel towards the end? I might try that but the valve is completely stuck so I was thinking it might be a stripped thread but I'm not completely sure.

Edited November 1 by trillfp
Added answer to nib question

[trillfp]

3 hours ago, FromTheNetherlands said:

Grease might work, but grease only smoothens the action.

When it's stuck that's because of a reason. Grease isn't going to solve that, I guess.

 

Probably your safest bet is sending it to Japan.

Yea that makes sense, I can't tell if it is stuck because of a stripped thread or needing grease. I had opened the valve once before but it seems like it's even more stuck now. I keep trying to open it but the last thing I want is to damage it even further or damage the Urushi finish.

I don't have any experience with sending pens to Namiki so I'd prefer to try to find a fix before sending it off for a few months.

[jchch1950]

If the pen was new then old ink is not the reason for the problem. It can be a defect in the original construction using too tight parts that were put together and now will require a big force to loosen them. I will send the pen back to Namiki for a repair by one of their specialist pen mechanic. 

[FromTheNetherlands]

I agree with jchch1950.

Pretty difficult to fix it. Besides, a new pen must function like it should. Shouldn't be up to you to fix something while under warranty 🙂

[mulrich]

1 hour ago, FromTheNetherlands said:

I agree with jchch1950.

Pretty difficult to fix it. Besides, a new pen must function like it should. Shouldn't be up to you to fix something while under warranty 🙂

A new pen should work, and if not should be repaired under warranty. But in most warranty situations I've experienced, I still pay for shipping and the repairs can take weeks or longer. Much better to take care of things myself if possible. Not sure if self-repair is possible in this situation though. 

[jchch1950]

When an expensive pen is not working when new in my opinion it should be sent for repair. All guarantees say that they will be void if someone unauthorised tries to fix them or even if a different ink than those recommended is used.

[Karmachanic]

5 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

When an expensive pen is not working when new in my opinion it should be sent for repair.

 

Quite so, but the OP bought the pen "second hand and it arrived with the shut-off valve being completely stuck and unable to open"

[jchch1950]

I skip the "second-hand "mention.