Another Visconti Cap Spring Issue

[Leon_G]

My new Visconti Opera Master Stargazer cap started to not secure tightly; setting the pen down and it will jump off the pen. I've tried a number of starting positions to no avail. In researching the topic, I saw that some have had luck with soaking the cap due to dry ink, but I've not inked the pen up yet. I still decided to soak it this evening and will let it set in case there was testing ink from the factory. Didn't see anything obvious when trying to look with a loop. Used a toothpick to push the spring up & down all around the edges and while it helped some, did not entirely solve the issue. I see that others have had luck with putting some silicone grease on the spring. My question is this:  Where do you apply the silicone grease on the spring? Is it on the inside part of the spring? Just worried that if I did that it may get on the nib unit as well. Did the folks who greased the spring use a method like my toothpick trick to bounce the spring a few times after applying the grease?

 

Thanks in advance. Just trying to avoid sending the pen to Coles of London which may be a lengthy repair if it goes back to Italy.

 

Leon

 

 

p.s.:  I'm not able to return it to the retail person since it is outside the return window.

[Dillo]

Is the cap basically just falling off? As in, after you turn it to lock the cap on, does it still fall off?

 

If it does, check the small nubbins in the cap that connect with the hooks on the pen body. If they are overly worn or there is some material shrinkage, then you will have this problem

 

Do you feel the spring pressure of the inner cap as you are closing the pen? You should be able to feel it as you are pushing the pen into the cap before you turn it and let go

 

This may be an issue that you have to send to Coles of London for. I'm suspecting that there's something off with the tolerances on the pen. You may need a new cap.

 

The purpose of the spring is twofold. It's to ensure that the bayonet cap mechanism locks and it's to prevent nib dryout (like Platinum's slip and seal). If the inner cap is moving freely when you push on it, then that should be fine. The issue is mostly when the inner cap is stuck and cannot move because there is ink sticking it to the inside of the outer cap. If the inner cap is stuck, it will allow the bayonet cap mechanism to turn unexpectedly because there is nothing holding it in position.

[Leon_G]

Thank you. I feel the spring tension pretty strongly when trying to cap the pen. The hooks do not seem to catch b/c if I pull some on it or lay the pen down, the cap 'jumps' off the pen and I have to be careful it doesn't fly across the room 🙂

 

Thanks for the advice 

 

Leon