Pilot Prera Troubles

[Green Ink]

Hi,

I just know someone is going to know what to do about this. I got a Pilot Prera last week. It started to skip and then completely quit writing. The little "floater" in the cartridge is not blocking the ink. I flushed the nib section out with water with a bulb when I first got it.

 

The nib is an EF. It wrote very smoothly until it quit. I have Diamine Red Dragon in it. The cartridge is about half full.

 

Any ideas? (I had a Pilot Varsity that sat in a drawer forgotten for 6 years and came out writing. So I thought it would be a good idea to get another Pilot.)

 

Thanks in advance!

[Lorna Reed]

Have you tried flushing with a little bit of dish soap in the water, in case there is some residual grease or oil from the manufacturing process still in the pen? Or try a different ink.

[vnnil]

Maybe the slit is blocked. Since its an ef it can catch fibres easily.

[4x4xpens]

I've had some gunk issues with Diamine Red Dragon. Usually only when leaving it in a pen for a while so I wouldn't necessarily blame the ink. Might be an idea to check in the ink if you can see any gunk.

[Green Ink]

A couple of other details: I ordered the Red Dragon ink with the pen. It's new.

 

Also there is an air bubble. There is ink against the nib assembly, then air, then more ink above it. Shaking or rotating the pen doesn't help. I've taken the cartridge out twice and poked the ink to release the air bubble. It just forms again.

[arcadeflow]

Check if your Diamine ink has some "froth" in it. It should be a plain liquid when you open an unshaken bottle. I ordered 6 Diamine bottles once and one came with a strange froth, I had to throw it away. I don't remember the name of the color, but it was some reddish dark brown. Also, try flushing with soapy water. Put two drops of liquid dish soap (detergent, use neutral/odorless if possible) in a small glass of filtered water and use it to flush. Flush it a lot. If you have a converter, fill it with this water. Let the fully assembled section immerse in that water for 8-12 hours. After that, throw it all away and use some filtered water in another glass to rinse away all that detergent. Keep flushing with this clean water and let it stay there for a couple more hours. Change the water, try to avoid leaving detergent residue in this new water. Shake the water off the section with quick twist turns and let it dry. You can use paper towel on the nib tip to check if all the water is removed from the feed. You can leave it to dry for a couple hours or try it with new ink. Use another ink if you have, and see if it is better.

 

I had this problem with a 78G, I had to disassemble the nib and feed and I brushed it with a soft toothbrush and soapy water, then I assembled it and did all the above process, and tried different ink (Pilot Black) and it worked fine. I wouldn't advise you to disassemble, even though some users insist that you can do this any time, I believe it will deteriorate the friction fit or leave room for rookie mistakes and damage the nib or cause incorrect assembly that will lead to leaks or other problems. So only do this if you can't fix it/return it.

 

The feed used on the Prera is the same of the 78G, Plumix, Knight, Metropolitan and others. Some people claim that they are not very wet because the channels are too narrow, so I believe these pens should suffer if they have old ink residue and factory oil very easily. Anything other than a perfect ink flux will grant them subpar performance. Some people even widen the main feed channel with a razor blade to make them wetter and less prone to problems, but I wouldn't advise that. A wet pen can cause another range of problems.

[Green Ink]

No froth on the ink.

 

I will try the flushing with the detergent water and the rinsing. My middle name is "Rookie Mistake" so I will avoid more drastic measures!

[doggonecarl]

I don't have a Prera, but I believe it has a friction fit nib, like the Plumix, 78G, Knight. Do you have another Pilot pen you can swap nibs with to eliminate nib/feed problems?

[kidde]

I was unaware they offered the Prera in EF. I have "some" Pilots, but only Penmanships in EF. I find them to be susceptible to clog with dry inks. My solution so far is to dilute the inks. With the EFs ink usage is so slow that I only mix 2ml at a time in a sample vial. Generally 2:1 works (ink:water) but on occasion I've resorted to 1:1. I agree with others who feel this design runs drier, but I've avoided surgery as I really enjoy them and my success (so far) with diluting the inks.

I hope you can fix your issue, Preras offer a good feel and usually write with no problem.

 

Paul

[Green Ink]

I must make a correction: my Prera is a F.

 

Just when I was about to do the flush with detergent, my Prera began writing beautifully. The air bubble no longer forms - that may not have had anything to do with anything. Perhaps a pen can pass a kidney stone? I'm going to give it a thorough wash anyway.

 

I want to thank everyone for their answers. I've learned a lot.

 

I got the pen from JetPens. While I was having problems they suggested I clean the pen again. If I still had problems after that, they would be happy to issue me a replacement. I'm very happy with their customer service, speedy delivery and free shipping over $25.

 

I'm quite pleased with the pen. Here it is:

[I.M.]

Pilot Preras are great little writers. I've got two in M, and I'm toying with getting one in F to see if there's a noticeable difference in smoothness. I just need to decide which colour to get. Glad to hear your problems have cleared up. I suspect it was an air-bubble.

[trulylefty]

I had trouble with a F Prera a while back. I took of the nib and feed and gave them a good cleaning. All fine after that.

[kidde]

 

I'm quite pleased with the pen. Here it is:Prera.jpg

I don't think there is a prettier Prera than Ivory. It just seems like the perfect combination of size, color and trim. Glad all worked out.

 

Paul

[Green Ink]

I agree with Paul about the Ivory color! The Prera is still writing well.

[indigoskye]

I own a couple of Preras. My favorite nib on them is the CM. I find that the Preras like well lubricated, free flowing ink. Sometimes Diamine can be a little thick for it. Hopefully your issue has resolved. Enjoy your ivory Prera. It looks like a beauty.

[Green Ink]

The Prera is still working wonderfully. Thank you all for your ideas and comments. We should all have an ivory Prera!

[tinysnail]

Oh maaaan, the ivory sure is pretty.

 

We should all have an ivory Prera!

 

YES PLEASE

[I.M.]

I really love my brown Prera, and I wasn't expecting to either. I wasn't sure exactly what it would look like, the videos and photos I had found online all seemed to differ in shade. But the moment I opened up that box... I was amazed. It's my second Prera. When ordering my first one, I was looking at either the ivory or the white, and ended up choosing white. The brown won me over as far as looks are concerned.

[trulylefty]

I have a brown Prera always inked with Private Reserve Chocolat fast dry. A perfect, perfect combination.