I Finally Broke My Aurora Optima

[Keyless Works]

The piston knob fell off the pen but I am wondering about sending it in for repair.

 

Do I send it to Kenro who have informed me that "For an Optima any repair will cost 60 dollars plus the service fee" (I don't know if that is in addition to Kenro's $35 assessment fee) or do I send it directly to Aurora in Italy as the Aurora website states?

 

I don't mind waiting but I definitely don't want to spend more than $200 on a repair....at that point I will just harvest the OBB nib and use it in my Aurora Afrika.

 

Any advice in dealing with Kenro and Aurora would be appreciated.

 

[Koyote]

When my Optima's cap developed a crack (I had dropped it earlier), I sent it to Kenro with the $35 and a few months later the pen came back -- with a new cap and no additional charges.

 

Even if they charge you $60 plus the service fee ($35), isn't it worth that much to fix an expensive pen?

[Keyless Works]

I want to fix the pen but I just don't want to spend $95 to find out the repair is going to cost $300...I can buy another one for $300 (or less if I buy a used one). If it costs me $35 to find out the cost to repair that's fine but if it's a guaranteed $95 before anyone even works on it that's a bit distasteful.

[Koyote]

From the quote in your first post, I was interpreting the 'service fee' as the $35 they charge up front, which would mean they were quoting a total of $95.

 

Perhaps you could email or call Kenro for clarification?

[Keyless Works]

I am going to call them tomorrow...if they say it's $95 I am just going to bypass them and send it directly to Aurora because that's ridiculous...it's a plastic pen not a car.

[hari317]

The piston knob fell off the pen but I am wondering about sending it in for repair.

 

.

Does your pen look like the pen in the following post?

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/196415-modern-aurora-88-piston-exploded-view/?p=2452336

 

then maybe a DIY repair is possible.

 

Otherwise I have sent pens directly to Aurora also with acceptable results:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/200792-aurora-service-my-experience/

[Keyless Works]

 

Is it worth sending to Aurora...I sent this picture to Kenro and they said that there is a chance the plunger wont work after reattaching the knob.

[hari317]

On my pen, I would dismantle the filler(see the thread I linked to for disassembly hints, optima/88 use the same mechanism) and re-attach the "snout" to the knob neatly using epoxy. Once epoxy is cured, reassemble the pen and use it.

[Algester]

looking at the piston knob threads it looks like it snapped off probably cleanly you may have to disassemble the piston unit first and clean out the knob if there's a plastic chunk in it then use epoxy to which hari said then sand it down hopefully nothing else is destroyed?

[fountainbel]

The threads of the barrel plug clearly sheared off and the broken threaded part is blocked in the internal threads of the filling knob

I doubt if glueing the part purely axially will hold over time.

One can enlarge de existing bore of the barrel plug and install a stepped threaded part which is glued radially in the enlarged bore of the existing barrel plug.

Francis

[hari317]

The threads of the barrel plug clearly sheared off and the broken threaded part is blocked in the internal threads of the filling knob

I doubt if glueing the part purely axially will hold over time.

One can enlarge de existing bore of the barrel plug and install a stepped threaded part which is glued radially in the enlarged bore of the existing barrel plug.

Francis

yes.

 

However I feel we can take advantage of the extra surface area available in the unthreaded area for the adhesive to act on. I feel the reason for failure also is that there is no radial play allowed in the Aurora design and the radial load is taken by the portion just below the threaded joint between the "snout" and knob and it fails over time.

Edited September 9, 2014 by hari317

[fountainbel]

Hi Hari,

You probably mean there is no axial backlash allowed at the end of the filling stroke, and the filling knob needs to back-up axially against the barrel.

This is common an all piston fillers, avoiding one accidenty turns the loose know and spill ink.

While I agree "over" tightening of the filling knob is most probably the reason of the shown breakage, I'm convinced a purely axial re-glueing of the parts will be much weaker as the original situation.

Hence I expect the threaded part will shear-off rather quickly when screwing the filling knob in contact with the barrel.

Note the the lead spindle/nut engagement synchronization should be done so the filling knob axially contacts the barrel end before the piston gets axially blocked.

I expect this synchronization was done wrongly and the piston already axially blocked while there was still an axial gap between the filling knob and barrel.

And the shown shearing/breakage was generated by forcing the filling knob further down with a maladjusted piston engagement….

Francis

 

However I feel we can take advantage of the extra surface area available in the unthreaded area for the adhesive to act on. I feel the reason for failure also is that there is no radial play allowed in the Aurora design and the radial load is taken by the portion just below the threaded joint between the "snout" and knob and it fails over time.

[Keyless Works]

Well I sent it to Kenro today. I am not an over tightener at all but it did come off with the plunger fully extended. I set the pen down to attend to something and returned to the pen so it's certainly possible I accidentally twisted the knob the wrong way without thinking...or it may not have been my fault I mean I use this pen a lot and I haven't physically broken any pens in the last decade and a half.

[Keyless Works]

Has anyone been able to contact Kenro on the phone? They have not returned my email or phone calls re: my repair. I just want to check to see if they received the pen as their online tracking status has not been updated.

[Garageboy]

Kenro takes a bit of time, but they do solid work

They do reply to their emails

I sent in my OMAS Moma expecting them not to touch it at all

Was pleasantly surprised when it came back with a new barrel