No-flow from refilled Platinum Preppy

[Flounder]

I've just gotten used to my cool looking, nicely writing Platinum Preppy as a use-it-anywhere uni pen. The ink has just run out, and I refilled the cart with Diamine royal blue (as I do with my parker 45 carts, it's much less messy than getting a converter and plunging the pen in an ink bottle).

 

However - the preppy's not happy with this arrangement, and now writes very dry, skipping all the time too. What gives? Does it need special secret platinum ink?

[mooshi]

I haven't ever used Diamine inks, but my Preppy works perfectly fine with Lamy Black. Lays down nice wet lines.

 

-- Moo

[dcwaites]

The Preppys tend to be able to use most inks most of the time with minimal problems.

However, I have had one that is always too wet, and one that is always too dry.

In my others, though, I can use inks that range from vintage powdered ink through to Baystate blue with no problems.

[Chthulhu]

I've just gotten used to my cool looking, nicely writing Platinum Preppy as a use-it-anywhere uni pen. The ink has just run out, and I refilled the cart with Diamine royal blue (as I do with my parker 45 carts, it's much less messy than getting a converter and plunging the pen in an ink bottle).

 

However - the preppy's not happy with this arrangement, and now writes very dry, skipping all the time too. What gives? Does it need special secret platinum ink?

 

Did you flush the feed and nib before reinstalling the cartridge? There could be some residual air bubbles left in the feed after the cartridge ran dry if not, or water if you did. I have only one Preppy, a yellow 03 nib with yellow ink (neat stuff!), and it writes a nice, wet EF line so far; I haven't finished the cartridge it came with yet to try another ink.

[Flounder]

hmm I didn't flush the feed, I didn't think it would need cleaning after using up its first cart.

The thing is, the cart still had a tiny amount of ink in it, and I thought to myself "that won't last a day of uni", and filled up with the Diamine. I did't care about mixing the colours because they're not too dissimilar.

 

I read somewhere you can pull the nib out for cleaning, does the feed come out with it? It's a 0.5 medium nib btw.

[Chthulhu]

I haven't tried (yet!) pulling the feed from mine. It's generally a good idea when switching inks, especially between manufacturers, to do a thorough flush and dry first, in case of chemical incompatibilities between the inks.

 

Also make sure the cartridge reseated fully when you put it back into the pen, and that the glass bead inside the cartridge isn't stuck down at the feed end. You can also try standing the pen nib down for a day and see if that helps.

[Flounder]

Okay following your advice...

 

my legs are starting to hurt, but I will keep you posted.

[Flounder]

this preppy is still playing up I'm afraid. I pulled the nib out, and soaked it all for a couple hours, then dried off for about a day. It will start a first sentence alright, then get progressively drier by the second, and skip while starting the third. I've noticed little 'beads' of ink between the ntines - the gap is exceptionally narrow compared to all my other pens - it almost seems like ink is collecting between the tines but refusing to flow past them for some reason.

 

I sure hope someone has an idea why this is happening, even though it has an image as a 'disposable' fp I like this pen!

[Flounder]

Okay I tried something different. I took the cartridge out, and filled the section with ink. Flow was good, but ink got past all the seal ring things and started dripping out of the bottom of the pen.

 

Has anyone converter one of these to an eyedropper? Does ink drop out the bottom of yours as you write?

[Chthulhu]

You've oversaturated the collector (the stack of "rings"); you can soak a lot of that out with some paper towels and keep going. Mine is currently wet about halfway from the cartridge to the back of the nib and works fine.

 

Yes, Preppys make great eyedropper pens; use some pure silicon grease to seal the threads between the barrel and the section and fill 'er up. Use a generous amount of the grease to fill the threads and wipe the excess off the outside once the barrel is screwed on snugly.

Edited October 30, 2009 by Chthulhu

[Flounder]

Chthulhu, I'm thinking maybe my collecter is bad, if ink gets past it? I mean, if I turned this into an eyedropper, ik would be pouring out the bottom of this particular pen. Am I way off?

 

also - to try and eliminate the ink as the problem, I'm going to try filling it with quink.

[Chthulhu]

Good plan on trying another ink. You shouldn't have a lot of ink in the collector unless there's air getting into the cartridge or you force-filled it as you described; it's supposed to act as a buffer between the cartridge and the nib to prevent leakage.

 

You mentioned that you had pulled the nib and feed out; did it go back in all the way, and is it aligned the way it was before you pulled it? Also check the cartridge for cracks, especially around the end that fits over the nipple on the back of the feed, but also around the body of the cartridge; if you tried squeezing the cartridge to get the ink flowing, it could have cracked (I've done this).

[Flounder]

I'm fairly sure the nib is back in the same position, but remember the problem started before i took it out. I didn't squeeze the cart or anything, and no visible cracks... bit stumped. I hope the different ink will sort this out.

 

When I first got this pen, and put the original cartridge in, I posted herewith some questions about the nin &c. You can just see ink getting past the collector in the photograph.

[Chthulhu]

I don't know whether the nib, feed, and section require alignment with one another on a Preppy; it was just a thought. Some pens do, some don't. That collector is pretty full; as I said mine's only about half of that, but the yellow ink may be drier than that blue you had. I just took a look at several other pens with a similar collector arrangement, and the only one that even comes close to that full is a Pilot Plumix loaded with Noodler's Black ink; all the rest are between 1/4 and 1/2 full. That still suggests that your pen has an air leak at the back of the section/feed somewhere to me. If it's at the cartridge nipple, converting to an eyedropper would get around that problem, but you may still have a very free-flowing pen. It's worth a try, though.

[Flounder]

Writing this at uni; I've been using the preppy all day filled with parker blue (I think it's washable blue)and no problems. Go figure? I always thought Diamine was supposed to be ink with a reputation for free flowing.

 

This is a bit of a shame - I like to have all my pens the same colour, so if I feel like a change halfway through writing something, there's no change discernable on the page. Plus, I'm in the faintly ridiculous situation of draining a parker cartidge, to fill a platinum cartridge!

[mariposa31560]

I have 2 converted Preppys from Noodlers and I love them! I just got the 7 colour set and noticed some differences. Can anyone who is more experienced tell me if they are necessary to make before I convert them to eyedropper style?

 

#1. If you pull out the nib, it is attached to a long round piece of plastic that threads up through the feed into the section. In the section it is surrounded by 2 hard plastic flanges that push the small metal ball stopping device at the top of Platinum cartridges. These Flanges are missing on the Noodlers' pens. Do these need to be removed?

 

#2. There is a rubber O-ring between the section and the barrel on the Noodlers' pen. It is not there on an unaltered Preppy.

 

#3. There is no mention of silicon grease with the Noodlers' pen. Is this something I need to apply every time I fill my pens?

 

#4. Where do I locate silicon grease? How do I find eyedroppers for ink? Is there a special stand used to keep the barrel still while it is filling? I am using a small glass with aquarium beads. It is not very stable.

 

merci, Mariposa31560

Email me

 

 

You've oversaturated the collector (the stack of "rings"); you can soak a lot of that out with some paper towels and keep going. Mine is currently wet about halfway from the cartridge to the back of the nib and works fine.

 

Yes, Preppys make great eyedropper pens; use some pure silicon grease to seal the threads between the barrel and the section and fill 'er up. Use a generous amount of the grease to fill the threads and wipe the excess off the outside once the barrel is screwed on snugly.

[Chthulhu]

I have 2 converted Preppys from Noodlers and I love them! I just got the 7 colour set and noticed some differences. Can anyone who is more experienced tell me if they are necessary to make before I convert them to eyedropper style?

 

#1. If you pull out the nib, it is attached to a long round piece of plastic that threads up through the feed into the section. In the section it is surrounded by 2 hard plastic flanges that push the small metal ball stopping device at the top of Platinum cartridges. These Flanges are missing on the Noodlers' pens. Do these need to be removed?

 

I suspect the "flanges" were removed to aid in letting the pen use all the ink, rather than having a small amount left around them, unable to reach the feed. The pen should still work as an eyedropper without their removal.

 

#2. There is a rubber O-ring between the section and the barrel on the Noodlers' pen. It is not there on an unaltered Preppy.

 

Some people prefer the convenience of the o-ring over the silicone grease, but either alone should provide a good seal.

 

#3. There is no mention of silicon grease with the Noodlers' pen. Is this something I need to apply every time I fill my pens?

 

It's probably not necessary every time, but doing so will help ensure that there will be no leaks.

 

#4. Where do I locate silicon grease? How do I find eyedroppers for ink? Is there a special stand used to keep the barrel still while it is filling? I am using a small glass with aquarium beads. It is not very stable.

 

merci, Mariposa31560

Email me

 

Silicone grease may be purchased from any of several on-line pen repair persons. It can also be found in the plumbing repair section of hardware stores and home centers (be sure to buy only 100% silicone grease), and at dive shops (sold for lubricating o-rings on SCUBA gear).

 

Be careful in tightening the pen's barrel once it's been greased; it's very easy to overtighten it and crack the plastic.

[Xircuits]

I have the same problem with my Preppy 0.5 fountain pen. It was a Red one with a cartridge to match, but I didn't use the cartridge. I too bought a packet of blue black ink in hopes of refilling it with colours from other companies. I've had ink flow problems the first time I used the pen. I am very confused as the 0.3 fountain pens work wondrously. I don't know if it's the metal ball in the cartridge that is preventing the ink to flow properly. It writes well after I shake it and then the ink starts to get lighter and lighter until nothing comes out. Maybe it's a quality control issue.

 

I've noticed what helped with the ink flow was for me to bend the tip a little by adding pressure when I was writing (Pressing down on the paper hard). It has helped the ink flow a little bit. The tip isn't too far bent, just a little uptick. I'm going to see if this solves the problem.

 

I just bought myself some eye-drop conversion materials from The Goulet Pen Company. They sell 4 o-rings for $1 and a small lip-balm sized container of silicon gel for $2.50. I couldn't find o-rings small enough for the pen at my local hardware store. I also couldn't find silicon gel, but I found silicon grease that came out a yellowish colour. :-( I hope this helps.

[Wamu]

Any idea on how to flush the feed on the preppy?

Edited October 29, 2011 by Wamu

[Oranges and Apples]

Any idea on how to flush the feed on the preppy?

 

Remove the nib and remove the section (could be done either order) and then rinse for a few seconds with the cartridge/converter nip facing up (or down, I can't remember, but the water should be able to pass right through fairly easily) and then leave it soaking in a cup of water over night. That should get it clear.