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Piston Filler Flow Issue Dollar 717I

dave911

By dave911
in India & Subcontinent (Asia)

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dave911

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Hi everyone,

New member, first post but been hanging around the forum for ages - thanks everyone for heaps of info and help on all sorts of things : )

Anyway to the problem, I got two of the above pens - one a demonstrator, and the other a normal coloured one. Now I absolutely love the pens, inexpensive, piston filler, fine nib which I like, writes wet and reasonably smoothly (so I won't actually touch the nib). But it stops writing after quite a bit of writing - probably more than just the ink in the feed from filling (but maybe it is - not sure). Anyway it just suddenly stops - not getting dryer and dryer - it's like it instantly stops.

It will start again after a vigorous shake or tapping nib on paper or turning the piston. I've been reading and reading (here and elsewhere) and this seems to be almost a common problem with piston fillers. Yes, I have washed the pen a few times with a drop of dishwashing liquid, rinsed many times, fill and then squirt a few drops back out again which seems to be a requirement of piston fillers, and nothing has changed - still stops writing. Reading reviews etc, it does not seem that other people have this problem with this particular pen

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

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Consulting_Detective Rare

Consulting_Detective

Posted
Posted

Well, since you just stated I was about to say before, I would suggest taking it apart, and cleaning it very thoroughly, like in between the tines and such.

 

Then, if that doesn't work.. check the nib.. I know it may seem weird because the nib supposedly writes nice.. but its better to be safe than sorry..

 

Also, may I wonder what company made it? If you file for a warranty (if it has one), then they may be able to sort it out for you...

 

Other than that, I have no other advice..

 

-C.D

Favorite Ink and Pen Combinations:

Monteverde Jewelria in Fine with Noodlers Liberty's Elysium

Jinhao x450 with a Goulet X-Fine Nib with Noodlers Liberty's Elysium

Lamy Al-Star BlueGreen in Extra Fine with Parker Quink Black

Pilot Metropolitan in Medium with Parker Quink Black

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

- Dr. Hannibal Lecter

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dave911 Dipped Only

dave911

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Thanks, I am still working on it - pulling apart, cleaning etc, might be a bit of gunk stuck somewhere.

"Dollar" is the brand - from Pakistan. It's a cheap pen - not worh worring about - bought online - postage would be too much if nothing else.

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Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

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Piston pens do not have such a problem as 'normal'. I have some 50 of them.

Even a 'Dollar' pen should work....the system is simple enough.

Just because I have a lot of piston pens does not make me an expert....especially with a problem I've never had.

What ink do you use?

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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dave911 Dipped Only

dave911

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Thanks for reply, Sorry - should have mentioned I am not new to fountain pens, have been using them pretty much exclusively for 35 odd years. I have about 40 pens in my collection - some Watermans, Parkers icluding "P51", Shaeffers, a few Chinese inexpensive ones, couple of Japanese, but no really high end pens like MBs, and swap pens around regularly for my daily writer as the whim takes me, but for some reason I never have ended up with a piston filler until now. I don't collect to collect, but to use them.

I agree totally that it is a simple system that's been around forever. The Dollar 717i is a great little pen, I actually do love it, fits my hand very well, and there are probably millions of the things around the world.

So back to the story - I pulled the nib and feeds, washed/rinsed again and again, and the barrel, no obvious problems with nib or feed - and apart from them there is not much else - just the barrel to hold ink. They are quite wet and smooth writers, I flossed the nibs and looking at them with a loupe the slits are fine with a taper to the tip and not touching anywhere. The feeds have quite a wide and deep ink channel in them, full length of the feed. I'm a very fast writer, but the channel in the feed is huge - it shouldn't be the problem.

The nib is made with a bend - presumably to help jam the nib and feed into the section. The section is moulded with stops built in so the nib and feed can only be installed in one position - very simple to re-install - really cannot get anything out of position.

And, I am using Quink blue, which I generally use when mucking about with a pen due to usually quite a lot of wastage - filling, emptying, cleaning etc. And just as a normal ink at work I also use Quink Blue or Black. Never had a problem with Quink in any other pen for 35 years - it's just an ink. I do have some other inks, but generally do not use them - I'm not an ink person.

Today I will pull them apart again and do more soaking, cleaning, flushing - after the last clean/flush etc I reckon I get about double the distance before they dry up again. So it may be just a manufacturing residue issue.

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mitto Museum Piece

mitto

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Dollar pens usually don't have such issues . Try separating / adjusting the tines of the nib with a shaving blade. That will , most probably , solve the problem.

Edited by mitto

Khan M. Ilyas

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dave911

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Hi again,

OK all fixed now and flowing well (the coloured one, I'll do the demonstrator soon as well) - just wrote two full A4 pages of rubbish and not a single issue. Probably (definitely) was the tines - even though it was a good writer from the beginning - quite wet - I opened up the tines just a tad with a shim as suggested and now no more issues. Still seems the same wetness to my eye. Smoothed the nib a bit and it is good little pen. Thanks Consulting Detective and mitto.

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mitto Museum Piece

mitto

Posted
Posted

Hi again,

OK all fixed now and flowing well (the coloured one, I'll do the demonstrator soon as well) - just wrote two full A4 pages of rubbish and not a single issue. Probably (definitely) was the tines - even though it was a good writer from the beginning - quite wet - I opened up the tines just a tad with a shim as suggested and now no more issues. Still seems the same wetness to my eye. Smoothed the nib a bit and it is good little pen. Thanks Consulting Detective and mitto.

You are welcome . That is the benifit of being on the FPN .

Khan M. Ilyas

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Consulting_Detective Rare

Consulting_Detective

Posted
Posted

Hi again,

OK all fixed now and flowing well (the coloured one, I'll do the demonstrator soon as well) - just wrote two full A4 pages of rubbish and not a single issue. Probably (definitely) was the tines - even though it was a good writer from the beginning - quite wet - I opened up the tines just a tad with a shim as suggested and now no more issues. Still seems the same wetness to my eye. Smoothed the nib a bit and it is good little pen. Thanks Consulting Detective and mitto.

 

No problem dave911, I'm always glad to lend a hand!

 

-C.D

Favorite Ink and Pen Combinations:

Monteverde Jewelria in Fine with Noodlers Liberty's Elysium

Jinhao x450 with a Goulet X-Fine Nib with Noodlers Liberty's Elysium

Lamy Al-Star BlueGreen in Extra Fine with Parker Quink Black

Pilot Metropolitan in Medium with Parker Quink Black

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti."

- Dr. Hannibal Lecter

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dan in montreal Extremely Rare

dan in montreal

Posted
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Out of curiosity, I just got a trio of these demos with colored feeds / sections. I've only inked one and it started up well enough. After a page, it stopped writing. I flossed the nib, primed the feed, wrote half a page and... same thing. I emptied it and pulled out the nib and feed. The ink channel seemed wide enough but half the grooves on both sides were obstructed. I took a knife to them and made proper grooves and that seemed to help, for a while.

 

Still the nib is constantly starved for ink. Don't know why. When I pulled the nib and feed out, they were super greasy (even though I had rinsed the pen and let it dry before use). Could it be this oily stuff (I'm assuming it's silicon grease) interfere with the flow?

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