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Twsbi Eco Cap Falling Off


PaperQueen

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I am considering getting an ECO, but I, too, like to post my pen caps so this 'problem' with the ECO's cap posting is a disappointment. On the other hand, I am thinking of getting the white version of the pen and it might look quite dapper with a thicker RED O-ring on it, if such O-rings are available. :P

 

One trick that works with another pen that I have that is equally reluctant to post properly, is to give the cap a slight but firm twist after it is on the barrel end; this seems to "stick" the cap on the barrel more securely and I haven't had it fall or pop off since I started doing this. I don't know if this would work with the ECO, but it is certainly worth a try. (And, if you are concerned about scratching the barrel by doing this extra twisting, you probably don't post your caps anyway, but the plastic barrel on the pen I do this to now, a Stipula Passaporto, thus far remains scratch free. YMMV, of course.)

 

Holly

 

 

 

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The cap doesn't come all the way down to the barrel, just to the o ring, I see a very faint ridge inside the cap that appears the ring pops over, I suspect the o ring is the culprit. Perhaps it mashes down with time and use. I just tried posting it for the first time, for me it's end heavy with it on so that will probably be the last time I post it! :)

So space and time are linked together. As we are looking across space, we are looking back in time. The further and further away those stars are the further back in time you are looking. Now you are seeing a star that is say six thousand years ago. Imagine somebody at that star looking at us They would be seeing us as we were six thousand years ago. Which of those two is now? - Alan Parsons Project The Time Machine - Temporalia (Paraphrased)

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The cap doesn't come all the way down to the barrel, just to the o ring, I see a very faint ridge inside the cap that appears the ring pops over, I suspect the o ring is the culprit. Perhaps it mashes down with time and use. I just tried posting it for the first time, for me it's end heavy with it on so that will probably be the last time I post it! :)

Have you tried pushing the cap over the o-ring? The cap will stop at the ring if you do not give it a push.

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."


- Jack London



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Have you tried pushing the cap over the o-ring? The cap will stop at the ring if you do not give it a push.

 

Oh yes, mine posts without any problem, unfortunately others haven't been as lucky.

So space and time are linked together. As we are looking across space, we are looking back in time. The further and further away those stars are the further back in time you are looking. Now you are seeing a star that is say six thousand years ago. Imagine somebody at that star looking at us They would be seeing us as we were six thousand years ago. Which of those two is now? - Alan Parsons Project The Time Machine - Temporalia (Paraphrased)

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Mine seems to post fine, but I don't like posting it anyway because of its size, and also I just don't seem to post pens. One design note that I hadn't really considered before is that the Eco rolls when the cap is off. So when you lay it down uncapped or unposted it can move on you. Not a big deal for me because I tend not to do that, but something to consider if you do. Yes I'm still loving my Eco; it's been a rock solid performer so far.

"We can become expert in an erroneous view" --Tenzin Wangyal Rinoche
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  • 2 weeks later...

I just bought two TWSBI ECO's at Overjoyed during my visit to Singapore last week; one black with a 1.1mm stub and one white with an M-nib (which is a gift). While I was examining the pens post-purchase the first thing that popped into my mind is how the cap MAY not post securely. Fortunately, the my black ECO still posts OK after a few days of use, but I can easily understand how with time and wear, posting may become insecure.

 

Sigh - I thought, "FINALLY! TWSBI made a pen that posts properly" - now I'm not so sure.

 

Has anyone with an ECO that doesn't post securely contacted TWSBI about the problem? In my experience with my other TWSBI pens, TWSBI has been wonderful about supporting their products. I just wish there was no need to contact them in the first place.

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I've been happily using my ECO after the tape fix I mentioned in my previous post.

 

Your fingers might get a tad sticky from the tape adhesive early on (not as much anymore by now) but now my cap doesn't fall off. I can live with that.

 

I do hope TWSBI is addressing this issue. Might be something about width variation in their O ring, which is why it seems some are fine, a few are loose, and some are tight. No word from them that I've heard, and it seems I'm definitely not the only one who has had this problem. I love this pen now and hope others can enjoy it without having to do my DIY fix.

Edited by spaceink
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  • 3 weeks later...

It has been one month with my first TWSBI ECO in daily rotation. Now my cap is coming loose too. It doesn't happen every time I post the pen, but it happens way too often.

 

The problem may be rooted here:

 

1. The cap doesn't grip the O-ring well enough.

 

2. The cap is air-tight, so when you post, the O-ring causes air pressure to build up in the cap. This air pressure works to push the cap off the O-ring.

 

As for Item-1, this is just bad design and/or lack of pre-production testing on the part of TWSBI. The cap should post deeply and firmly. Posting deeply preserves the balance of the pen, and at the same provides a good grip on the barrel.

 

With respect to Item-2: Any fix to the pressure problem must preserve an air-tight cap, otherwise the nib will dry out. On the Platinum 3776 Century pen the cap has their proprietary "Slip-N-Seal" mechanism which is really just a spring loaded plastic cap liner that pushes against the section when the cap is screwed on, thereby making an air-tight seal around the nib & feed. But, posting the Slip-N-Seal cap to the pen does NOT make an air-tight seal, so the cap posts securely.

 

Now, what to do about this? I'm not big on the sticky-tape fix but it sounds like it would work, for awhile anyway. I don't see how a bigger O-ring will be able to fit into the groove.

 

So it looks like a Version-2 ECO redesign from TWSBI. Maybe if they fixed the problem by changing the way the cap grips the O-ring, then at-least the people who took a chance and bought the first run of ECO's could get the fix by replacing the cap only.

 

Sigh... And I thought, "Finally!", a TWSBI that posts properly and isn't too top-heavy... Sadly - it didn't turn out that way :(

Edited by Drone
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That's disappointing. I want to try more TWSBI products but posting seems to be an ongoing issue for those of us who strongly prefer it or do so for work environments. I definitely don't want to deal with this unless TWSBI changes the design to fix it. Bummer. I think it's difficult for some who don't post to get why this is a problem but if it's a preference you likely feel as strongly about it as a feature as any other. Buying a pen that initially posts and then fails to is not enjoyable.

 

I'm not sure TWSBI will consider this an issue or offer a fix as they did not address posting on the 580 aluminum version at all.

Edited by Steelblue
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If an o-ring isn't available that solves the problem (has anyone tried?), then how about removing the o-ring and partially filling the groove with the slightest amount of silicone gasket maker or sealant (not grease), wiping away the rest, letting it dry, and replacing the o-ring. If it's only a thin layer on the bottom of the groove, and not too much, then the o-ring mod should make a loose posting cap tighter.

Edited by MKB
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I just started having this issue today. Though it is not a major problem for me because I usually don't post but when out and about I post because it isn't convenient to set the cap down. I will try the fix suggested or see about doing one myself. Kind of a bummer but I still love this pen

Life isn't always what you make it. Sometimes it just falls in your lap and you have to deal with it.

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I am a Twsbi newbee (but a FP user for over 50 years :yikes: ) I own the Eco, a 580 and a 580AL. I assumed from the designs and the pre-purchase viewing of online video reviews they would all be problematic for posting. I prefer to post my pens, but i have a few that it is not practical due to the size of the pen and the back-weight if posted.

On the Twsbi design, being the caps do not seat deeply, and the absence of a smooth blind cap over the piston knob (common vintage style) or being the piston knob not being a smooth tapered tight affair (ala Lamy/Pelikan/Montblanc), that it is not meant to be posted.

Like they say in the software biz, its not a bug, its a feature :D

Edited by Moynihan

"I am a dancer who walks for a living" Michael Erard

"Reality then, may be an illusion, but the illusion itself is real." Niklas Luhmann

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

This really stinks, I'm a student and I have had this eco for about two weeks and already I'm finding that the cap falls off. I want to buy a 580 but I read that it too was also not designed to post. I love long heavy posted pens. I have huge hands so the weight and size is a plus for me. But being on a budget this own was almost ideal in size until the cap started sliding off... What to do?

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Contact TSBI.

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."


- Jack London



http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww296/messiah_FPN/Badges/SnailBadge.png




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This really stinks, I'm a student and I have had this eco for about two weeks and already I'm finding that the cap falls off. I want to buy a 580 but I read that it too was also not designed to post. I love long heavy posted pens. I have huge hands so the weight and size is a plus for me. But being on a budget this own was almost ideal in size until the cap started sliding off... What to do?

 

As for the Eco: Certainly contact TWSBI about the problem so they know, and so you go on the record with your problem within the warranty period. But don't expect them to do much if anything - at least not yet. This looks like it may be a tough problem to solve. I think they need to send out redesigned caps - caps that capture the pen barrel's O-Ring better.

 

As for the TWSBI 580:

 

It is true that the TWSBI 580 is poorly designed when it comes to posting. 1) The cap posts directly onto the filler knob, and 2) the cap is too heavy, it unbalances the pen when posted which makes it uncomfortable to use for longer writing sessions.

 

But...

 

As for the cap posting to the filler knob, if you are careful and keep the filler knob tight, this isn't as much of a problem as many reviewers make it out to be. Reports of problems posting to the filler knob may actually be due to some people not reassembling the pen properly after cleaning. It is possible to reassemble the 580 in such a way that the filler knob refuses to tighten properly. Obviously posting the cap to a loose filler knob is asking for trouble. I find that posting the cap to a properly tightened 580 filler knob does not really present a problem.

 

As for the TWSBI 580 being too top-heavy when posted: I agree with this. While I can use the 580 posted, it is not a pleasant experience. I do not feel like using the pen posted through long writing sessions. But if you really like a long unbalanced pen to write with; and/or if you have very large hands, then this may not be an issue for you. In-fact it may be a positive attribute.

 

The TWSBI 580 is an affordable pen for most people, and at-worst it isn't going to be a major disaster in the end if you find you don't like it after using it for awhile. So given that you like long pens, and since you state you have large hands, I say go ahead and try the TWSBI 580.

 

A bit of advice on purchasing the TWSBI 580: Don't buy the Rose Gold TWSBI 580 version! There are two reasons for this: 1) Some have had problems with the Rose Gold plating corroding (I am one of them). And 2) If you want to change the Rose Gold plated nib unit out for one with a different sized nib, you really can't. TWSBI doesn't sell Rose Gold nib units separately, they only sell stainless steel color nib units. Putting a SS colored nib in a pen with Rose Gold furniture just doesn't look right.

 

I say you should go for a TWSBI 580 clear or smoke colored demonstrator version with a 1.1mm stub nib.

 

Good Luck, David

 

Edited by Drone
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I see there is still no "cap posting joy" with the ECO. This is unfortunate for me and others that prefer posting their caps, and rather disappointing for a pen that was advertised as being able to post - unlike the 580 which was not designed to be "postable" (made up the word, but it seems to work here, lol) and TWSBI never made such a claim.

 

The only reason I can see why TWSBI might consider a redesign of the ECO cap/O-ring set up is because the pen was supposed to allow secure posting of the cap and it doesn't do what it is supposed to do, but that is rather a slim hope. And a redesign might mean an increase in price, too, so they might have to change the model name. :P

 

I still kind of want one of the white ECO's, but I may just have to hold out for that elusive TWSBI Mini-Vac pen that they have teased us with for years now. It's a Mini, a pocket pen - surely it will be "postable," otherwise, who will be able to use it?!?

 

Holly

Edited by OakIris
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I was playing with my Eco while cleaning, and found that the posting is very secure when the piston nob is off. The grab of the o-ring was tight. When I put is all back together I was back to a loose posting, but it did not feel like there was any contact between the cap and the nob. It felt more like an air pressure problem. If that's the case, the suggestions to replace the o-rings may not solve the problem. So far I haven't seen anyone report success with that suggestion, but perhaps no one has yet tried. For me it's not really an issue, since I don't post my pens.

"We can become expert in an erroneous view" --Tenzin Wangyal Rinoche
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Duh-doy

 

Just buy a spare cap, and epoxy it to the O ring. Hey presto, posting problems banished forever!

 

Geez, Flounder, why didn't anyone else think of that solution?!? :P Probably a bit too...permanent...for some, though.

 

Holly

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