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Twsbi Eco 1.1 Issue


CDunkle

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I am having an issue with my wonderful Eco with a 1.1 nib. I have been using Diamine Red Dragon in it for some time with excellent results.

About a month ago it started running dry. I could write a paragraph or two and it would get very scratchy and stop writing. I could get it back by drawing a line or two inverted (feed side up), but that only lasted a word or two.

My first thought was cleaning, so I took it completely apart and cleaned it thoroughly. After that, it wrote wonderfully, smoothly and wetly, for about a page, and then went back to dry. I cleaned it again, and got the exact same response.

I have found that I can write with it if I m a k e t h e w r i t i n g v e r y s l o w. It pretty much writes fine that way, but I go crazy trying to write that slowly.

When I clean it, I clean the feed very carefully and very thoroughly, and when I assemble it I am careful to keep the slot in the feed lined up with the slot in the nib.

Do any of you wonderful people have a suggestion for me?

Thank you very much in advance.

Chris

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Have you tried a different ink? I've read multiple reviews of people using Red Dragon having stuttering issues, so it's possible that the pen just doesn't care for the ink. Sorry I don't have any better suggestions, but I hope that helps somewhat!

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You said that you took it totally apart, I assume you pulled the nib and feed out. Did you put silicone on any of the parts? I like to have a little silicone on the O-rings. The reason I'm asking is there is a possibility of getting a bit of silicone on the feed groove or nib. Silicone will not wash off with detergent, even with some ammonia in the flush. It has to be removed physically, like wiping with paper towels or silicone cloth.

 

By the way, silicone grease does not get onto the ink from either the piston nor the inside of the barrel. It stays on the surfaces. But it could get on a finger then onto a nib or feed. I'm paranoid, I wipe my fingers vigourously on a paper towel that I throw away immediately less I later wipe a nib off with it.

 

But, really if silicone was the culprit, I would not think it would write fine after cleaning, the problem would not have cleared up.

 

Other than that, I would try a different ink as Out0Mind suggests here. My Eco 1.1 has been wonderfully wet with every ink that has been in it, but I haven't had Red Dragon in it. It never stutters or stops at all.

 

One last thought, when you clean the feed do you floss the feed groove? I use a 2 mil brass sheet to gently run through the groove to make sure it is cleaned out. There is a possibility of a bit of plastic from machining, though your cleaning the feed should have taken care of that.

Eschew Sesquipedalian Obfuscation

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As a matter of fact, yes; I pulled the nib and feed. I did not put any silicone grease on anything. I will try a different ink, though. Waterman Inspired Blue has been our go-to ink for issues like that.

Thank you for your input, it really does help.

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My wife uses Red Dragon in her pens, including a TWSBI regular without issue. But, that's not to say the ink isn't the culprit. You could try a different ink and see if that solves the problem. I suspect it's something else though. Try pulling the nib and feed, and make sure they are both clean and free of debris or any stray silicone grease.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Hamlet, 1.5.167-168

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I pulled the nib and feed and cleaned them both thoroughly. No silicon grease was used.

I changed out the ink and filled it with Noodler's Ottoman Azure. It is back to being a bit scratchy, and it does skip occasionally, but it no longer stops writing.

It occurs to me that when I was first using Red Dragon it was from a sample I had gotten. It was a great ink. I decided to buy a smallish bottle, but have been having issues with it. Very unfortunate, as that is perhaps my favorite color in ink these days. I have it in another pen, a Pilot Varsity with a modified nib, and it works fine.

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Today that my once easy flowing Eco was skipping, hard starting, and really annoying me. I randomly thought to just touch the nib and it was loose. I pushed it back in and things are flowing perfectly again. I'm using Diamine Purple Pizzazz in mine. Perhaps your nib is getting loose too?

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That would be nice, an easy fix. Nope, I think the Diamine ink was not quite the same as the sample I had. The Noodler's is acting exactly as I expect it to, therefore I think the Diamine is acting as it normally does.

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And, it's back to its previous tricks. Writes a line or so and dries out. I can re-start it by drawing a line with the pen inverted, but it only writes a word or two. I am probably going to try Waterman Inspired Blue, although my daughter has been having trouble with that in her Lamy.

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OK, tested it with an Iroshizuku ink. I gave it a good cleaning and ended up disassembling the piston assembly. After putting it all back together and filling it, it wrote wetly but well, for about a page; and then back to its old tricks. I think I need to consult with a nib meister on this, but it hardly seems worthwhile for an Eco.

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Have you talked to TWSBI?

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


- Jack London



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You are now in the FPN sweetspot: about to Learn and Share the ink/feed/nib/paper hydraulics that make this one aspect of FP that is affordable. The beauty part is beyond my means so I'm in for the learning.

 

So to the scientific method:

 

0.0 The pen worked satisfactorily as delivered with your ink ___-Y/N

0.1 Did you refill with the same ink and at what point if the body volume??

0.1.1 And then what?__

0.1.2 Is the pen stored vertically or horizontally when not in use? V/H__... leads to the feed being seasoned.

..etc.. silicone grease maintenance is explicit in Eco so let's be fair about when/where we did or didn't maintain..

 

Let's start from when the pen/ink/feed/paper combination worked.. You are right about the cost of sending the pen to get "fixed" but the learning from the one you have in your hand is (old MC slogan) Priceless.

 

Goating to learn.

Sometimes I think I can taste the colors of the ink through my eyes. That Emerald.....

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0.0 The pen worked fine until a June, when I decided to try a sparkly ink. I didn't really like the ink that well, so I did a very thorough cleaning and refilled it with the ink I had been using before. I immediately started having all sorts of problems. We cleaned it again and did a heat-set on the nib and most of the problems were solved. By September it had started drying out. Been that way ever since.

 

0.1 Think I covered that in the previous statement. I usually fill the pen.

 

0.1.1 The pen dries out and stops writing. Flipping the pen over and drawing a line with the pen feed-side up resolves the issue for a couple of words. Cleaning and refilling resolves it for about a page worth of writing.

 

0.1.2 I usually store the pen vertically, nib up. With the cap on. In all honesty, I have not needed to use any silicone grease on the pen, so far as I can tell. I can't visualize how grease could make it flow more consistently.

 

And yes, thank you, you are very correct that this could and should be a learning experience for me. This is why I like FPN, people are helpful and kind, and understanding with novices like myself.

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Chris, I don't think you ever said that you ran a brass shim (or plastic equivalent) all the way down the feed groove when you cleaned the feed. That tiny groove is very important to maintaining consistent ink flow.

 

If you have a good eye loupe or other quality magnifier, have you looked carefully at the feed groove? Having used "sparkly" ink there is a possible that some of the glitter particles have lodged in the feed groove. I've used several of these inks in my Eco with no problem, but there is always the possibility since they are insoluble particles. A 2 mil brass sheet will easily clean out the feed groove.

 

This is what I use: http://www.gouletpens.com/goulet-brass-sheets/p/GP-10012

Eschew Sesquipedalian Obfuscation

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Have you talked to TWSBI?

OK, I finally gave up on fixing it and emailed TWSBI. A gentleman named Phillip replied very quickly with a few suggestions. I told him I had already tried all of those, and he sent a message back asking me to send it to him. I did, and just got a note back from him, it is fixed! He mailed it back today. He said he adjusted the flow a bit. Not quite sure what that entailed.

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My ECO with the stub was a bit on the dry side as well. I spread the tines and this improved the flow a lot. Perhaps that is all that was needed.

 

Hope your pen is working well when you get it back. The ECO stub is really nice.

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I got the pen back on Saturday, and it is writing like a new pen. Excellent service from TWSBI. They get a five-star rating from me.

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Glad it worked out.

 

FYI, I have Red Dragon in one of my pens. If I do not use it at least every other day, the feed dries out, and it takes a bit of work to get it to flow again.

- This involves dipping the nib into water, writing for a while until the ink flow slows down or stops, another dip . . .

- Then if it keeps stopping, I push ink into the feed from the converter.

- Last resort is to do a good cleaning of the pen. I do not pull the feed, unless it is REALLY CLOGGED.

 

I like Red Dragon, but I just don't use it as much as I should, to keep the ink flowing.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

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I use Red Dragon in two of my pens, my Eco 1.1 and a Pilot Varsity with a badly modified nib. The Varsity was originally a cartridge pen, got converted to an eyedropper when it ran out of black ink. That pen writes first time, every time. A remarkably reliable writer, in spite of the weird nib. The Eco seems to fall into your category, if I leave it uncapped for even an hour or two, it dries out. Now, however, when it dries out I can get it started again and it will write for a page or so. If I limit myself to good paper, it works a whole lot better.

Red Dragon is still my favorite ink to write with. Ebony green is my second favorite.

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