Jinhao 992 Informal Review

[truthpil]

That's odd, because I've had no problem putting Pelikan 4001 short cartridges in all my Jinhaos. It is a tight fit and after use the hole on the cartridge is too wide to put back into a Pelikan. By contrast, none of my Hero pens can take international cartridges.

[Sailor Kenshin]

That's odd, because I've had no problem putting Pelikan 4001 short cartridges in all my Jinhaos. It is a tight fit and after use the hole on the cartridge is too wide to put back into a Pelikan. By contrast, none of my Hero pens can take international cartridges.

And odder still, I have a few that can.

[Miaxina]

Most of the carts I bought online are too loose for my Jinhao. I got a pack of the long Jinhao cartridges, hope they'll fit

[Uncial]

My set of six different transparent colours arrived today. All the nibs seem smooth and I do like the look of the converters; huge improvement. The only two with no signs of cracking are the green and blue one. The rest have some very minor cracks which don't seem to have broken through to the surface. However, the burnt orange one (sadly my favourite one) has very significant cracking all around the top and running for quite a length down the barrel. Obviously it won't ever be used as an eyedropper, but I can't see it lasting too long before it breaks apart.

 

Looking closely at it under a strong loupe it does appear to be the way in which they have finished the end is the root of the problem. The point where the little foot of the mushroom plug goes in has been cut with parallel lines; presumably to add grip. It is from these cut lines that all the cracks are stemming from on the pens I have here. The fact that the mushroom plug is a solid, hard plastic and not a rubbery material is probably producing added strain. It's a simple enough design fault, which is great pity because they really are great looking pens and make a lovely set. If they fixed this issue in the future, I'd definitely by another set. I intend to superglue the mushroom plug in place in the hopes it strengthens that area and halts any further cracking. The set cost me just under ten euro with free shipping and it arrived quite promptly.

[truthpil]

Most of the carts I bought online are too loose for my Jinhao. I got a pack of the long Jinhao cartridges, hope they'll fit

 

I just put a Pelikan 4001 Blue-black short cartridge in my 992 and it fits snugly without any problems.

.

I did have some trouble getting the ink to flow to the nib, but I don't think that is an issue caused by the cartridge and nipple.

This ink is notoriously dry and I also have a slightly loose fitting TWSBI ECO stub nib in the pen instead of the original. That combination of factors made it tough to get the capillary action going. I just had to wrap the nib with a paper towel and flick the pen twice to get flow going. Once the ink made it to the end of the nib, flow has been perfect and it writes superbly.

 

In the past I also put Pelikan 4001 Violet cartridges in my X750 without any problems, so I can say that Pelikan short cartridges fit fine with Jinhao pens.

[MadTheNeko]

yesterday I got 3 of j. herbins inks. and my opaque ones met with them. I have 10+ pens, but I think the best one is 992 black with diabolo menthe. I already changed nib with other that 30x more expensive than pen, but after all It is worth, and writing with this pen, and with this ink giving me so much writing time.

Edited May 25, 2017 by MadTheNeko

[grainweevil]

Don't need magnification to see the cracks in my 992 - one of them is 10mm long and I can feel it with my finger.

 

Perhaps I'm getting a little paranoid, but are these cracks developing in the cap as well?

 

 

No-one showed the slightest interest in this, but despite that, I'll update and confirm that no, I'm not paranoid. The cracks can be felt now, not just seen. All the eager beavers rushing out to buy these despite the evidence on this thread, I hope you're feeling lucky.

[Flounder]

 

No-one showed the slightest interest in this, but despite that, I'll update and confirm that no, I'm not paranoid. The cracks can be felt now, not just seen. All the eager beavers rushing out to buy these despite the evidence on this thread, I hope you're feeling lucky.

 

 

Obviously user error , you're not supposed to crack the cap. Newbs eh!

 

Seriously though I've ordered one on the strength of the colour, so I'm not that invested in it if it turns out to be a poor choice!

[newkid12]

Mine arrived today. It's a solid green color. Very nice pen and it writes very well. The converter fills easily. The nib is very smooth and writes quite well without needing any adjustment. It appears to have a small crack near the end of the barrel or it may be a scratch. It's hard to tell but what can we expect from a pen costing less than two dollars? I am satisfied with it.

[truthpil]

No-one showed the slightest interest in this, but despite that, I'll update and confirm that no, I'm not paranoid. The cracks can be felt now, not just seen. All the eager beavers rushing out to buy these despite the evidence on this thread, I hope you're feeling lucky.

No, not the cap too!! Thanks for the update on this.

I guess Jinhao needs to fix something in their plastic formula for this pen.

[grainweevil]

Obviously user error , you're not supposed to crack the cap. Newbs eh!

 

Oh, I know. Made another one just now - thought I'd try the clip having not actually tried it before. The whole caboodle, clip and finial, gently hinged up on the one remaining little piece of uncracked plastic. Evidently I'd underestimated just how far the crack went. Stupid newbie.

[truthpil]

No cracks in my cap and the clip works perfectly. I really think the demonstrator models have more brittle plastic than the opaque ones.

[MadTheNeko]

No cracks in my cap and the clip works perfectly. I really think the demonstrator models have more brittle plastic than the opaque ones.

yes they are, I use my black one almost for a month, only little scratches, because I'm using with cap. I ordered 3 another opaque red, white, and another black.

 

992 model pens are best performers for me till now than other chinese pens. I don't even use my other pens, only my 5 992s are inked

 

Btw I prefer to use j herbin, and diamine inks since they are behaving better than others with these pens. But pelikan 4001 royal blue works ok too.

Edited May 26, 2017 by MadTheNeko

[MadTheNeko]

and picture I took now

[suharsh]

 

No-one showed the slightest interest in this, but despite that, I'll update and confirm that no, I'm not paranoid. The cracks can be felt now, not just seen. All the eager beavers rushing out to buy these despite the evidence on this thread, I hope you're feeling lucky.

 

I have 21 (most will be given away) of these and have opened 6 so far (few weeks) and so far none has any cracks ... not that they could not show up. Could it be that counterfeits are already out for these?

 

[EDIT] - I have used the 6 only with converters ... don't intend to use them as Eye Droppers.

Edited May 27, 2017 by suharsh

[suharsh]

Will standard international cartridges fit on these? or Do I need Jinhao cartridges only?

 

I have orders for giveaways and most people that i will give them will not have ink bottles ... so want to give them cartridges too

[Sailor Kenshin]

Even with the cracks and other problems, this has been fun: like a $2 Sailor 1911 tribute inky playalong.

[DaveBj]

I have a six-pack of the demonstrators coming. I will be examining them closely. I hope to ED them, but if that is not feasible, I won't shrink from using the converters.

[thudthwacker]

Will standard international cartridges fit on these? or Do I need Jinhao cartridges only?

 

I have orders for giveaways and most people that i will give them will not have ink bottles ... so want to give them cartridges too

 

There seems to be a little disagreement on this point; some reports of international cartridges not fitting, some reports of Pelikan 4001 cartridges (which are international sized) fitting, albeit very snugly (as in, after use in the 992, the mouth of the cartridge was too big to use on a Pelikan). For my part, I think I'm going to toss a Diamine cartridge set into my next JetPens order, and take my chances. If I can't get them to work, I'll be happy to pay the carts forward to people who might like them.

[thudthwacker]

 

No-one showed the slightest interest in this, but despite that, I'll update and confirm that no, I'm not paranoid. The cracks can be felt now, not just seen. All the eager beavers rushing out to buy these despite the evidence on this thread, I hope you're feeling lucky.

 

I've been lucky so far, though granted, at the moment I only have the one -- the translucent green. I haven't seen any cracks, though I haven't looked using a loupe yet. I haven't used the clip very much (for, say, a shirt pocket), but I do clip the pens I carry into my Nomad case, and that hasn't caused any issues yet. I've got a couple more on their way; I hope my luck holds.

 

Sidenote, and apologies if you mentioned this and I missed it: did your 992 come cracked, or did the cracks start appearing after normal use? My pen came in a padded envelope, which I don't expect is proof against much violence in the post -- I was relieved that it didn't get damaged in transit.