Pilot Custom 74 Flow And Air Issues

[Strudel]

Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster.

 

Recently I purchased a Pilot Custom 74. Everything about the pen is wonderful. I prefer my 3776 Century, but the Custom 74 is a close second. I should state that I'm not new to pens. Generally I know how to fix a pen be it a nib issue or something else. Also I've only used Pilot's Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku ink for consistency's sake.

 

Unfortunately the pen has been inconsistent. The first fill of the pen went well. The Con-70 filled to the top without issues and the pen wrote like a dream. As I was writing though, the pen started to dry out and feel rough on the paper. I took the converter out and noticed that in the lower reservoir of the converter there was only air bubbles, no ink was flowing from the converter into the pen. A few light shakes, some ink dripping from the nib, and I was back in business. I had to give the pen a light shake every once and awhile to get ink flowing, but it wasn't too much of a bother.

 

The problems really started when I went to fill the converter the second time. This happened:

 

 

I figured it was a bad fill, so I attempted to drain the converter and try again. Converters fill with air all the time. Unfortunately, the ink wouldn't drain and I got this:

 

 

Not only did the converter look like this, but ink was foaming where the feed and nib met at the grip as well as from the hole in the feed. Loads of tiny little bubbles. So I set to trying a number of different things. Firstly, I tried filling the converter a number of different ways. Slow button presses, quick ones, I tried everything. I always got the same result. My next step was to fill the converter with a syringe. This worked a bit, but still got air bubbles in the lower section of the converter after I started using the pen. Then I was back to giving it those light shakes.

 

Starting to suspect the converter wasn't the issue, I switched to my Con-50 from my old Metro. The converter filled with minimal air bubbles, an improvement, but the ink didn't flow well at all. The pen was dry and rough on the paper. When it flows well, it is one of my smoothest writers and very wet. But air bubbles keep finding their way into the converter.

 

The next step was to pull the nib and feed out. Upon inspection, I didn't notice anything wrong. After watching SBRE Brown's video on disassembling the pen, I tried to take the whole nib unit out, but it won't come out like it does in his video. He put the converter in and twisted the unit out. My converter just twists in place. The next step was obvious, I plugged in a Pilot cartridge. And so far? Its back to flowing as it should, and the pen feels smooth again.

 

My theory is that the converter isn't sealing to the pen. The con-70 clicks when I press it in, but I suspect that their air is getting in where its meant to meet the nib unit. This is why I wanted to remove that piece per SBRE Brown's video, but my section won't budge. Both converters that fail in the Custom 74 have performed fine in my other Pilot pens. The other thing that makes me believe this, is sometimes there is ink on the converter when I unscrew the body. This tells me that ink is leaking from the converter into the body of the pen, which I assume, is due to it not sealing. This I suspect, would create the flow issues I'm experiencing.

 

I'm going to contact Pilot USA about it, but I purchased this particular pen direct from Japan, hopefully that isn't an issue. In the mean time, I'm interested in what you all have to say. I'd like to remedy the issue on my own if possible. I just wish I could remove the whole nib unit like SBRE Brown did. Only my nib and feed comes out. If I could see the whole thing I have no doubt I could diagnose the issue.

[Strudel]

I discovered the problem. The part of the pen, I think it's called the collar, the part in every Pilot pen with a small half circle of plastic that you seat the converter on wasn't in the pen right. It's hard to explain.

 

I finally removed that section of the pen after soaking it and getting a good grip with a piece of rubber. It took a lot of effort, I think, because it was in crooked. Have you ever twisted a cap onto a jug of milk crooked? That's sort of what was going on. As a result the converter wasn't seating itself flush to the pen. That's why ink was getting into the body of the pen and that's why the ink was foaming with air bubbles. What's crazy to me, is that it was only crooked by a millimeter at most. You had to look hard to see it. But it was enough to allow the smallest bit of air through. I think the issue was exacerbated by the vacuum filling con-70. Using a cartridge made the flow better, but it was still off.

 

It's unfortunate, but the part wasn't damaged beyond use. It's in good enough shape and now the pen is back to writing with a good flow. Probably would've been better to send the pen to Pilot, but I prefer to fix my own pens.

 

Hopefully this helps anyone who may run into the same problem.