Unhappy With The Flow In My 580Alr

[TaylorJ]

So, I bought the aesthetically beautiful TWSBI Diamond 580ALR in Purple when it was released recently. (I actually ordered mine on launch day, about an hour in...)Sadly I am not enjoying it at all. It REFUSES to write anywhere near consistently. Even on good paper, flat, it skips, it misses lines, it won't start or it stops halfway through...It's honestly a bit of a nightmare.

 

I'm pretty bummed. This is the first <$50 pen I've bought, and $60 plus shipping is no small investment for me. But if it won't write...yeah. As it stands, I'd rather write with my Jinhao x750. And that's saying something.

 

So. Thoughts? I have only tried it with Noodler's La Couleur Royale, but that's never a problem in my other pens...I'm trying other inks today but ugh, so far, nothing changes it. I haven't dropped it or scraped it or done anything weird. It Just. Will. Not. Write.

 

I've contacted Goulet to see if they'll be able to help at all, but I've never actually used their customer service, so I don't know how much they can help. At this point I'd like to return it but i doubt they'd take it back since I've inked and written with it...

 

Is there any way to increase flow in such a pen? Does it seem likely that this is a "dud" pen? And, has anyone else had this problem??

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

-Taylor

 

[Uncial]

Nib unit screws out, so they should be able to swap it for you

[inkstainedruth]

What nib did you get? I got silly and got one with a 1.1 mm stub -- and I swear that it's so wet that it works better upside down. Can't tell if it's the nib or the feed or the ink or some combination thereof. But it doesn't like Diamine Arabian Nights; writing upside down both tamed the flow somewhat and mostly stopped the skipping issue. But I've NEVER had a nib that wrote better on upstrokes than downstrokes before -- or one where doing stuff like crossing a t worked better when I went right to left....

Once I finish the fill and get the ink flushed out I'm going to take a good hard look at the tipping with a loupe.....

It's a bit disappointing, especially since the pink 580-AL with a B nib writes very well. Of course both pens have the same issue (I think it's a design flaw on TWXBI's part) of the piston not extending all the way to the end of the feed -- I've had issues with ink bubbles in the chamber on the 580-AL when the ink chamber gets low.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for formatting

Edited June 9, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[Driften]

Goulet will help you out. They have great customer service from my experience.

I've never had a TWSBI that was too dry. I did have a Vac700r that was way too wet. My 580 B, 580AL 1.1, Go B, Go 1.1, Eco 1.1. Have all been good.

 

First off I would flush the pen. Are the tines aligned? How tight is the gap at the tip?

[Driften]

I got my purple 580 ALR today in B and it works perfect. I hope you get help from Goulet...

[TaylorJ]

Hi all,

 

Thank you so much for the input! I meant to come back here and respond sooner...sorry about that.

 

I talked to Goulet, and they were super helpful. After I tried cleaning the pen again and trying a few inks, we think I got a "dud" nib. I'm actually relieved, because as Uncial said, TWSBI can replace the nib unit. I talked to someone at TWSBI, and they shipped a new nib unit and I think it's going to be here in a few days.

 

I'm excited. It really is a beautiful pen aesthetically, so I can't wait to get it working nicely.

Again, I appreciate all the input.

 

Taylor

[kealani]

Just returned a TWSBI 580 purple, wide nib.

Ink just would not feed.

 

TWSBI's seem to be a little hit or miss. I have gone through about 5 of them. 1 is a great writer from day one, great flow, smooth. The others. . . .s. . okay.

 

j

[JonnyTex]

I got a vac 700 with a dud nib. TWSBI's customer service is great. Goulet's is, too. When I received the new nib unit I was sent, I pulled out the old nib and replaced it with a different size nib from Goulet. Let us know how the new nib turns out!

Edited June 29, 2019 by JonnyTex