Help! Twsbi Piston Stuck!

[Gojira]

I received my second TWSBI Diamond 530 2 weeks ago and finally decided to ink it. But when I tried to turn the piston knob, it refused to budge! It seems to be jammed tight against the barrel. My first Diamond 530 worked fine right out of the box so to say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.

 

Does anyone know how to remedy this without having to send it back for a replacement?

[liverman]

Gojira,

• Contact TWSBI for help. I believe it is always a good practice to give a vendor an opportunity to solve the problem for you. They may have a procedure you can follow without returning the pen.
• I believe that the piston is dry and stuck to the barrel. Here is what I would do:
  1. Unscrew the section
  2. Add a drop of two of the silicone grease into the barrel from the hole where the section attaches. If the silicone lube is not fluid enough I would use a drop or two of cooking oil
  3. Rotate the pen so the oil/grease coats the barrel near the piston
  4. Gently attempt to move the piston by turning the piston knob...once a little tiny bit of lube gets under the piston it should start to move more and more easily. You may need to let the pen stand vertically for a bit (piston knob down)
  5. After the piston is moving freely, dis-assemble the pen following the directions. Clean the barrel of lube using dishwashing soap and water.
  6. Dry
  7. Lube piston with supplied silicone grease
  8. Re-assemble
  9. Should work better than new!

If you do not feel comfortable with this type of work. Contact the vendor and return the pen.

 

 

 

Greg

[Gojira]

I've just sent TWSBI an email asking for some advice. Hopefully it'd be something simple.

 

I can't tell if the piston is sufficiently lubricated. But I did notice that the seals are thinner than the ones on my first Diamond 530. Hopefully these aren't the 1.3 version seals.

 

I suppose I can disassemble the pen since it's supposed to be easily self-maintained. But it's something I prefer not to do myself if possible. It seems that I don't play well with tools...