Problem With Up Strokes With New Pilot Vp

[Oldtimer]

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i82/anangeli/PENS/VP%20Problem/VPproblemdown_1569_zpsa9f74a6f.jpg

 

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i82/anangeli/PENS/VP%20Problem/PilotVPfirstimpression_zpse42c4f72.jpg

 

 

 

I am in the process of asking for a return from Amazon, it arrived yesterday and it has gone through three different inks with the same results. A very disappointing new VP!

 

 

[Algester]

Seems to be a dry nib it can be adjusted or use a more wetter ink... But I think the nib needs to be adjusted

[Oldtimer]

Yes, but why do I need to wiggle and adjust a $130 pen…They should adjust them wherever they make them! Arghhhh! The pen is greta because it is very practical… I hope the replacement works fine. That is why I buy Amazon. It is underway and they have not yet picked up my defective pen! Hurray! Love their prompt service.

[Nanor]

That's very disappointing. I had similar trouble with a new Pilot VP Fine Nib last November, but not as severe; so I'm interested to hear if there are any answers out there.

Unfortunately, I managed to drop the pen and completely mangled the nib two days after I got it and have only just coughed up the cash to order a replacement, hopefully it performs better.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Nanor

[Crewel]

I would suggest a more thorough clean of the nib unit. You may have one that still has some residual oils from factory.

 

Put the unit through an ultrasonic a couple of times. Use a bulb syringe with an ammonia + dish soap solution to flush the nib. Try these out and see if the problem still persists.

 

Also try "wetter" inks such as Waterman Serenity Blue and any of the Iroshizuku inks. The Pelikan inks tend to be "dry" flowing.

[Oldtimer]

My take on this: although some of those things might work, that is not my job. I payd $130 and I want a pen that writes from the very first moment I try it. I am not going to waste time and maybe ruin it before i send it back. Amazon has a great return service, that is why I only buy things they sell, not third parties. They have already issued a new order to replace it and UPS will drop by tomorrow to pick up my return which is already packed.

 

Needless to say I washed it thoroughly and all parts are as received except the 3 inkings that were flushed (loosing precious ink on those tries). I don't see why I should spend money on an ultrasonic for this. I don' have one and I read they are very flimsy and fail quickly. maybe in the future if I find one with good reviews I will get one for my old pens. Let's demand quality from manufacturers and they will provide it.

 

They should have a QC check at the end of the line.I would have a line of employees armed with pens w/o nibs and test every nib on the conveyor.... Then clean it with "ultrasonic" and stick it in a new pen.

Edited February 12, 2015 by Oldtimer

[Crewel]

My take on this: although some of those things might work, that is not my job. I payd $130 and I want a pen that writes from the very first moment I try it. I am not going to waste time and maybe ruin it before i send it back. Amazon has a great return service, that is why I only buy things they sell, not third parties. They have already issued a new order to replace it and UPS will drop by tomorrow to pick up my return which is already packed.

 

Needless to say I washed it thoroughly and all parts are as received except the 3 inkings that were flushed (loosing precious ink on those tries). I don't see why I should spend money on an ultrasonic for this. I don' have one and I read they are very flimsy and fail quickly. maybe in the future if I find one with good reviews I will get one for my old pens. Let's demand quality from manufacturers and they will provide it.

 

They should have a QC check at the end of the line.I would have a line of employees armed with pens w/o nibs and test every nib on the conveyor.... Then clean it with "ultrasonic" and stick it in a new pen.

 

I'm in agreement with you. I think all your points are valid about being able to use your bought pens straight out of the box without fuss. However, two caveats.

 

One, I have several VPs, 2 regular, 1 Decimo, and 1 Fermo. For me, all of them worked straight out of the box. Out of all the pens that I have bought over the years, the Pilot ones have been more consistent with their quality. Hence I am sorry that yours did not work to your satisfaction, but unfortunately, nothing in life is 100% consistent all the time.

 

Two, the more you go down the slippery slope of collecting and using fps, you will see how inconsistent the quality (I'm mainly using this term with respect to writing performance) can be amongst cheaper and expensive pens. Not all expensive pens are worth the money paid. I've basically resigned myself to the fact that half the time I will be gambling on the quality whenever I purchase a pen. Though you may not enjoy or care to tinker with your pens, I think it will be a good learning experience for the long run.

 

PS - Ultrasonic cleaners are relatively cheap ~ $30 if you care to get one. You don't need one with bells and whistles, and it should last you a good bit.

[haruka337]

Nothing is impervious to imperfections, this includes pens that are priced beyond $100+--it's a matter of chance and no amount of quality control can eliminate it completely.

 

If I purchase a pen that does not work out of the box, I check the nib, do a quick flush and 9 time out of 10, the issue is resolved.Takes 5 minutes, which, for me, is better than waiting a week or more for a replacement, but I'm an impatient lady.

 

It's maintenance I'll have to do at some point, so it makes little difference to me to do it first thing.

 

Still, this is good info for me since I'll be purchasing the Pilot Vanishing Point pretty soon.

[Ink Blotto]

It's maintenance I'll have to do at some point, so it makes little difference to me to do it first thing.

This is an excellent point about all fountain pens.

 

IB

[Oldtimer]

The "bad" pen was picked up yesterday and the replacement arrived today... Same problem, less obvious. It's the pen that writes this way. It is also not a coincidence that both write equally badly. Some people may try to trivialize my experience with this pen, but I have to tell it as I see it. The pen is not what I thought. I have seen people in YT using the pen and those write wet and nice. Good for them and not for me.

 

I am using a MB blue ink this time. I tried the cartridge and I don't like its faded color so I tried MB ink. I could get used to the pen knowing that I cannot make long a "S" or big or small circles because really, the pen will be used in every day note taking in regular sized letters that fit lined paper. the problem will be almost invisible in that environment.

 

Upon inspection with a loupe I noticed something on the tines. They open in what I would call a normal gap until they reach the very tip, where they get together and the line (gap) dissappears for a small portion of the end point. They are so glued together at that point that there seems to be NO GAP. THIS might be the problem. When I find my brass sheets I will have to give them a try with this pen. I will probably try some other inks tomorrow and see what happens, but boy, those brass sheets would come in handy now. Where are they? I cannot remember where I put them. Never heard anyone say that the VP is a "great writer". Innovative, unique, practical? Yes! Now I will go to the guy that starts his YTube reviews with a weird song. I know he is a member here but cannot remember his name. I want to see his reviews to see if he says he had to do anything to the pen first. -- I know he didn't, just want to make sure.

 

THE GUY ON YT IS SBEBROWN and who sold him the VP stuck an Xacto Blade on the nib immediately upon selling him the pen. That says a lot about the nib. I think I need someone to do that for me.

Edited February 15, 2015 by Oldtimer

[haruka337]

I don't believe anyone tried to trivialize your situation. "I have to tell it as I see it": We did the same. I spoke from a generalized perspective and others were more specific to the pen in question.

 

Keeping in mind that others would certainly read this, it seemed practical, to me, to offer simple recommendations on what to do to possibly remedy the issue.

 

One thing I did forget to mention, but someone else did lightly touch on it, is that you may need to use a wetter ink. I've read a couple of reviews on Pelikan ink (ink noted in your writing samples) and some Vanishing Point users Do Not recommended it in the pen. Try some Pilot ink or Kaweco ink as both are quite wet. Can't speak for MB ink since I've never used or read about it.

 

I still intend on giving the Pilot Vanishing Point a go. It has hundreds of great reviews on all sites that carry it (including Amazon) and if anything goes awry, I'll have this thread to reference for help!

Edited February 15, 2015 by haruka337

[sh0ebox]

Good luck to you and I hope you are able to remedy the situation with some adjustments to your nib. I have a VP and I have not had any issues with upstrokes or skipping lines, but I also did purchase mine from Richard Binder who tuned my nib for me prior to my receiving it. With your experiences, I may go a similar route for my next VP to avoid having any flow issues.

[Dr.Grace]

IME, Pilot's nibs are the most uniformly good out of the box. However, with almost every new pen I buy, regardless of the make, I have to tweak the nib to make the flow more generous. I believe that pen manufacturers these days ship pens with a dryish flow. With the small nib of the VP it's hard to use one's fingers to open up the tines. So it might be preferable to send it off to a nib expert for tuning. I generally agree with you that new items should "just work", but unfortunately with fountain pens that doesn't always happen.

[arcadeflow]

Lamy Z50 nibs come with spread tines, as in they do not touch at the tip. And they write great this way, because the feed was designed for this adjustment. I noticed all my Pilot nibs came with touching tines. The fine nibs write better than the rest, they flow better, maybe because they receive more pressure so the tines spread while writing. Nibs adjusted this way require a free flowing ink in my opinion. Pelikan ink is very dry for a Pilot pen with factory adjustment. I had to look into other brands so I can have reliable pens for any ink. A lot of people claim this ink trouble with Pilot pens is fiction, others agree with me, I have made my mind and I will only keep the ones that work with the inks I intended them to use. I come to agree with the fellow members that convinced me this is more of a "defect" than a fact that Japanese pens should require Japanese ink, but this is a defect caused by the factory on purpose. Other fellow members questioned if the way they adjust nibs is not caused by the way they write characters, maybe these nibs work a lot better for Japanese characters that are nothing like writing in cursive. I lost my interest for Pilot pens because of all this trouble, althought I still like the Prera and ordered a third one, hoping I can match them with EF nibs from the Penmanship in order to have reliable pens for bad paper.

 

My Custom 74 is a gorgeous pen that writes too broad for me (M nib), and it has some feedback (which I don't find a defect) that bothered me after a while, and it ended up being too broad for what I want right now. I noticed western inks run drier in it and act up writing in some directions, although with Pilot inks I manage to open the flow a bit and it is mostly smooth. When I got it I was so amazed because it is well built and the gold nib as a special feel, but I ended up getting used to finer and stiffer nibs and I really don't see a use for gold nibs anymore. Another thing that bothered me is that inks appear a bit more washed out writing with it. I really believe Pilot has flow issues, at least in the pens bought from Japan. I am curious if someone have pens bought from USA and Japan to compare the tines and the flow. This made me go back to Lamy, and I am looking into Pelikan also. I really like traditional pen makers that keep in-house production, so Pilot was a favorite brand, now I don't have much choice other than the few German brands I can mostly trust and the other two Japanese makers that in my opinion don't have nice pen designs. There are other pen makers that I am sure can make great pens, but the price range is almost prohibitive. I'm looking into a Lamy 2000 to replace this Custom 74 but this model can be finicky too. That is why the Safari is such an important pen, they are easy to get spare parts so you can make sure you have a perfect flowing pen.

[Oldtimer]

haruka337 : MB ink is Mont Blanc, you must have heard of it.

Shoebox| : The new pen skips less, but I wouldn't pay anyone to "fix" a new pen. I wouldn't buy a new car and send it to the mechanic to fix how it rides - if it skids in the road. I would return it.

 

So, I tried the MB Ink and it didn't go too well on the new replacement pen. It still skips, but not as much as the first pen . Methink, that Amazon buys some not so tuned pens which are the slightly off and rejected pens at Pilot Mfg. and that's what they sell. The manufacturer avoids the fixing and tuning and the third party gains also. I don't know what to think at this point.

 

I may have to buy some Pilot ink, but I did not like the cartridge ink that came with the pen, if that is a sample of the bottled ink, that is Not a good alternative. It looks washed out as someone here said. Same the MB ink. I ended up using Nodler's Black that is so black that the "washing out" tendencies does not affect it much. And I am considering buying a Broad nib to see how well that goes in tems of wetness and fullness of strokes.... because I like the clicking.

 

Anyone has a VP with B nib? Is there a difference between the black nib and the gold nib? Broad an ether affine nib? Maybe that's the thing! I used the brass sheet on the nib and I am glad I did not use the thicker sheet because of what has been said here. The tines are designed that way! Who would know? Tomorrow I want to paot the same writing exercise with the most recent pen received , No.2. There is a slight improvement after using the brass sheet to wiggle the tines, but I don't know about nibs and would certainly damage it if I did something else. The writing feels definitely dry and when I attempted to draw with it, I had to redo some lines because of the the discontinuity of the lines in certain angles. It is frustrating to draw with this pen. Better do it with a ballpoint. :-(

 

People's writing samples with different nibs are welcome. I would like to see some and compare with my efforts, just to have an idea of how off mine is. Another question I have is: Could the Decimo have the same problem? If not, I could try a Decimo. Already looking at them and about to take the plunge, but better rethink what is the best course of action. Anyone interested in buying a Vintage Waterman 5116 for $230 so I can buy a Decimo? LOL I am thinking about selling that jewel just just to do that! I am loving the click, but need a good writing "clicker".

 

See ya' ! had to place some comments on pen NO. 2 before going to sleep.

 

Also, as a side note I would like to comment... I see my taste changing from fine nibs to broader nibs and stubs. The all so much wanted Namiki Falcom and Custom Heritage "fines" and SF are no longer my favorites, though I really have liked the Pilot workmanship and still do.

Edited February 16, 2015 by Oldtimer

[bhthib3381]

I own two VP's. Flushed when I received them and never had an issue with either. I have one that I carry every day for work. I take it into harsh environments. It travels with me in planes and on boats in salt water conditions. It's tossed into a bags and jostled. It has fallen to the floor in rough seas on may occasion. Not once has it failed to write. I'm sorry you've had issues, and I sincerely hope you get the bugs worked out, because mine are workhorses and I think you'd be missing out on a great pen. Calling it as I see it. Good luck.

[haruka337]

I've heard of MB, but haven't read about the details of it or used it.

 

Try Pilot Iroshizuku ink. It's leagues above Pilot's regular line and the colorways are beyond beautiful. The bottles are a bit costly, but you can find it reasonably priced on Amazon and it'll last you a long while.

 

Good luck.

[Oldtimer]

I've heard of MB, but haven't read about the details of it or used it.

 

Try Pilot Iroshizuku ink. It's leagues above Pilot's regular line and the colorways are beyond beautiful. The bottles are a bit costly, but you can find it reasonably priced on Amazon and it'll last you a long while.

 

Good luck.

One of the things in my WishList!!!!!

 

I might as well order soon to try to solve THIS problem. They would also go well with my flex Waterman's 52V.

[benay148]

Just wanted to add one thing about writing angle with the VP. When I got my pen it wrote amazing out of the box, purchased from amazon just like yours. I did find though that since I write at an angle, the nib skipped. All I had to do was adjust my writing angle and the pen never had a problem again.

 

In my experience with pilot I have found that they have some of the best out of the box quality control. I have five different pilots from all different price ranges, and each one worked perfectly out of the box.

 

I understand your frustration with a 100+ dollar pen not writing great right away. When I bought my first expensive pen I had the same frustrating experience; however, over time I have come to realize that sometimes adjustment is needed and with a razor blade or brass shims and some practice it's actually quite easy to adjust the flow or feel of the nib exactly to your liking.

 

Finally, I highly doubt that amazon sells returned defective pens. I think that you have most likely gotten very unlucky or there is something else at play.

[Oldtimer]

Just wanted to add one thing about writing angle with the VP. When I got my pen it wrote amazing out of the box, purchased from amazon just like yours. I did find though that since I write at an angle, the nib skipped. All I had to do was adjust my writing angle and the pen never had a problem again.

 

In my experience with pilot I have found that they have some of the best out of the box quality control. I have five different pilots from all different price ranges, and each one worked perfectly out of the box.

 

I understand your frustration with a 100+ dollar pen not writing great right away. When I bought my first expensive pen I had the same frustrating experience; however, over time I have come to realize that sometimes adjustment is needed and with a razor blade or brass shims and some practice it's actually quite easy to adjust the flow or feel of the nib exactly to your liking.

 

Finally, I highly doubt that amazon sells returned defective pens. I think that you have most likely gotten very unlucky or there is something else at play.

 

Sorry that came out the wrong way: I meant to say that they are not "optimized". they are not defective but slightly OFF their optimum writing capability. It is a guess since I have not seen how they are manufactured. Maybe they are difficult to get to that point that can be optimized so they sell to third parties… Anyway, I have no explanation, so I just better stop talking. I am really appreciative how amazon responded. That is why i keep buying from them.

 

I think I have found the way to describe the pen… It writes like a ball point pen, just that its surface carries ink maybe in two thirds of the nib fully, the other third is not wet enough. You don't see the "edginess' or sharpness on the writing that other FPs exhibit. It is kind of a "blunt" writing, for lack of a precise word. Works for daily / outdoor writing, signing a restaurant bill, a note while browsing the internet, lists, everyday writing whatever. I would carry it to meetings, in my purse for any eventuality… night stand, etc. It is an all around. *the second one)