Jinhao 992 Informal Review

[Seele]

So save all your irreparably cracked 992 barrels for glue compatibility testing!-)

 

Hey Bob; that sounds like a barrel of fun!

[dapprman]

Annoyingly a few days back I removed the plug from a spare barrel I had (feed just was not letting ink through). Used a chop stick to push it out post holding under hot running water. Checked for cracks - all was fine. Next day, once dry, I went to check again (I was going to slim the peg on the cap and use polystyrene (modelling) glue, however with the cap out I found the barrel .... had cracked. Not much but enough to stop me using it as an eye dropped (and to replace the one I had eye droppered then failed).

[bob_hayden]

Like Seele, I don't understand the fascination with turning these into eyedroppers. For less than the cost of one ruined shirt (i.e., for $5-10 US) you can get a real eyedropper from Click in India via eBay USA. Such as this one

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/322478-click-tm-gold-filling-mechanism-fountain-pen-half-transparent-brown/

Edited July 20, 2017 by bob_hayden

[InsuranceMan]

Here is my video on the 992's barrel cracking issue, the remedy to prevent it from happening, and to stop the existing cracks from progressing further. Please note that it is not meant to be a method to seal the barrel for eyedropper operation!

 

Excellent video and instructions. Congratulations Seele. Well done. Cliff

[Flounder]

Crackers - simply mix a little glue with the ink each fill, for the 992 to function as an eyedropper.

The glue works on a 'total loss' principle, much like oil in a 2-stroke engine. Come to think of it, the ink will also work on the same total loss principle.

[Flounder]

Nice video Seele!

[dapprman]

Like Seele, I don't understand the fascination with turning these into eyedroppers. For less than the cost of one ruined shirt (i.e., for $5-10 US) you can get a real eyedropper from Click in India via eBay USA. Such as this one

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/322478-click-tm-gold-filling-mechanism-fountain-pen-half-transparent-brown/

Because you can - and with the colours ones (obviously has to be transparent) there's the draw. Also in the UK these are cheaper than the cheap Indian eye droppers (unless you get them free - as Ranga Pens tend to do when you buy one of theirs). Additionally most of us like the nib on the 992, and from personal experience I have a very dim view of Indian nibs.

 

Of course I did end up with inky fingers, but not an inky shirt, as I eye droppered mine and it cracked ... BTW you can get ink remover cleaning agents

[Seele]

Annoyingly a few days back I removed the plug from a spare barrel I had (feed just was not letting ink through). Used a chop stick to push it out post holding under hot running water. Checked for cracks - all was fine. Next day, once dry, I went to check again (I was going to slim the peg on the cap and use polystyrene (modelling) glue, however with the cap out I found the barrel .... had cracked. Not much but enough to stop me using it as an eye dropped (and to replace the one I had eye droppered then failed).

 

Dapprman,

 

I don't quite understand why you put it under hot water: if the plug and hole are of the same material, they would expand at the same rate so it would not loosen the plug at all. Say for instance, you run the metal lid of a glass jam jar under the hot tap to loosen it, because steel expands more than glass when heated.

 

I have a suspicion that it's the hot water treatment that led to cracking; the heat would have let out the internal stresses.

[Seele]

Nice video Seele!

Thank you

[Helen350]

Like Seele, I don't understand the fascination with turning these into eyedroppers. For less than the cost of one ruined shirt (i.e., for $5-10 US) you can get a real eyedropper from Click in India via eBay USA. Such as this one

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/322478-click-tm-gold-filling-mechanism-fountain-pen-half-transparent-brown/

 

I too have wondered why this fascination. My son always wanted to do things like that--tearing things apart and then putting them back together. It gave him a sense of young male pride when he was able to pull it off. I figure it must be in the male DNA. Many beautiful eyedroppers out there--which are designed to be EDs

[bob_hayden]

 

I figure it must be in the male DNA.

 

Could be. When I was 17 I disassembled the engine in my father's Buick and put it back together again (and it worked). But I did not try to make a Ford out of it ;-) In any case, don't knock it. It's those nerdy guys who made dishwashers, automobiles, washing machines, radios, vacuum cleaners, and fountain pens ;-)

[Helen350]

 

Could be. When I was 17 I disassembled the engine in my father's Buick and put it back together again (and it worked). But I did not try to make a Ford out of it ;-) In any case, don't knock it. It's those nerdy guys who made dishwashers, automobiles, washing machines, radios, vacuum cleaners, and fountain pens ;-)

 

Yes, and I'm really glad about that dishwasher, washing machine and fountain pen. By the way my son was the nerdy type and involved in computer design, and program development.

[Mayardil]

Jinhao 992 - awesome chip fountain pen.

I've transparent one. But slightly leaks, so i use it only with piston. Not as a Eye Dropper.

Edited July 21, 2017 by Mayardil

[dapprman]

 

Dapprman,

 

I don't quite understand why you put it under hot water: if the plug and hole are of the same material, they would expand at the same rate so it would not loosen the plug at all. Say for instance, you run the metal lid of a glass jam jar under the hot tap to loosen it, because steel expands more than glass when heated.

 

I have a suspicion that it's the hot water treatment that led to cracking; the heat would have let out the internal stresses.

 

Simple. The plug puts the barrel under stress and I assumed it would be tightly in and possibly flared. Warming the plastic (running under hot water, not soaking in boiling water) would, and did, soften the material slightly, reducing the stress effects of popping the cap out

 

[Flounder]

I heated my barrel (dry heat, didn't want to chance colour blanching from hot water immersion) during plug removal too, for the same reason.

[mitto]

Does the barrel end develops cracks only when the pen is eyedropped or does it cracks by its own whether eyedropped or not?

[Mayardil]

Only transparent have probelms. Leak material.

Edited July 22, 2017 by Mayardil

[Flounder]

Does the barrel end develops cracks only when the pen is eyedropped or does it cracks by its own whether eyedropped or not?

 

Hi mitto, the stress is there from assembly. Eyedroppering just gives you an instant, inky indication when the cracks open up :-)

 

[thudthwacker]

Sadly, my transparent 992 (the one I've been using most often lately) has developed a lot of cracks around the end. Though, thanks to esteemed Member Seele, I have a remedy for that. I really hope Jinhao addresses and corrects this issue; I really do like this model a lot.

[overwriter]

Based on this review I bought a pack of 6 nearly 2 months back now I guess. $13 CDN including postage.

 

When I heard about the cracking I thought, "Oh well, I have 6 of them". But, I am still using the first and this morning it was filled up for the 9th time.

 

It writes very well and it doesn't leak. And, no cracks.