Previously Perfect Pen Skipping Now

[cappy64ftb]

Hey everyone,

 

About a month ago I purchased a Pilot Custom 74 SF. Right out of the box this pen worked perfectly, and was by far my best pen. I have since refilled the converter with it three times and also used a cartridge most recently, with no issues in the process. After cleaning it five days ago, it started skipping in the middle of writing or hard starting. This doesn't always happen every time I write, but it happens enough where I am getting very frustrated because I am having to fix a lot of empty spots in my writing.

 

I have a few more experiments to try to pinpoint the problem, but here is what I have done so far.

 

1.) I cleaned it out again. Still no help.

2.) I have checked the nib/tines/feed and there are no apparent issues.

3.) I have tried cheap paper and it seems to not have any issues, but I don't use cheap paper enough to know if this will always work or I am getting lucky.

4.) I switched back to using the converter. No luck.

 

I still need to try using a different ink, though the ink I am using now (Waterman Black) I have used since the glory days when I first owned the pen. It is important to note, that no damage has befallen this pen in my possession.

 

Any suggestions as to what may be wrong and solutions would be greatly appreciated. Everything I have found in research refers to nib/feed alignment issues or baby's bottom, and neither of these seem like the problem right now. Thank you!

 

Anthony

[GJMekenkamp]

If it has previously worked fine, I wouldn't worry about baby's bottom.

 

What could be the case is that, if you have disassembled the pen, you somehow created a tiny bit of space between the nib and the feed. The space between nib and feed should be really small (if you can get a paper between there, it is too big a gap).

 

How exactly did you clean the pen?

[cappy64ftb]

I did a simple rinsing with water for the first time. Since it wasn't having any flow issues and I wasn't switching inks I wasn't worried about getting it thoroughly cleaned, I just figured it would be a good idea to flush it. The second time I let it soak in some water and then flushed it again.

 

I would like to avoid removing the nib and feed with this pen when cleaning, if possible, to avoid damaging anything, but if the problem persists I will probably resort to that to make sure that is not the problem.

[GJMekenkamp]

You can try to put a paper below the nib, without actually removing the nib. Try to do it as quick as possible, before paper fibres get loose.

[cappy64ftb]

Are you saying to do that to clean out the pen underneath the nib? Or to check to see if the nib is close enough to the feed?

[Uncial]

What's the paper? I have a recently bought Rhodia pad that has very weird spots that no pen will write on without skipping. At first I thought it my be oils from my hand but its through the whole pad and quite random.

[cappy64ftb]

I have used it on a variety of papers including Rhodia, and Clairefontaine. It still skips/hard starts occasionally. I usually use it for note taking and when it worked fine it would last an entire lecture with no problems, but now it's just not the same. I am going to try a different ink and see if that helps at all.

[Innocentius]

A few possible problems and solutions that I could think of:

 

1. Baby's bottom: highly impossible, since baby's bottom is usually a factory problem and usually do not appear after a period of usage.

 

2. misalignment of nibs: possible. Pilot Custom 74 should be a 14k nib, and gold nibs are more prone to pressure and can sometimes change shape after a period of use. If I were you, I would try to take the nib down to a 10x ~ 30x loupe to see exactly what is going on (naked eyes sometimes could not see the problem).

 

3. Incomplete cleaning process: possible. There could be paper fiber left in the middle of the tine. If possible, try to ultrasonic the nib section (BTW, if you use fountain pen a lot, buying a ultrasonic cleaning device could be really handy).

[minddance]

If it was perfect when you first bought it, then there is no problem with the pen. I also have the Pilot 74sf and many of 74. I do not know how (hard and angle) you write but the Pilot 74 nibs are very resilient, they will go back to the original form.

 

I experienced the same problems and more. These nibs can sometimes go out of alignment after some writing or disassembly/reassembly but the good news:

 

It is temporary (for me).

 

I removed the nib and feed, check the nib for alignment, and re-insert them. Check for alignment. Sometimes the mere act of reinserting the nib and feed into the section can cause temporary misalignment. Sailor 21k nibs are particularly sensitive to this.

 

I usually take 3-5 days to get to know a pen better, know its writing angles, pressure, know where it wants to go, what it wants to do, what it doesn't, so that i do not rub it the wrong way.

 

Since it is a rather soft and fine nib (and with some feedback, I pressume?) and always willing to spread its tines abit, paper fibres, debris, hand oils, hand lotion, can get into the feed and nib slit. I make it a point not to handle fountain pens when I have lotion on my hands because it will almost always find its way up the nib.

 

I find my Pilot pens like alot of time with inks to make friends with it. An affinity needs to be formed between ink and the underside of the nib and feed. I am usually unwilling to change inks in these pens.

 

I wash them squeaky clean with detergent and ultrasonic cleaners, breather tube disassembled, convertor and all in the ultrasonic. Dry them thoroughly, and ink. But this is not the optimal writing period. Give it some time and a few good shakes, after 1-2 days, it is splendid. It is ink-dependent, of course, some inks write optimally very quickly. But almost always, not immediately after washing.

 

A few good shakes is always good for Pilot 74. Have you heard of the Pilot Shaker?

Edited October 1, 2018 by minddance

[langere]

Another possibility: Are you using different inks? If so, not cleaning well might mean that there is a reaction between one ink and the next.

 

One other ink-related issue: check the ink and make sure it has not developed SITB. If so, that might be the problem.

 

So sorry to hear about your troubles! Very annoying, I know.

 

Erick

[cappy64ftb]

Okay well the good news is I believe that I have fixed the problem! I have been writing with it consistently the past few hours and have had zero issues. I am still optimistic it is back and fully functioning, but I will only know come Wednesday when I have an opportunity to use it for 50 minutes of non-stop note taking.

 

Unfortunately I did not do a good job of isolating each of the issues so I can't say for certain what caused my problems but I think I have an idea and it is weird.

 

First, I took out the nib and feed and mixing inks and lack of proper cleaning was definitely not the issue since everything looked brand new. What I did notice was an odd hard material stuck in the feed. It looked like something that was used to keep the nib snug with the feed but it's hard to tell (almost like a glue of some sort maybe??). There was stuff on both sides of the channel but only one side had "come undone" and lodged itself in the feed. I am honestly not entirely sure what it was doing in there or if it was a defect, but I removed the small part that was in the feed carefully and after that everything has been great.

 

Thank you so much for all your suggestions! I learned a lot in this process that, especially about ultrasonic cleaners, which I had never heard of before. Here's to hoping that this never happens again haha.

[langere]

Hallelujah! I'm glad you were able to get your pen fixed.

 

Keep on writing -

 

Erick