Aurora 88 Black Mamba not flowing after storage

[jvr]

I have an Aurora 88 Black Mamba with F nib that I was planning to sell, but decided to keep for now. I had cleaned it and it has sat in its box for a few months. Inked it up but it hardly writes. The ink flows onto a paper towel when I wipe it over the nib, but when I try to write I just get a scratchy fine line, whereas this pen was a very nice writer before. Any idea how I can address this?

[silverlifter]

What ink was in it prior to storage? I would suspect that there is still some residue in the feed. Perhaps a good flush would be in order.

[superoblivionbread]

I've found that Aurora's ebonite feed doesn't get on with inks with particles in them, like Sailor Kiwa-Guro or shimmery inks (presumably, I don't own any.) Using pigmented inks has caused me trouble, even well after the fact! So if your 88 had any of those in its diet, a good flush is in order, maybe even with a touch of a gentle soap followed by a thorough rinse.

 

That's usually a good first-line intervention anyways, pigmented ink or no, as you're unlikely to hurt anything and it might fix the problem.

[I-am-not-really-here]

This applies to all misbehaving pens -

 

Push some ink out and then check.  If there was an air bubble in the feed that might clear it.

 

If no improvement, floss the nib and check again.

 

If still no change, remove the ink and re-clean the pen.  
 

If the pen still will not write try a different ink.

[Namo]

6 hours ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

This applies to all misbehaving pens -

 

Push some ink out and then check.  If there was an air bubble in the feed that might clear it.

 

If no improvement, floss the nib and check again.

 

If still no change, remove the ink and re-clean the pen.  
 

If the pen still will not write try a different ink.

The pen was ok before storage - do not floss the nib unless you really want it wtter than it was the first time you used it. This sounds like a good cleaning is needed. Does the pen have the famous Aurora "reserve" ink? I heard it was sometimes hard to get it clean. 

[jde]

To add to others' thoughts:  Assuming your pen was inkless in storage, remember that an ebonite feed will take longer to saturate.

 

Do let us know when you've found the solution.

[jvr]

I have since inked an 88 Nettuno and an 88 Unica Nera which have been un-inked in the box for roughly the same amount of time as the Black Mamba and they're fine upon re-inking. The Black Mamba easily dispenses ink through its breather hole when I hold Kleenex against it, but for some reason there seems to be no flow from the breather hole area to the tip of the nib. 

[Calabria]

I’ve had some flow issues with new Auroras. I agree with the other posters - try to rinse it with water (adding a tiny amount of soap has helped me to break the surface tension of the feed), use a freely flowing ink like Pilot. Once it starts writing again you can switch to any ink.

 

I’ve noticed that Auroras are a bit dry writers and really respond to the kind of ink you’re using.

 

Why are you selling the Black Mamba?

[jvr]

I was selling the Black Mamba and a bunch of other pens to cull my collection. For now, I've decided to keep the Black Mamba, but my other two 88s will be for sale.

 

So, I did fix the problem. Overnight flushing didn't help. So, I decided to be brave or stupid and pulled the nib and feed out. Separated them and cleaned them again, but individually. I also used foil to spread the tines a bit more. I had tried to do the latter with the nib attached to the feed as well, but it hadn't made a difference. This time it did. I don't know why. Maybe there was ink stuck there that I could only reach with the foil when the nib was detached from the feed. In any case, I put the pen together again and it now writes like I remember it.