Pilot Metro ink not flowing

[radioclub]

Hi, so I'm completely new to fountain pens and this is my first pen. It's brand new and I'm using the ink that came with it but whenever I try to write with it the ink just won't flow. I'm not sure if I did something wrong in the setup or its the pen itself. Does anyone know how to get the ink flowing?

[OCArt]

It sometimes takes a while for the ink to flow from the cartridge to the nib. Stand the capped pen upright with he nib down and come back in a few hours. If the problem persists give us another shout.

[Ergative]

I presume you are using a cartridge, yes? Are you sure you put the cartridge in far enough to puncture the top? Sometimes you have to press quite hard. You should feel a dull 'thpnk' when you put the cartridge all the way in. Not sharp enough for a click, but a definite sensation that something has slotted into place. That's the puncture of the top of the cartridge.

[radioclub]

20 hours ago, OCArt said:

It sometimes takes a while for the ink to flow from the cartridge to the nib. Stand the capped pen upright with he nib down and come back in a few hours. If the problem persists give us another shout.

I left it upright for a long time, I even flushed it and everything beforehand but the ink still won't flow...

[radioclub]

6 hours ago, Ergative said:

I presume you are using a cartridge, yes? Are you sure you put the cartridge in far enough to puncture the top? Sometimes you have to press quite hard. You should feel a dull 'thpnk' when you put the cartridge all the way in. Not sharp enough for a click, but a definite sensation that something has slotted into place. That's the puncture of the top of the cartridge.

Yep, I know the cartridge punctured, I heard the sound and when I shake it a little the ink sometimes comes out..

[OCArt]

Oh, Radioclub. I'm so sorry you are having this problem and with your first pen too! Please know that in general fountain pens are trouble free and a joy to use.  Just out of curiosity what kind of pen is it and what ink are you using??

[radioclub]

7 minutes ago, OCArt said:

Oh, Radioclub. I'm so sorry you are having this problem and with your first pen too! Please know that in general fountain pens are trouble free and a joy to use.  Just out of curiosity what kind of pen is it and what ink are you using??

It's okay haha!! I'm using the Pilot Metropolitan and the ink is the cartridge pilot ink that came with it. 

[OCArt]

Wow, Metropolitans are known to be trouble free.  Can you try another cartridge? I don't use P{lot cartridges but isn't there a disk of plastic or a ball bearing that seals the cartridge?  Is this obstruction gone?

5 minutes ago, radioclub said:

It's okay haha!! I'm using the Pilot Metropolitan and the ink is the cartridge pilot ink that came with it. 

 

[radioclub]

6 minutes ago, OCArt said:

Wow, Metropolitans are known to be trouble free.  Can you try another cartridge? I don't use P{lot cartridges but isn't there a disk of plastic or a ball bearing that seals the cartridge?  Is this obstruction gone?

 

Yes the cartridge did open. If the problem lies there, I have another ink coming soon and a converter so I could try using that one and see if it works?

[OCArt]

Yes, do try another cartridge or the converter. Meanwhile give the nib section a good soak in water with a tiny bit of dish washing up liquid. Try to foresee or blow some of this soapy water through the section to clean out any manufacturing gunk that may be in there. Do this several times and then reassemble and try the pen again.

 

What part of the world are you located in? 

[agaric]

Hello radioclub. I'm also relatively new to fountain pens, so this might not be helpful, but I just want to corroborate your ink-starved experience. Out of the 8 pens I have, I met similar problems with 2 cartridge/converter pens.

 

The first time, it was very frustrating, as I did everything I could think of. Rinsed everything multiple times, including with the nib completely disassembled. Tried squeezing the cartridge to force the ink out. Nothing worked. (Forcing the ink out by squeezing the cartridge did produce ink out of the tip, but after a few sentences, it would dry up again.) Finally, I took a good look at the feed in its inked-up state, and where the ink saturation stopped, I noticed a fin that was not parallel to the other fins. So I straightened it out carefully, rinsed everything again, and used a very thin tool to wipe away any dust particles between the fins and channels. The problem went away, but I'm still not completely sure what the original cause was.

 

The second time was far less troublesome. I didn't visually check the feed. Just squeezed the cartridge until ink started bubbling out of the end of the section. Then, placed tissue paper on the breather hole to check feed saturation, and thankfully the tissue was drawing up ink. I kept wiping at the breather hole to keep drawing up ink until I was satisfied that ink was flowing from the cartridge to (at least) the breather hole. Then I started writing, ink came out of the tip, and had no problem with the pen since.

 

These are just two personal experiences - I'm not seasoned enough to give more pointed advice, but hope these help. After going through them (which by the way occurred with two completely new pens, immediately after unboxing), I am convinced that OCArt's suggestion of blowing soapy water should do the trick, using perhaps one of those rubber ear syringes.

[radioclub]

On 1/15/2022 at 2:41 PM, OCArt said:

Yes, do try another cartridge or the converter. Meanwhile give the nib section a good soak in water with a tiny bit of dish washing up liquid. Try to foresee or blow some of this soapy water through the section to clean out any manufacturing gunk that may be in there. Do this several times and then reassemble and try the pen again.

 

What part of the world are you located in? 

Okay I've tried everything but it still does not work 😕 I'm thinking it might be a manufacturing issue or something...I'll probably return it and get a new one

[OCArt]

Yes, it does seem like time to do a return. Don't let this sour you on Metropolitans as they really are good pens.

4 hours ago, radioclub said:

Okay I've tried everything but it still does not work 😕 I'm thinking it might be a manufacturing issue or something...I'll probably return it and get a new one