A quick modern Aurora 88 question

[InkyProf]

I received a secondhand, seemingly little-used 88 Ottantotto last week, black body and cap with gold trim, and inked it with KWZ IG Turquoise. Didn't use it over the weekend and it dried out completely, requiring me to force a little ink into the feed with the piston to re-prime it. Upon examination, there's no inner cap or cap liner. Is there supposed to be one? If not: is drying out a known problem with modern 88s, and is there anything that can be done about it? (The cap finial is screwed down tightly.) 

[lamarax]

Sometimes that can happen because the nib does not fit snugly into the collar, or the collar has cracked. They seem to be made out of candy 🍬

 

6 hours ago, InkyProf said:

Is there supposed to be one?

 

Yes. Anyway, some inks are better than others in keeping fluid even after sitting too long in the Ottantotto; I've mine inked with Teranishi Antique Black and it flows like a champ after months!

[InkyProf]

22 minutes ago, lamarax said:

Sometimes that can happen because the nib does not fit snugly into the collar, or the collar has cracked. They seem to be made out of candy 🍬

 

 

Yes. Anyway, some inks are better than others in keeping fluid even after sitting too long in the Ottantotto; I've mine inked with Teranishi Antique Black and it flows like a champ after months!

Thank you! All very helpful, but especially the fact that there’s supposed to be an inner cap. Its absence seems like the most likely explanation. Does it just screw on to the cap finial threads once they come through the cap body? If you or anyone has or can produce a photo of one, either as installed or from a disassembly, I would be most grateful. I don’t imagine it will be straightforward to find a replacement, but perhaps the seller and I can both try.

 

(The nib and feed don’t seem loose in the housing, and the fore-edge of the housing doesn’t appear cracked.)

[lamarax]

 

...don't know if that helps!

[InkyProf]

Ah, you have a metal cap! So from your perspective, @lamarax, the black plastic threaded liner is what you're calling the "inner cap," am I correct? My pen has a black plastic cap, not a metal one, so the interior of my cap looks just like yours, as far as I can see. I was wondering whether there was supposed to be another insert or inner cap, further toward the top, that would enclose the nib and feed only, against which the fore-edge of the section would rest. Now I'm uncertain again. I've written to Aurora to ask, too. Thank you for the photo!

[lamarax]

4 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

[...] the black plastic threaded liner is what you're calling the "inner cap," am I correct?

 

You are correct (actually it's clear acrylic, not black, but that doesn't matter 🙂)

 

7 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

I was wondering whether there was supposed to be another insert or inner cap, further toward the top, that would enclose the nib and feed only, against which the fore-edge of the section would rest.

 

Nope, in fact I've never seen what I understand you're describing in a pen - not even in Platinum's "slip & seal" system.

[InkyProf]

I'm clearly not describing it very well, then, because what I'm referring to is commonplace! Maybe this will help: here's a photo of the interior of the cap of a Pelikan M405, in which you can see, beyond the threads, an inset inner cap. Maybe the fore-edge of the section of the Pelikan doesn't actually butt up against the edge of that inner cap; maybe it just comes very close (and thereby minimizes the circulation of air around the nib without eliminating it completely) -- but however it works, all I'm really asking is: should my Aurora have one of those? 🙂 

 

[lamarax]

40 minutes ago, InkyProf said:

I'm clearly not describing it very well, then, because what I'm referring to is commonplace! Maybe this will help: here's a photo of the interior of the cap of a Pelikan M405, in which you can see, beyond the threads, an inset inner cap. Maybe the fore-edge of the section of the Pelikan doesn't actually butt up against the edge of that inner cap; maybe it just comes very close (and thereby minimizes the circulation of air around the nib without eliminating it completely) -- but however it works, all I'm really asking is: should my Aurora have one of those? 🙂

 

[Quickly checks his Pelikans]  Well I'll be... Nope, no, the Auroras are not supposed to have that (I think)! 😀

 

...aand I was wrong, as usual 😑:

 

[InkyProf]

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. 🙂 Thanks for the confirmation!

[lamarax]

17 hours ago, InkyProf said:

A picture is truly worth a thousand words. 🙂 Thanks for the confirmation!

 

Hey, at least I've learned something new; that pens can have inception inner caps! :)

[InkyProf]

🙂

 

PS: Aurora asked me for photos this morning; I'll report their answer when I receive it!

[Orval]

My Aurora Optima aureloide green (+/- 20years old) (= ottotanto with flat finials) has no inner cap. It's out of rotation since 4 years, but I don't remember any dry nib problem when I used it regularly.

Most of my 20 pens have an inner cap or an inner ring with a similar function. 

The Aurora Optima is the only one without.

[InkyProf]

Thanks for the reminder of this thread. I did contact Aurora, who told me that there had been sufficient variation in the specifications of the modern 88 over the years that the only way they could only determine if a part was missing from my pen was if I sent it to them. I decided that, for the sake of my money and their time, I should probably wait and see whether the problem persisted. It didn't. The pen has now been inked for nearly two months, and it starts up easily even when it hasn't been used for a week.

 

(Now I should probably take this IG ink out of it!)