Rotring Core with poor ink flow

Hello,

My rotring core has always been great, but lately, ink flow has been
poor. Mainly, it's just being too stingy with the ink and not releasing
enough. I actually have to press down a bit to get it to write well.
This should not be.

When I first got the pen, it worked great.

Yesterday, I tried cleaning the pen with cold water, and it didn't fix
the problem.

Any ideas?
--
Tommy C. Li | RealityMage
Registered Linux User # 327563 | http://www.impulsestorm.com
Gentoo Linux 1.4 | Kernel: 2.6.3-mm4

On Tue, 06 Apr 2004 19:23:44 -0700, "Tommy C. Li"
wrote:

Hello,

My rotring core has always been great, but lately, ink flow has been
poor. Mainly, it's just being too stingy with the ink and not releasing
enough. I actually have to press down a bit to get it to write well.
This should not be.

When I first got the pen, it worked great.

Yesterday, I tried cleaning the pen with cold water, and it didn't fix
the problem.

Any ideas?

a mild ammonia-water solution - I believe Richard's recommendation is
one teaspoon to 2/3 cup water. About that.

Or a mild dish soap (hand type) and water solution. Sounds like the
nib/feed is clogged and it might take some soaking to take care of the
problem.

or try flossing the nib. I use a piece of 9000 grit mylar (lapping
film.) Slide it gently between the tines in case there is gunk built
up in there.

if none of these help, may need to get in touch with Rotring folks (?)
or one of the nib gurus that can take the nib apart and clean out any
blockage.

just my .02. I've had ammonia react with cheap "brass" so perhaps
that is should be the last choice among the options I suggest.
k

"Tommy C. Li" wrote in message ...
Hello,

My rotring core has always been great, but lately, ink flow has been
poor. Mainly, it's just being too stingy with the ink and not releasing
enough. I actually have to press down a bit to get it to write well.
This should not be.

When I first got the pen, it worked great.

Yesterday, I tried cleaning the pen with cold water, and it didn't fix
the problem.

Any ideas?

Tommy:

Put the converter in and try filling it with tepid water with a few
drops of dish washing liquid. (The kind you use in the sink, not in a
dishwasher.) Draw it in and expel it using the covertoer a few times.
That's worked for me on other pens.

David

On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 13:45:12 -0500, kcat said:



kcat if none of these help, may need to get in touch with Rotring
kcat folks (?) or one of the nib gurus that can take the nib
kcat apart and clean out any blockage.

i don't think you need a guru to pull the nib off of a core. it takes
a bit of doing, but it doesn't require any special tricks or tools.
it pulls off the feed stump. i'd say give it a soak, and if that
doesn't help it write better, pull the nib off and see if there is any
crud underneath. go slow and be patient. once the nib is off, clean
out any crud on the feed and push the nib back on. you might need to
adjust the tines after all the pushing and pulling.

of course, if it's under some sort of warranty you could have rotring
do all that for you. that may be the soundest advice you'll get. as
sound as that advice may be, i get frustrated at the constant refrain
of "send it in for repair." well, yeah, goes without saying, if you
don't know how to fix it, you have to do that. on the other hand, why
even have this group if people are just going to say "send it in."


--


If elected, Zippy pledges to each and every American a 55-year-old
houseboy ...

"Garglemonster" wrote in part;

! well, yeah, goes without saying, if you
| don't know how to fix it, you have to do that. on the other hand,
why
| even have this group if people are just going to say "send it in."

So we can talk about new pens, old pens, ink, ink wells, advertising,
marketing (including, in particular, FPH calendars), BIC pens and
orange stuff?

john cline ii, who just had to

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 10:54:23 GMT, "john cline ii" said:

john "Garglemonster" wrote in part;

john ! well, yeah, goes without saying, if you | don't know how
john to fix it, you have to do that. on the other hand, why |
john even have this group if people are just going to say "send
john it in."

john So we can talk about new pens, old pens, ink, ink wells,
john advertising, marketing (including, in particular, FPH
john calendars), BIC pens and orange stuff?

point taken... but what would frank say?




--


While you're chewing, think of STEVEN SPIELBERG'S bank account ... his
will have the same effect as two "STARCH BLOCKERS"!

"Garglemonster" wrote:
| On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 10:54:23 GMT, "john cline ii" said:
|
| john "Garglemonster" wrote in part;
|
| john ! well, yeah, goes without saying, if you | don't know how
| john to fix it, you have to do that. on the other hand, why |
| john even have this group if people are just going to say "send
| john it in."
|
| john So we can talk about new pens, old pens, ink, ink wells,
| john advertising, marketing (including, in particular, FPH
| john calendars), BIC pens and orange stuff?
|
| point taken... but what would frank say?

Whatever he pleased. And some would like it, some would not.

I just wish he COULD say things!

On the other hand, in the current situation, I can almost hear him:
"I'm gone, I left you my posts and my book, get over it. Life goes
on."

john cline ii, who misses Frank, quite frankly

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 17:39:10 -0400, Garglemonster
wrote:

point taken... but what would frank say?

Oh, oh... Starting to sound like the banjo list, where the correct
semi-response is, "What would Earl (Scruggs) say?"

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:54:45 -0400, Garglemonster
wrote:


i don't think you need a guru to pull the nib off of a core.

probably not - but if there's no crud to remove then a repair person
might be needed to shape the nib to the feed properly.

of course, if it's under some sort of warranty you could have rotring
do all that for you. that may be the soundest advice you'll get. as
sound as that advice may be, i get frustrated at the constant refrain
of "send it in for repair." well, yeah, goes without saying, if you
don't know how to fix it, you have to do that. on the other hand, why
even have this group if people are just going to say "send it in."

Which is why the first time this topic came up, it wasn't in my list
of suggestions. or if it was, it was down low on the list.

of course, we can go 'round and 'round on this. I do most all of my
own pen repair and have taken to grinding my own nibs to my tastes.
There are somethings I can't do though - like figure out exactly what
can be done to improve flow on a pen that appears to be perfectly
functional in all other ways - recently ran into a IPG nib (bleah)
that had really inconsistent flow. Not just slow but all over the
board - first glopping then skidding to a near-halt. The nib was very
easy to remove (perhaps too easy?) and check for problems. None were
visible but my not-quite-trained eye could not determine what the
problem was other than the nib and feed must not be at the right level
of contact. Since frank's book states clearly that plastic feeds can
be ruined by using the same heating technique he recommends for HR
feeds, I'm left with "well, what do I do now?" In this case the pen
wasn't under warranty and it wasn't a huge loss to just give up on it.
Nor was it worth getting repair work done that might take 8 weeks or
more.

The other aspect of "send it in" is one that I only partly agree with
but is often championed on the boards - if you don't send it in, the
company will not know that they have problems with their pens. That's
a nice thought - but I don't think it holds much value in companies
that are using IPG nibs and similar ultra-cheap parts. They already
know they are selling a low quality product but don't much care.

The Core is a fairly inexpensive pen that is probably produced in
signficant numbers. I've not heard too many people complain of this
issue with this pen so Rotring isn't likely to see a repair or
replacement for this issue as an indicator of a greater problem.
OTOH, I made a recent Pelikan purchase and found a flaw (possibly just
cosmetic, but possibly could cause major damage in the future.) I
thought I was being silly to send it in for a $100+ pen. But
practically before I got the words out of my mouth Chartpak folks
said they were getting in replacement parts from Germany which
indicates to me that this is a known issue that only the distributor
or Pelikan Germany can deal with.

And of course - one has to consider that if you do take the pen apart,
find there is nothing you can do about it, and somehow damage the
parts when putting it back together. What then? Rotring might honor
the warranty - and might not.

so... there are so many sides to this issue and they are all valid,
IMO. Regardless of what Frank would say though, all of these sides
should be presented to the customer and they can make an informed
decision. A couple of years ago it would never have occurred to me to
call Chartpak. Instead I might have grumbled to myself and at the
most, contacted the distributor.

I have to say however - that I find "read da book" only marginally
more helpful than "send it in." A person who has one or two pens and
who may lack confidence in taking a pen apart won't necessarily
appreciate that bit of advice regardless of how valid it might be.

KCat the Verbose and Opinionated
***********************************
KCat - I am not a medical professional. The contents of this post are based soley on my experiences and opinions
http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/kcspages/
http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/ASLFAQ/

("`-''-/").___..--''"`-._
(`6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.'`)
(_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-''
_..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' ,'
(()),-'' (()),' (((.-'

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 11:35:46 -0500, kcat said:


kcat I have to say however - that I find "read da book" only
kcat marginally more helpful than "send it in."

you're right. it's not very helpful to say "read da book." i find
that annoying, too. i wrote my post because i was imagining someone
with a core that didn't write well and no warranty. i don't know if
that applies to the original poster, but somewhere someday, someone
will be in that situation.


--


.... I see TOILET SEATS ...