It Won't Fill Up - Fixing A Vac Filler Fountain Pen

[@johnlopez3996]

Doodlebud: the fountain pen engineer. You have a cool talent for figuring out fountain pen problems.

[@Doodlebud]

For me, problem solving is fun. You learn something new, its a challenge, and the reward comes when you figure it out.

[@Sakrifice2121]

I always enjoy seeing your handwriting evolve as you make more videos. Well written, Doodle.

[@Doodlebud]

Thanks 👍

[@paulmchugh1430]

I had a problem with an Asvine V169. I was surprised the nib assembly had not O rings. After adding 2 rings. It worked fine. I also had a piston filler that burped and leaked ink. No rings. Attached O ring and it stopped. Grease alone sometimes is not enough.

[@jimf.625]

Great info to know. My Bronze Age is one of my grail pens and your advice on lubing the inside of the barrel was valuable as well. I never thought of doing that. Thank you for sharing.

[@ponderspretties]

Was looking for a troubleshooting filling issues video like this for AGES (actually also having issues with a secondhand homo sapiens), so I was really excited when I saw this! Got home and tried to copy... and got as far as step one before mine went off the rails. The nib unit won't unscrew! Yours unscrewed so easy! Guess it's time to buy that special wrench... (also, looks like mine has a metal... spacer? between the nib unit and the pen grip section. almost certainly aftermarket and almost certainly my problem...) Thanks so much for this video, though! It's the first one I've seen where I've been able to get a good look at the actual guttywork bits of a Homo Sapiens! The good views of the place where the blind cap screws on and the inside of the section are a godsend, legitimately. Most videos don't show those (because "who wants to see the ugly parts?" I think), so I didn't know until now which parts of my pen looked normal and which were fine.

[@Doodlebud]

Unscrewing my nib housing from the pen body for the first time was difficult so don't feel bad. The tool will probably be helpful

[@cynthiaalvarado8610]

Good catch, DB! I remember from so long ago you telling us that it wouldn’t get a full fill. Neat trick getting the white background to get a good measure of the inside diameter.

[@Doodlebud]

There's always a simple trick to get a measurement. I made laser measurement devices so if there's something I need to measure.... I'll find a way LOL

[@gordon8858]

Hi D B I have this pen and having Montblanc 149, Conway Stewart Churchill, and many many top fountain pens the Visconti Bronze Age is my Top Pen. This is a brilliant And very Useful video. Thank you.

[@cpcfreak]

Way too much grease, putting on too much grease will actually cause a vacuum leak as the heavy grease coating will extrude under the o-ring. The best grease to use is Dow Corning High Vacuum Silicon grease. Apply a very small quantity by wiping grease between your fingertips, you can wear fingercots if you like, then polish the contact surfaces with the thin layer that comes off your fingers. This the process we use for creating very high vacuum seals on lasers, and it will work perfectly for vacuum fillers. I wouldn't coat the bore either, coating the piston seal and O-rings and threads is enough. For O-rings it's sometimes better to massage the grease onto the o-ring before it's put into position, that way the internal surface seals perfectly as well. Basically you can keep polishing the surfaces until there is virtually nothing there, but a layer remains that stops binding and lets the o-ring and seals do the job.

[@eno88]

Hm... This pen has been on my radar for a while. This gives food for thought.

[@dr.d723]

Thank you for the video! And thank you for showing us how to repair a "un-sucky" vac filler. But I must say that I love, love, love your HS Bronze Age. That is going to be my next pen. Thanks again.

[@Guairenito]

Great advice, as always, nice video, thank you for sharing your findings. That ink looks great, I thought it was going to be too light first but seeing the writing example it actually isn’t, it looks nice.

[@navinrajan72]

It’s 4 am in New Zealand and I’m so grateful that you have taken the time to make this video Thank you doodlebud I am your faithful fan

[@Doodlebud]

Thanks buddy. Have a good one 👍

[@Quiney08]

Another wonderfully helpful video! I just inked one of my other visconti vacs and that piston doesn't want to move and now I know what do to lube it up again. Thank you!

[@Doodlebud]

Glad it helped

[@ironmic9244]

Ha. That is sum good troubleshooting. The thumbnail got me though. Those pesky o-rings. Glad you have your HS up and running again.

[@nrs6956]

Thank you. Visonti's are a great(to me) pen but a bit challenging to maintain.

[@zeus52452]

Hey DB, great tip to keep in mind, and should work with other pens that utilize an o-ring on the end of the nib unit!!

[@nemo9919]

I have exactly the same problem with my Visconti Medici. I’ve noticed that it’s running out of ink faster than pens with converter. Thanks to your video I have found the problem. 👍

[@Doodlebud]

Great to hear my video helped out! I could have just fixed it without doing a video but figured Im won't be the only with the issue so I might as well make a video to help others 👍

[@dagbruck]

Ah, one of my favorite inks. The shading!

[@Doodlebud]

I love it in this pen

[@rahulshah1408]

I worked for a national apartment complex company. As a business, they didn’t like forced retail spaces. My question was always, how many smoothies would it take to pay the rent?

[@PawNPens222]

You are a genius! Thanks.

[@samuelbrainsample]

As for the missing O-ring and knowing Visconti's QA, I wouldn't doubt if it had never been on there in the first place.

[@slo_carry]

Glad yoy got it fixed. I feel like mine does the same thing. I might have to check it.

[@Doodlebud]

I put a link in the description if you find ours is missing the oring.

[@steerjonathan]

That is a really neat knife/scalpel, what is it? Thanks! Great video as always!

[@Doodlebud]

Here's where I got it s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mtQyLt0

[@santauxia]

Beautiful pen.

[@Doodlebud]

Love this thing!

[@skviviangeauxz]

Someday hopefully I will get that pen in the "dark age". Might have to reference back to this video lol

[@sushanart]

Great save, Mr Doodlebug! 😇🩷🙏🙌

[@Doodlebud]

Went to change the ink and it just wouldn't fill. Finally I said "This is ridiculous, let me have a look at this!" All this time, just needed an oring LOL

[@Kumofan]

Great video as always! Is there any chance you know the thread sizing on the nib unit?

[@Doodlebud]

I can't remember if this one fits a Bock or Jowo off the top of my head but this place has the tip size info for both: www.fpnibs.com/collections/taps

[@Kumofan]

@@Doodlebud Thank you! Interesting, so the Visconti homo sapiens nibs are jowo/bock & same thread? I recall at some point there was something about them manufacturing their own or claiming to (palladium?), but it’s been so long since I looked into Visconti after hearing so much about QC issues. Their nibs are just so beautiful that I’m tempted to turn my own body for one

[@paulll47]

Visconti is a perfect example of the way the industry works, mediocre pens with tons of issues, sold at insane prices just because they are pretty, I really don't get why people still fall for them.

[@PalashBackup]

But this is a perfect example of some of these issues can be remedied without spending hundreds of dollars.

[@paulll47]

@@PalashBackup Yeah, I'd rather get a pen that works from the get go, especially when it costs almost a thousand bucks. The whole "It's an easy fix." attitude is exactly the reason why these companies don't have better quality control.

[@PalashBackup]

@@paulll47 fair enough. After spending 700$, I'd expect the pen to write flawlessly. I was just saying that the takeaway from this video would be - you can fix stuff. But your point is definitely valid.

[@ichirofakename]

"Nib issues aside...". Isn't that the starting phrase of every Visconti review? Jokes aside, I am thankful to the youtube pen community for helping me to steer myself towards Japanese pens, for their immaculate, reliable quality.

[@totallylegit2068]

​@@ichirofakenamepilot>every other brand. even Chinese manufacturers nowadays are better than sine of these European brands

[@hameedn.b7004]

The intro would be epic with a drumroll or a little music

[@rahulshah1408]

I love that ink miser. Where do you get those nice toys? :)

[@Doodlebud]

That one is something I 3d printed

[@rahulshah1408]

@@Doodlebud Do you share your files. I can get a buddy to make one for me. You truly are an engineer.

[@JefferyHall-ct2tr]

Hi DB! Good fix on the Visconti! Probably the P/O lost the O-ring, or disassembled the pen and didn't know it came off! Herbin inks are pretty good! One of my faves is Lie de The.

[@lucijaabramovic]

Hello Doodlebud i recently got my Asvine v200 and have so far filled it only twice but the gasket (silicone/rubber part that touches the inside of the barrel and creates vacuum) is very loose and tends to fall off the rod. Is there something i can do to keep it in its place? Im honestly tempted to glue it onto the rod with caulk.

[@Doodlebud]

You might just have a faulty o-ring. I would reach out to Asvine and I wouldn't be surprised if they helped you out.

[@lucijaabramovic]

@@Doodlebud By now I have reached out to them and am waiting for a reply, thanks for replying. However I am finding it hard to see how a faulty o ring relates to a very loose piston seal. I have refered to it as gasket before, my mistake, sorry for that. Thank you for a reply.

[@Doodlebud]

@@lucijaabramovic The part of that seal that fits to the rod could have a defect preventing it from staying tight to the rod.

[@F.E.Olivieri]

Thank you for this video, I just picked up one on eBay advertised as bad nib ..Nib is perfect the o ring is bad.

[@Doodlebud]

Nice! Easy fix 👍

[@F.E.Olivieri]

Funny thing is I was just in Florence and went to the Visconti store and was going to buy a Bronze Age, end up getting a Dark Age Broad Nib. When I returned home I had won the Bronze Age for half the price on EBay… Love your Videos!!

[@BullheadedGiovanni]

huh, I would have never ever caught that, even if I noticed the groove I wouldn't have thought there was san O ring missing, and even if I noticed it was supposed to have an O ring I wouldn't have thought it would have an effect on the filling system.

[@EnCwoisant]

DOOOOOOOOOODLEBUD!

[@stargazer1359]

You never miss one. ✒️

[@afkoyuncu5886]

I removed the nib unit and rescrewed it but cant get it to align with the homosapiens writing on the ring any tips?

[@Doodlebud]

I can't remember if the threads on the nib housing are multi-start or single- start.. See if it threads in from a different starting position.

[@Lucan1n1]

Have you tried to use a syringe to ink it? If that's possible it'll fill it profusely 🤗

[@Doodlebud]

I can do it that way but I'd rather have the pen working as it should. It's equipped with a vac filler system but was just missing an oring.

[@diz984]

I just got one yesterday and I have the same problem :( if I never took a pen apart before is it easy to fix this or should I take it to someone to get fix? I got my pen from a nibsmith :(

[@Doodlebud]

If you just paid for the pen contact the retailer. No different than if you bought something else that was defective

[@davecharvella4854]

👍👍 One of my favorite inks in my least favorite bottles! Man, I wish they would put it in their bigger bottle like they do with Poussiere de Lune ... my favorite purple ink!

[@Doodlebud]

The bottle design is terrible filling! Glad I 3d printed that ink Meister

[@sudeepmukherjee4430]

Hi very informative vlog. Just a question from a newbie, won't the grease in the barrel affect the ink? I mean will it mix with the ink?

[@Doodlebud]

Nope. Silicon & water don't mix together. You don't want to get it all over the feed as that will clog things of course. But a little smear is needed to lubricate the seals

[@sudeepmukherjee4430]

@@Doodlebud Many thanks for your reply!

[@boshkodjordjevich7424]

Can you please show us how to do a plastic coating on the paperclip? (Thank you - another sensational video!)

[@Doodlebud]

They came like that from the dollar store

[@studywitheauthor]

Can someone tell me the best budget vac filler

[@jakesong266]

Asvine

[@galessi1226]

Asvine 126....or v200... Or wing sung. 699?

[@zathrasnotzathras9435]

Thank you for showing this. I have a vac filler pen that needs lubrication, but I can’t get it disassembled. I didn’t realize that I could use a toothpick and lubricate the walls. I will try that.

[@peterhess2610]

I always wondered if the silicon grease compromises the ink

[@johntaylor8817]

Hi. This vidio reminds me of how much I appreciate my 823.🤗🦘 Cheers from Australia.

[@Doodlebud]

🙈

[@davyj5216]

What nib is that?

[@Doodlebud]

It's the older 23k Pd nib. They are gold now instead as they had issues with the Pd nibs. This one I had ground by Mark Bacas and he did an absolute perfect job!

[@davyj5216]

@@Doodlebud Thanks - I got confused and thought it was an excellent nib out of the box, but if it's been ground by a nib fiddler...

[@RealHogweed]

1.6 ml doesn’t seem enough for a pen that big, are you sure it filled completely?

[@konradyearwood5845]

I suppose the way to check is fill it with water with the nib unit removed to determine the absolute maximum fill volume.

[@DastardlyDan69]

That's actually .1ml more than nibsmith says it holds

[@Doodlebud]

Yes... I'm sure

[@zebratroopfan6695]

I have three Visconti pens: a Rembrandt and two Homo Sapiens. All of them have issues, and two were returned for repairs. Never again. As I've stated before, if buyers and reviewers were as critical of premium pen brands as they are of Chinese makers, maybe the industry would stop charging ridiculous prices for pens that don't write. If it doesn't write, it's useless.

[@manuelsalazar3938]

I totally agree on that... But... I have a Divina Metropolitan, a Michelangelo and a Rembrandt Calligraphy set with two stub nibs and none of them have any issues, the only "issue" (that indeed would be an issue had I paid full price) for the Divina is that the nib tines are slightly missaligned, but it's so soft that it's not an issue when writing, so, I'm very happy with it. Another example of what you say is TWSBI, people (specially on Reddit) always complain about cracking issues, which have never been addressed by TWSBI, all that they do is just send free spare parts but no real solution in progress, it's just a workaround.

[@dab7963]

Visconti pens are awful overpriced and junk. I had a visconti white blizzard and the nib was a horror I sent it back and the retailer sent me a second one and the second one still didn't write properly. I loved the material and the weight and got a kick out of the fact that it was made from volcanic material. I liked it so much I sent it to a nibmeister and he finally fixed it so wrote properly. It should have written properly when it came from the retailer. 2 years later it started leaking so I contacted the retailer who got me in touch with the company and they sent it back to Italy and said it was no longer in production and would take 11 weeks to fix. I said you know something your pens are awful and I want a full refund and if you don't refund my money I'm going to initiate litigation. The company refunded the retailer who refunded me and I swore I would never buy another one. I don't understand how this brand can be so expensive yet produce such junk. Of course these are just my opinions and if you want to buy one just be warned that the brand has a horrible reputation for reliability. Buy a Sailor or Montblanc or a Pelikan.

[@dahak972]

No one gets a good deal on these pens. 😂

[@KL005]

BOOM EARLY

[@danielklopp7007]

Technically, the pen does not "suck"; the piston creates a low (i.e. below atmospheric) pressure in the barrel, and when the seal "pops", the air pressure on the top of the ink in the ink bottle "pushes" the ink into the barrel of the pen. I watched a KZbinr trying to clear machining chips out of a blind hole in a steel part by putting a shop-vac hose over the hole (and saying he was baffled the shop-vac didn't create enough vacuum to "suck" the metal chips out of the hole)... all because he didn't understand that vacuums don't suck, surrounding (higher pressure) air "pushes". Sorry to nerd out, but as a physicist (and retired aerospace engineer), this notion of "suck" drives me crazy...

[@Doodlebud]

Yes I hear ya. But sometimes its just fun to say "This thing SUCKS!" A bit of a double meaning with my statement as well. The nib was terrible when I got it and the vac filler didn't work right. So the pen sorta... sucked

[@nuclearjanitor]

Similarly then, your refrigerator does not make food cold, rather your food makes the fridge warm since heat transfers from hot to cold. Gee whiz don't I sound smart.

[@danielklopp7007]

@@nuclearjanitor - actually, your refrigerator makes the room warmer... 🤣

[@subramaniamchandrasekar1397]

You could have bought a Gel pen, but this video will not be possible. Regards.