Pilot 78G Fine Nib with Pilot Namiki Black Ink Cartridges

[stryker4526]

So I recently decided to get into the cheaper world of fountain pens. I bought the title pen there and when I got it I immediately put a cartridge in it and tested it out. The ink seems to come out really light and it looks more gray than black. My Precise V5 makes darker lines than this thing... and that's the kind of line I like to write with. Is this normal for this pen? Is there something I can do to fix it and make the lines heavier?

Total FP noob here.

 

[casus4844]

Do you mean make the lines wider? Your Pilot pen is considered a EF compared to western brands. Having owned F,M,B nibs the Fine is thin ( which is what I prefer) but as far as the ink... I'm not to sure what you mean by gray. Sounds weird to me since I have used the cartridge and have gotten a decent black with it. The nib is pretty stiff. But to my knowledge I don't think you can do much with how it is. If you want a thicker line , I would suggest trying a Lamy or other western brands. Japanese pens ( and I'm assuming from what I read other Asian pens) tend to run finer than western ones.

 

[stryker4526]

Do you mean make the lines wider? Your Pilot pen is considered a EF compared to western brands. Having owned F,M,B nibs the Fine is thin ( which is what I prefer) but as far as the ink... I'm not to sure what you mean by gray. Sounds weird to me since I have used the cartridge and have gotten a decent black with it. The nib is pretty stiff. But to my knowledge I don't think you can do much with how it is. If you want a thicker line , I would suggest trying a Lamy or other western brands. Japanese pens ( and I'm assuming from what I read other Asian pens) tend to run finer than western ones.

A thicker line isn't what I'm after. From what I understand the F Asian nibs are usually somewhere around 0.4-0.5mm, which is what my Precise V5 is, and it's what I wanted. I'm referring to the saturation of ink on the paper. This pen seems to have a very small amount of ink actually making it to the paper, resulting in lines that look faded or washed out.

 

[nemo]

It sounds like you have a dry writer. Did you wash it out well? Try that first with soap and lukewarm water.

Nib size on a Pilot F is less than 0.4mm according to this chart. http://www.nibs.com/TippingSizespage.htm

 

[stryker4526]

I did not wash it out at all. I was unaware that it was necessary. How would one go about doing such a thing?
And thanks for the size chart. It looks like I was really looking for an M nib on the Pilot. Oh well, I don't have a problem with the thickness of the lines, just the saturation at this point.

 

[nemo]

A really mild solution of dish soap and a toothbrush on the exposed nib/feed and run a few loads in and out with the squeeze converter. It did come with the converter, right? If not, just soak it in the dish soap solution, then rinse well. See how that works.

There is sometimes manufacturing oils in the system. Also, you may need to squeeze the cartridge a little to wet the feed. Anyway, good luck!

 

[stryker4526]

It did come with a converter, yes. Thank you, I will try that and see if it helps!

EDIT: I tried cleaning it by lightly rubbing a toothbrush dipped in a mild dish soap/water solution along the top and bottom of the nib portion. I then removed the current ink cartridge, inserted the converter, and loaded/squeezed out the converter several times in the flow was free of ink. I wiped it a bit on a microfiber cloth to dry it off and the end result is the ink is coming out thinner than ever before... Maybe there's still water left in the system.

 

[stryker4526]

After I let it dry out a bit, it writes the same as it did before. I think this one is just a dry writer.

 

[InfernoOrangeSS]

I use mine with the converter and Noodler's Black. Writes an excellent black line. I love the 78G.

 

[Snargle]

I'd try a different ink. It just may be that the pen and that particular cartridge just aren't a good match.

 

[Doc4]

I'd try a different ink. It just may be that the pen and that particular cartridge just aren't a good match.

+1

Noodler's black tends to be a good one for me with my fine-nib 78g.

 

[strop]

I've never been happy with ink from cartridges as compared to bottled ink, even from the same company. I would definitely try it with the converter. Some pen/ink combinations are defitely drier than others, and some inks have more saturation than others.

 

[Go West Young Man]

The cartridge that comes free with a pen is usually worth about what you paid for it.
Always try a quality ink first before making up your mind about a pen!

 

[Artimid]

For me, the cartridge that comes with the 78G writes extremely wet, dark black, and actually pretty thick. So much so, that I actually need to barely touch the paper in order to get a good line. I would suggest just writing a page out with it? Maybe try another cartridge or something? I actually prefer the cartridge ink for darkness and wetness compared to Platinum Smoke Black, or even a few Noodler and Diamine samples I got, granted those allow me to write finer since they don't jump from the pen.

Wonder what the difference might be between them, since for the ones I gave my friends I just quickly threw a cartridge in and it started writing (I was in a hurry).