Sorry if the title is a bit vague but I recently got my hands on Jinhao Dadao as a gift for someone. But the pen skips on all the papers and some of the inks I have tried. Though this is one of the smoothest nib I've ever written with.
The seller is offering me a replacement nib but I'm not sure if it would work and if there’s a chance problem's with the feed drying out. Can I somehow rule this out?
I have a 14 days return period from Ali but if I accept the replacement nib it'll be over.
How well have you cleaned it? The nib could need small adjustments but if you say it's smooth it could just be the feed isn't clean enough or saturated enough.
Yes, cleaning the nib may help, as well as cleaning/flushing the feed of the pen itself. If you have tried a few inks and types of paper, I would imagine it's indeed a faulty nib, but I would thoroughly clean it first. Just to be sure there is no residue left from the manufacturing process.
You can use lukewarm, water to do that. If that is not enough you may add a tiny drop of dish soap (like a tiny, tiny amount of it, noticeably less than a drop) and rince it again. After that, you should let it dry thoroughly. I often let mines dry for a few days but unlike you I'm in no hurry. The pen will dry faster if you remove most of the water, obviously, but don't try to heat it to accelerate the drying process, as you risk damaging it.
I've cleaned it twice using dishwasher soap and water, the usual treatment. With full disassembly. But if there’s a more thorough method I'll be glad to try.
The tines may be too tight so my suggestion would be to floss the tines. It should be no problem if you have a brass shim. It's worked wonders on a number of my cheaper pens to fix ink flow. Although I have noticed that the flow is slower on my 9019 as well.