Twist pen refill doesn’t work

[Rink]

Good afternoon.
I made a nouveau sceptre twist ballpoint pen for my wife several years ago. Today she asked me to replace the refill. I replaced the Schmidt easyFLOW 9000 medium point with another, identical, one. One that I've had in my supply box for at least a couple years, probably.

I'm unable to get the new refill to work. It feels like it seats properly, but it doesn't retract when the transmission is twisted. It stays advanced. I can't even push it back in. I did make sure to put the spring back in, which is still in good working order. And the transmission itself appears to advance and retract as it should.

Is this likely related to the label on the barrel of the refill? Would a newer refill with the "smooth" label be more likely to advance/retract properly?

I stopped making twist pens a long time ago. Too many moving parts that can fail, and I got several transmissions that didn't work well. And the transmissions seem to lose their crispness over time. But this is a special pen for my wife and I'd really like to save it if I can.

Thx, rink.

 

[Joebobber]

If the spring is in the right spot, I'd try a different ink.

 

[qquake]

Try one of the cheap generic refills that come with kits to see if it is, in fact, the label on the Schmidt refill.

 

[jcm71]

Try with another twist mechanism if you have one available. Check to make sure the nib aperture is not obstructed. Reverse the spring on the refill.

 

[greenacres2]

Try flipping the spring over. Spring should be slightly larger diameter on the end by the nib. Hopefully that will be the issue!

 

[robersonjr]

Check to make sure the tip of the refill isn't a bit too large for the orifice, some times you have to drill a little out of the pen tip to get the refill to extend and retract smoothly.