Usually this means the ball part is stuck and/or the ink surrounding it has dried out.
Here's a close up of how they work: https://youtube.com/shorts/7KGqGAlxwJs
If no ink gets transfered unto the ball, it's not able to write anything.
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2025
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The ink gets all stiff and gunky and doesn’t transfer to the ball. The ball might not even spin at that point. Lick it.
I know that you can use a cigarette lighter, very briefly, to burn off the stuck-on ink off the ball… otherwise the ball will pop out because the ink behind it turns to steam, I assume.
I believe there’s a chemical (maybe isopropyl alcohol?) That you can apply to the ball to dissolve the ink as well.
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Pens can often pick up paper fibers that gum up the works. In the case of ballpoints I can see this being a pretty permanent problem once it builds up enough to stop up the pen