warm weather warning

[randyholhut]

It finally got summerlike in New England this week. On the last day of May, I was off covering an event in the Boston area. It involved two hours of driving in an un-air conditioned car, a half-hour on a lukewarm subway car and another hour or so of walking around and hanging out on an 80 degree day.

 

So, I pull out my "51" vac from my shirt pocket to start taking notes, and got a handful of Noodlers Blue-Black on me. I got the cap back on before ruining a shirt or anything else with stray ink, and was once again introduced to that perennial problem of summer -- pens that sweat ink.

 

Not every pen or ink does it, but it's worth a reminder that warm weather and fountain pens don't always go together.

 

How often does this happen to the rest of you, and have you any remedies for this?

[Goodwhiskers]

Cheap plastic pocket protectors (Staples sells them in 3-packs) probably prevent some stains.

[rosey]

It's been very hot in our house the past couple of weeks and I noticed my Parker 51's were sweating ink also.

 

I posted a question about it on the Parker Forum and this is what JPolaski said:

" Are there huge variations in temperature? Is it fine, then you go out into the heat, then back inside? I've found that huge changes in temperature cause a pen to sweat on occasion, either spilling out ink, or reconstituting dried in inside the inner cap... Try cleaning out the inner cap completely until a q-tip doesn't produce any more ink, then see what happens... "

I tried his suggestion, and it has helped greatly.

[jpolaski]

When in doubt, open the pen nib down, so the cap forms a cup for any ink that may have escaped, and carry pocket tissues , or Q-tips (can you tell I love those things)

 

 

OH, and thanks for the nod Rosie

 

 

 

(edited for content)

Edited June 2, 2006 by jpolaski

[Apollo]

Ah yes, the sweaty pen syndrome! Living down here in the south during the long summer months, I can truly relate to this. Yes, Q-tips are a gift from the gods!

[PekkaT]

warm weather and fountain pens don't always go together.

One good point more to live here, in cold Finland, among polar bears! :roflmho:

[HesNot]

I had a Sheaffer snorkel throw up a nice amount of Waterman Green the other day. It has been well into the 80s here in the Queen City and nice and cool in the office!

 

As an aside, Apollos avatar had me pulling out my vinyl copies of This is the Modern World and In the City.

[Apollo]

As an aside, Apollos avatar had me pulling out my vinyl copies of This is the Modern World and In the City.

There ya go, HesNot!

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/CosmicSuperchunk/jam.jpg

[randyholhut]

Temperature variation is certainly a factor. My pens sit in a generally cool place that ranges from the 50s in winter to the 70s in summer. Certainly, they are resting at a lower indoor ambient temperature than Vermont outdoors in the summertime.

 

Then again, temperatures in Vermont in the summertime can range from the 40s to the 90s.

 

As for my sweaty "51," the next day I swabbed out the inner cap with Q-Tips and wiped off the ink on the barrel with a tissue. Two days later, it's back to normal.

Edited June 2, 2006 by randyholhut

[Glenn-SC]

I don't remember this ever happening to me.

It's certainly gets hot enough here.

[The Man]

I actually live on an island (yep, Hawaii livin' ). I hope this is not TOO off-topic, but, I just picked up a Visconti Opera (FP) and, while the nib and ink are cooperating perfectly, I'm noticing that, for my tastes, (and I SHOULDA' been able to guess this one, :bonk: ) the black colored vegetal resin barrel and cap's sorta'/kinda' taking a beating in these very early weeks of summer, alone. Ergo, this Opera -- actually, as it should be -- has become a night-time pen . . . and that's actually been working out.

 

So . . . I'm -- happy to say, actually -- back to placing my Engraved Chrome Cross Apogee in my front aloha shirt pocket, and, using it indoors (yeah, we have office bldgs., A/C here in the islands; not to say that any of you didn't know, but, I think it was my first day of college when I got the serious query, "so, you guys live in grass shacks?" ) and outdoors. And, it is very neatly my everyday and fav' pen and looks great in the sun.

 

Oh, and is my top writer right now. Really smooth, no skipping, lays out ink wonderfully. Worthy of the name, Apogee.

[amh210]

Cheap plastic pocket protectors (Staples sells them in 3-packs) probably prevent some stains.

My son was on his HS trip that visited Cal Tech. He called me in the middle of the day to let me know he was in the bookstore and he wanted to buy me a gift; a genuine Cal Tech pocket protector.

 

I explained to him that you had to be quite a bit smarter than I was to be entitled to wear a Cal Tech pocket protector but I appreciated the thought and would be extremely proud of him if his HS grades were good enough to get him into Cal Tech and earn the right to wear a Cal Tech pocket protector.

 

He didn't get it. Couldn't figure out why the "Old Man" thought he was being amusing. God help the TV generation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or maybe to subtle for a 16.5 year old. At least he was being practical.

 

Andy