Why Do My Pens Always Bleed Ink When I Carry Them Around?

[Caifanito]

Howdy all. I'm not entirely a "noob"...as a matter of fact I've been using my fountain pens daily for quite some time. But, I've had a recurring issue which frustrates me. I gladly spend my time inking my pens, placing some of them safely in my Libelle pen wrap, and proudly carry them daily everywhere I take my bag. I actually keep a blue and a red Ahab in my bag enclosures for daily use and the others are kept in the wrap inside my bag. Then comes the day when I have to take one of the pens out from the wrap and....nightmare....when I take the cap off there is ink all over the nib and inside the cap. One time the ink even came out of the pen and stained the wrap a little bit.

 

At first I figured I may have not tightened the pistons well, or maybe excessive bag movement caused the ink to bleed out. But after this same thing has happened two or three times I figured I must be doing something else wrong.

 

My current (and modest) collection contains a couple Watermans, 4 Ahabs, a TWSBI, a Levenger and a Faber Castell. I'd LOVE to carry some of them around all the time so any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[BrandonA]

How do you carry your pens? Nibs pointing upwards or downwards? I always carry mine nib upwards.

 

Do you carry them in a bag which gets thrown around?

[inkstainedruth]

I was about to ask the same thing, but BrandonA beat me to it....

I sometimes get ink inside the cap on pens -- especially on my Flex-Piston and on my Konrad (which of then gets transferred to the threads when I remove the cap, or onto the blind cap when I post). But I think partly that's because sometimes I drop a pen, and it flicks a little ink. I also think sometimes it may just be changes in air pressure, as well. When I see that i just grab a tissue and try to wipe the excess ink off the threads so it doesn't compound the problem, and try to roll up the tissue enough so I can swab out the cap (and I often flush the caps when I'm flushing pens, just because it does happen despite my best efforts to keep the nibs upright when I'm not actually using them).

I'll admit that I don't get too irritated -- I figure it just comes with the territory. And I've have BPs leak on me as well....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dickydotcom]

I don't get that problem and my pens are carried around in a messenger bag on the back of my motorbike.

They will mostly be laying on their sides and get a fair bit of bumping around on journeys up to 40 miles each way.

I can only think it is your pens rather than how you are carrying them.

 

Dick D

[pienaar]

I carry my Safari and my Ahab in my shirt pocket nibs up never any leaks.

[Pelikan_FP]

Nibs up for me in my messenger bag to work everyday without a leak. If it's not in the bag, it's clipped in my shirt pocket, nib up of course.

 

I agree with the others, that it is most likely related to how the pens are being transported in your bag..i.e. not with the nibs up.

[Caifanito]

Well it's weird....my bag has two slots for pens...and I keep my red and blue ahabs there for daily use....and those don't leak. But if I carry my pen wrap with other ahaps and the levenger that's when the spills happen. I have it upright with the nibs up. I guess in daily use the bag does get to move around a bit (from walking and placing it in the car) but nothing out of the norm (running, dropping, shaking, etc). This is why I find it odd.

[todayilearned]

Well it's weird....my bag has two slots for pens...and I keep my red and blue ahabs there for daily use....and those don't leak. But if I carry my pen wrap with other ahaps and the levenger that's when the spills happen. I have it upright with the nibs up. I guess in daily use the bag does get to move around a bit (from walking and placing it in the car) but nothing out of the norm (running, dropping, shaking, etc). This is why I find it odd.

 

What's the temperature change during a normal day where you live?

 

Do these wraps "breathe" well or fully enclosed? Are the pens usually filled with as much ink as possible?

[Caifanito]

Well it's weird....my bag has two slots for pens...and I keep my red and blue ahabs there for daily use....and those don't leak. But if I carry my pen wrap with other ahaps and the levenger that's when the spills happen. I have it upright with the nibs up. I guess in daily use the bag does get to move around a bit (from walking and placing it in the car) but nothing out of the norm (running, dropping, shaking, etc). This is why I find it odd.

 

What's the temperature change during a normal day where you live?

 

Do these wraps "breathe" well or fully enclosed? Are the pens usually filled with as much ink as possible?

 

Are you suspecting that the ink inside the pens is expanding with heat and since they are filled, the ink bleeds out? I hadn't thought about that ... that's a great suggestion! Unfortunately, I don't think that's my case. The wrap with the pens stays in my bag...which goes from room temperature at home, to the car and into the office with me so all these places are climate-controlled. I don't leave my bag, say, in teh trunk of the car on a hot day when it would get really hot. Although I do live in the mid atlantic so when it gets hot, it can get pretty hot.

[todayilearned]

Well it's weird....my bag has two slots for pens...and I keep my red and blue ahabs there for daily use....and those don't leak. But if I carry my pen wrap with other ahaps and the levenger that's when the spills happen. I have it upright with the nibs up. I guess in daily use the bag does get to move around a bit (from walking and placing it in the car) but nothing out of the norm (running, dropping, shaking, etc). This is why I find it odd.

 

What's the temperature change during a normal day where you live?

 

Do these wraps "breathe" well or fully enclosed? Are the pens usually filled with as much ink as possible?

 

Are you suspecting that the ink inside the pens is expanding with heat and since they are filled, the ink bleeds out? I hadn't thought about that ... that's a great suggestion! Unfortunately, I don't think that's my case. The wrap with the pens stays in my bag...which goes from room temperature at home, to the car and into the office with me so all these places are climate-controlled. I don't leave my bag, say, in teh trunk of the car on a hot day when it would get really hot. Although I do live in the mid atlantic so when it gets hot, it can get pretty hot.

 

You could always leave the reservoir 1/4 empty and see what happens.

[Ghost Plane]

Some may be the ink. When I carried my Carenes under extreme conditions [tossing a bag into an unpressurized aircraft], I found Waterman inks and Montblanc spattered the least. Noodlers and DeAtramentis migrated the most. Experiment with a different brand of ink & see if it makes a difference.