Noodlers Inks For Eye Droppers?

[Sinistral1]

Somebody mentioned that there are Noodlers brand inks formulated specifically for eye droppers to not expand when heated, which is why so many eye droppers burp their ink in a very nasty way at times.

 

If this is true, is Noodlers the only brand that has done this, and how can you tell which ones they are?

[doggonecarl]

If that's the case, that's the first I heard about it.

[brewsky]

never heard of it

[Lou Erickson]

I haven't heard of that, either.

 

I thought the problem wasn't the ink expanding, but the air in the pen. This is why a full eyedropper pen burps less.

 

I don't think Mr. Tardiff can fix that in the ink.

[dcwaites]

As said, the ink does not expand significantly, it is the air in the barrel which heats up, expands and burps the ink out. Even a 1 degree rise is enough to cause problems if there is enough air in the ink.

In one of Nathan's videos, though, he does recommend never letting one of his Platinum Preppy eyedroppers get less than half full. I now keep my Kung Te-Cheng Preppy ED and my HOD Preppy ED very close to full and have not had any problems since.

The alternative is to sit the pen nib up in some warm water to heat the air in the barrel up, then when you use it, the air is actually cooling down, eliminating the problem.

[WaskiSquirrel]

The ink has no effect on the "burping" of an eyedropper. That is a function of the air expanding in the heat of the hand.

[Sinistral1]

Okay, so would it also work to hold the pen with the nib up for a while before starting to write?

[Lou Erickson]

Probably not. The nib and feed will remain full of ink (if they're doing their job) and that is plenty to burp out into the cap or on to your hand. Keeping it full will help more.

[Sinistral1]

I didn't know that I would be getting mini science lessons from this hobby! Oh well, my ticket did say General Admission... Thanks for the information on how to avoid the ink burps.

[ville900]

Very cool explanations thanks to all of you.

[SeeksAdvice]

Not just the Preppy eyedropper conversions that do this. Might have to take my Stipula Speed Ball back to a converter fill. You don't want to see massive blobs of Kung Te Cheng all over the place.

Can't get away from simple thermal expansion of the air.

[Sinistral1]

Has anybody ever seen historical writings about how this problem was dealt with?

[WaskiSquirrel]

Has anybody ever seen historical writings about how this problem was dealt with?

 

Historically, I believe the pens were kept inked up. I've read different suggestions, from 1/3 to 2/3 ink. I have a few eyedroppers, but it is not my favorite filling mechanism. The burping is one reason. Another is my fear of accidentally unscrewing it just a little (and I've done that).

 

The cleverest solution I've seen is a converter, and I like the one in the Noodler's Ahab the best. Converters keep the ink insulated from the hand. Now, I don't like converters, but science doesn't lie: the air between the converter and barrel is insulation.

[Jimmy Joe]

One solution is to have a good feed that can buffer a surge in pressure with a small, relatively, ink capacity. For example, my Wality 69Ts will burp if the ink level gets low when they have their original feeds, which are not much more than an ebonite rod with a groove cut in it. With the feed replaced with one from a Sheaffer NoNonsense (well, actually a modern Viewpoint), I write them empty without a single burp. They hold a large amount ink, but not a ridiculously giant amount. It's somewhere around 3 ml.