Saving Pelikan 4001S?

[Raskovnik]

Don't get me wrong, I love pelikan 4001s, they are cheap, have a range of colors and very fp friendly. The problem is that they fade almost as soon as they dry and in a few months I can barely read what I wrote.

 

Does anyone have a good mixture to correct that problem?

[Ste_S]

Interesting. I've only started using them myself, so can't comment on the long term. In the short-medium term though, I've not had any problems with fading on Blue/Black or Turquoise.

 

Do all of the colours fade in your experience, or just a few ?

[setriode]

Royal blue fades most.

 

I found 4001 blue-black slightly dull and weak in saturation especially on cream coloured paper such as Moleskine where this blue-black otherwise performs well. It has a tendency to dry down to a shade of grey and then to fade a little.

 

It is much better when mixed: 8 parts 4001 blue-black to 1 part of 4001 brilliant black. This is still a little dry, needs a wet nib but will flows reasonably and exhibit shading. It is easier to read, more saturated and less susceptible to fading than 4001 blue-black on its own.

Edited July 28, 2014 by setriode

[Raskovnik]

Interesting. I've only started using them myself, so can't comment on the long term. In the short-medium term though, I've not had any problems with fading on Blue/Black or Turquoise.

 

Do all of the colours fade in your experience, or just a few ?

 

As what setriode said, all pelikan 4001s fade after a few months, that really bugs me. When I write something down, I expect to be able to read it in a few years, not disappear on me after a while.

 

Royal blue fades most.

 

I found 4001 blue-black slightly dull and weak in saturation especially on cream coloured paper such as Moleskine where this blue-black otherwise performs well. It has a tendency to dry down to a shade of grey and then to fade a little.

 

It is much better when mixed: 8 parts 4001 blue-black to 1 part of 4001 brilliant black. This is still a little dry, needs a wet nib but will flows reasonably and exhibit shading. It is easier to read, more saturated and less susceptible to fading than 4001 blue-black on its own.

 

I love Royal blue, before it drys. Thanks a bunch for the formula! Now I don't have to empty them down the drain...

[amberleadavis]

Add Ghost Blue - the color doesn't change but the performance does.

[Raskovnik]

Add Ghost Blue - the color doesn't change but the performance does.

 

I'm not sure I need it to glow in the dark... But I get your point , a transparent base to prevent it from fading off sounds like a very good idea, plus I can to read in the dark. Any suggestions on the proportions to use for each ink if I want to mix that into Royal Blue?

[The Good Captain]

I've had no problems with the Blue-Black at all. I'm tempted to add a minuscule bit of the Brilliant Black though, just for a test.

[Runnin_Ute]

I don't ever recall issues with 4001 Blue Black. Haven't tried any of the others.

[benay148]

Two of my favorite inks are 4001 Turquoise and 4001 Brilliant Green, both great shading inks that write amazing in my wet pens, haven't had any fading on my Tomoe River journal or Staples sustainable earth notebooks

 

Also with the right paper turquoise has a great red sheen

[ac12]

I do NOT have that problem with the black ink.

 

I only have that problem with the blue ink.

And more specific, I have the fading problem only with certain pens (Parker 51, Baoer 388). With other pens the ink is a nice medium or dark blue and easily readable (Pelikan M200, Esterbrook, adjusted Baoer 388).

• This seems to be more of a problem with dry pens. There isn't enough ink being put down on the paper to stay on top of the paper.
  I adjusted the nib of my Baoer 388 to write wetter, and the ink line went from light blue to dark blue.
• This may also be a problem with the paper. If the paper absorbs the ink fast, the dye will be drawn into the paper, rather than sit on top of the paper.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I do use Pelikan 4001 regularly, and I haven't had many fading problems with the turquoise, Brilliant Green, or violet. I also use Pelikan Royal Blue, and that does fade a bit. A lot of washable/eradicable blues seem to fade a bit after some time.

 

Dillon

[Raskovnik]

I've had no problems with the Blue-Black at all. I'm tempted to add a minuscule bit of the Brilliant Black though, just for a test.

 

 

I don't ever recall issues with 4001 Blue Black. Haven't tried any of the others.

 

Two of my favorite inks are 4001 Turquoise and 4001 Brilliant Green, both great shading inks that write amazing in my wet pens, haven't had any fading on my Tomoe River journal or Staples sustainable earth notebooks

 

Also with the right paper turquoise has a great red sheen

 

Blue-black still fades for me, maybe it's just the cheap paper I write on.

 

 

I do NOT have that problem with the black ink.

 

I only have that problem with the blue ink.

And more specific, I have the fading problem only with certain pens (Parker 51, Baoer 388). With other pens the ink is a nice medium or dark blue and easily readable (Pelikan M200, Esterbrook, adjusted Baoer 388).

• This seems to be more of a problem with dry pens. There isn't enough ink being put down on the paper to stay on top of the paper.

  I adjusted the nib of my Baoer 388 to write wetter, and the ink line went from light blue to dark blue.

• This may also be a problem with the paper. If the paper absorbs the ink fast, the dye will be drawn into the paper, rather than sit on top of the paper.

 

 

Might try loading my M200 with blue-black later and give it a run, thanks for sharing

 

Hi,

 

I do use Pelikan 4001 regularly, and I haven't had many fading problems with the turquoise, Brilliant Green, or violet. I also use Pelikan Royal Blue, and that does fade a bit. A lot of washable/eradicable blues seem to fade a bit after some time.

 

Dillon

 

Haven't tried turquoise and brilliant green, might do that in my next rotation.

[doggonecarl]

Are you exposing the ink to sunlight?

 

In defense of Pelikan 4001, my first pen was a Pelikan Future. While I noted in a pen review journal entry how royal blue faded a little after drying, that entry is as readable now as it was when I wrote it, over three years ago. And in my ink log, my Pelikan entries from the same time ( violet and brilliant black) are unfaded.

Edited July 29, 2014 by doggonecarl

[Paddler]

Brilliant Red faded so fast for me, I just poured it down the drain. Brilliant Green faded also, but not as quickly. It turned a new rubber sac to jelly in just a few months' time and I poured it down the drain also.

[indigoskye]

I use both Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black and 4001 Brilliant Turquoise. I had a look at my journal and neither ink has faded at all for at least 2 years. I do keep my journal closed most of the time and therefore do not expose the ink to sunlight.

[Raskovnik]

Are you exposing the ink to sunlight?

 

In defense of Pelikan 4001, my first pen was a Pelikan Future. While I noted in a pen review journal entry how royal blue faded a little after drying, that entry is as readable now as it was when I wrote it, over three years ago. And in my ink log, my Pelikan entries from the same time ( violet and brilliant black) are unfaded.

 

I use both Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black and 4001 Brilliant Turquoise. I had a look at my journal and neither ink has faded at all for at least 2 years. I do keep my journal closed most of the time and therefore do not expose the ink to sunlight.

 

I'm using normal foolscap paper, might be a paper issues. But my parker blue-black doesn't fade on the same paper, so not sure which is which.

 

Brilliant Red faded so fast for me, I just poured it down the drain. Brilliant Green faded also, but not as quickly. It turned a new rubber sac to jelly in just a few months' time and I poured it down the drain also.

 

O.O I didn't know it melts sacs, my vintages seem ok with the royal blue though.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

If I remember correctly, there was a bad batch of latex sacs, but I've seen many many pens, and I haven't seen many incidents of Brilliant Green melting sacs. I see that a lot more often with very saturated inks. I'm actually using it in a pen with a sac at the moment, and have been using it for quite a while like that. I generally consider it safe for most pens. I would though avoid the Brilliant Red. It can stain and tends to grow crystals of dye. It's an Allura Red dye based ink.

 

Dillon

[yogalarva]

I can't add anything helpful about the inks, but you have given me an idea of the next batch of inks to add to one of my water+sunlight+ambient light fading tests... :-)

[sansenri]

resuming this thread because ths is exactly what I experience with Pelikan royal blue, which is an ink I do like and use often but as others have said I Iike most when wet, because it has a tendency to fade. This happens differently depending on the paper and I have come to believe that the ink is sensitive to the type of paper, possibly bleaching agents in it.

My current solution is adding a very small amount of Diamine Bilberry blue to it, in a ratio of 10 parts royal blue to 1 part bilberry, or maybe even less.

At 10:1 ratio the colour turns just slightly violet, but seems much more saturated. At even lower ratios 15:1, 20:1 the violet tint is even less visible, but the ink still fades much less that usual when dried.