Switching Inks In The Snorkel

[Durp13579]

When I go to flush out my snorkel, the pen always has ink in the feed. I have tried letting the pen stand for a few days on end, but the pen lays down a watery line no matter what ink I use. Is there any way to fix this, or will I have to disassemble it every time I want to change inks? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[3rdlakerobert]

You might try J.B.'s Perfect Pen Flush. You fill your pen with it and then just squirt it back in the bottle. You can keep reusing it as it get dirty. Won't hurt anything. Just be sure you flush with water after as it can make your flow much wetter. It ncreases ink flow so it improves the draining of ink.

 

http://www.indy-pen-dance.com/J.B.-s-Perfect-Pen-Flush.html

[Durp13579]

Robert, it seems like it is the water that I cleaned the pen with that makes it this way. I don't think that the pen flush will help my situation.

[jar]

The only solution I've ever found with Snorkels is to just go ahead and fill and watch the colors change as you use it. My experience was that folk simply didn't change ink colors in a pen in the past.

[Durp13579]

The only solution I've ever found with Snorkels is to just go ahead and fill and watch the colors change as you use it. My experience was that folk simply didn't change ink colors in a pen in the past.

I'll just have to try that. As for now, how should I fix the water issue?

[georgeb]

You can use a folded paper towel to absorb the ink / water mixture.

 

Slide the nib upside down over the paper towel (gently) until it gets dry enough.

 

Then put some ink in it. It may still be watery but it should be much better.

[saskia_madding]

I've always found it to be pain, but I've also managed to completely clean my snorkels. I love triumph nibs, and I also love ink, so I do cleaning a lot.

 

First step is a lot of flushing. You can't get around that. Keep flushing until the water is mostly water with a tinge of ink.

 

Second step is shaking. Fill the pen, turn in upside down (so the end cap is down and the nib is pointing towards the sky), shake it gently, turn it right side up (nib down, end cap skywards), then expel the ink. This process is meant to get water into the back end of the sac where ink can sometimes dry, and where regular flushing can't reach. Repeat this process until the water is mostly water and not ink when you expel it.

 

Step three is filling it fully using the same process used in an 823 (but remember to shake the water downwards into the bac of the sac, like step two, before trying to refill it the last little bit).

For extra good measure, instead of expelling the ink regularly, I wrap a small piece of paper towel around the nib and shake the pen firmly. I'm not entirely sure this entire step really does anything, but it makes me feel better to do it.

 

Step four - if there are still some bits of ink in the pen, I fill the pen fully (like the 823 video) with warm water, and then leave it soaking overnight. Once I flush the pen a few times after all that, even the most persistent Sailor inks come out.

 

Good luck!

[bsenn]

After flushing, put the pen nib-down in a wad of paper towel in a glass. Resist the urge to refill immediately. Let it sit overnight. The paper towel wicks out a lot of water.

 

Brian

[Ernst Bitterman]

The problem with the Snorkel is that the buffering part of the feed is isolated from the stream of the fill/flush; it's a bit of a swampy backwater up under the point. I've found that getting one REALLY clean is a long process, without turning to the ultrasonic tub (like making croissants or playing cricket):

 

1) Fill and Flush until the sac is clear, then fill with water.

2) Set the pen point down in a glass of water (not quite deep enough to cover the joint) in a safe place. Leave overnight.

3) Carefully remove pen from glass without stirring up the ink that will have settled out.

4) Apply absorbent material to back of point to draw water and some ink out of outer feed.

5) Refill with clean water.

6) Stand pen in glass with absorbent material in it; toilet paper is somewhat better than paper towel for this. Leave at least eight hours.

7) Refill with water, and dunk feed in water too.

8) Blot as in step 4 to see if/how much ink is still in the feed.

9) Repeat all steps if you can face it, or say, "Oh, that's good enough."

[inkstainedruth]

Glad I found this thread. I was flushing one of my Snorkels a week or two ago, and I could not BELIEVE how much ink was wicking out of the feed onto paper toweling -- even after I was getting absolutely no ink out of the tube as far as I could tell. (The ink, BTW was vintage Skrip Peacock).

So, Ernst, it sounds as if what you're saying is to basically treat it a lot like flushing a Parker 51.... And that patience is a virtue....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ernst Bitterman]

In some ways it's worse than a 51 because that gushing discharge makes you think you're accomplishing something.

[wastelanded]

"Gushing discharge" is enough to scare anyone away from trying a Snorkel...

 

Personally, I find them too much of a pain to flush: a TD is enough work. My Snork has a stuck tube, and I'm in no rush to fix it.

[ironwampa]

I gave up on cleaning my snorkel and just do a combination of only putting in really low maintenance inks and only inks that can be mixed with the other inks I have used. As for the feed the snorkel has two; one inside the snorkel tube and one that appears like a normal feed. The one that appears like a normal feed does not get cleaned by flushing. In stead you need to pull it out of the section and rinse it off to clean it. If that sounds like a lot of trouble then good news because I don't think that feed needs to ever be cleaned.

[WilsonLaidaw]

Would it be fair to say that "permanent" inks cause more problems than "washable"? I seem to have had far fewer problems with my various pens, Sheaffer, Mont Blanc, Lamy, Yard-o-Led and others, since I have been sticking to washable royal blue rather than the blue-black permanent I used to use.

 

Wilson