For some time I have been using a rather nice Skyliner for editting documents. It has a brilliantly fine and firm nib (a real book-keeping type and has the diagonal design) and I use it with red ink which matches its maroon body colour, stripy cap and character, to mark up typed pages.

The feed is a rather complex affair and when I first removed the section the top part of a breather(?) tube fell out of the body, having been broken or disintegrated previously. There is still a quarter of an inch of this tube remaining.

With a new sac I have used the pen reguarly since and it has worked hard for its living.

However, in the past week it has decided to release its charge of ink, blob by blob, onto the page. It will write perfectly for a few minutes then, without warning, blob. I have removed the nib and feed giving it all a good clean. They have been refitted and all works perfectly, except, after a few minutes... blob. I have now ruined a few documents and have perpetually red blotched hands and so another (less worthy) pen is filled with red ink for this purpose.

Any ideas anyone? Why should it perform admirably for so long and, seemingly, suddenly change to being useless? Is the length of the tube critical? (I had assumed it was for filling purposes and so it is possible that, if the ink level is above the top, it can drop through the tube, flooding the feed.)

All thoughts welcomed.

Many thanks

Greg

A couple of things come to mind.

How long since the repair?

How much time elapsed between the repair & the blobbing issue?

Was the nib heat set to the feed?

Was a tapered sac used in rhe repair?

Blobbing can happen from a pin hole in the sac.

The incorrect size sac in the pen, too large, will transfer heat from your hand, through the barrel into the ink sac & expand the ink after a few minutes of holding the pen.

POE

Poe,
I collect Wahl Eversharp, especially the Sky Line and the Symphony, they are very similar, but have differences. If you would like to send me the pen I will go thru it for you if you pay the postage. The repair should take 20 minutes, of course depending what is wrong. let me know.
Bill
billbee4@fuse.net

Your question would seem to limit some of the possible causes to just those that relate to deterioration or a change in the set-up of the pen. Since you say that it worked fine for years and then suddenly acted up, check these in the following order.

1) nib/feed mating (paper should not be able to slide between the nib and feed. If it does the gap is too wide and blobbing can occur. reset it with heat.

2)the pin hole or tiny tear in the sac that was previously mentioned can happen from presser bar friction over the years, opening up the sac to air flow. Replace the sac.

3) Your body temperature has suddenly changed so much that heat from hand is causing air expansion in the sac that pushes ink out. While you can do little about this as facetious and unlikely, you can test the heat idea by simply hoding the loaded pen over a wqrmer than body temp strean of hair dryer air and see if that rise in temp causes ink flow excess.

4) A hairline crack in the feed or section.

5) a clogged breather tube inside the sac can cause air gulping and ink blobbing.

Just some ideas to try
Syd

Many thanks all for your useful suggestions, I will try these and report back.

The pen was refurbished around 3 years ago and has been in regular use since. The sac is not a tapered sac, but is quite small in order to fit into the tapering body. I have read before about the body heat syndrome, I would say that my body heat does suddenly increase but only after a another document has received a blob!

I will carry out your suggestions one at a time so as to find what the problem is (my initial thought is that a pin hole may have appeared in the sac).

With regard to heating the feed for perfect fit with the nib (a process I have carried out before on another pen) I wondered that the feed was plastic rather than hard rubber. I will try anyway.

I will return!

Greg

For those interested about the resolution of a blobbing Skyline:

Having cleaned etc the feed, nib I removed the section to look for pin holes in the sac. There lies the problem. Only a few years old, the sac had become rather gooey and some was stuck to the pressure bar. Pulling it out saw it stretch to a sticky 3-4 inches leaving a nasty mess in the body. Seemed a rather quick demise of a sac.

On reflection the ink I used (a mixture of old Platignum red - very vivid - and a little darkening black) was rather aggresive and leaves a red 'stain' on anything it touches, even the gold nib, although a bit of rubbing removes it. Seemed rather acidic and, I think, was responsible for early rotting of the sac.

A new sac now installed (although not the preferred tapered type, anyone know where I can get one of these?), some different ink (Herbin) and I am reminded what a great pen this is. All's well that ends well. I ditched the remainder of the Plaignum red. Shame.

Can anyone help with suggesting what I should use to clean the ink-view window?


Greg

Hi Greg,

There is a known issue with a production run of pen sacs from a few years ago. I've heard that the manufacturer omitted an ingredient, and the result was a sac that readily turned gooey. I'm not sure how widely those sacs were distributed (particularly in an international context), but they seem to turn up just about everywhere.

Tapered sacs are available from the Pen Sac Company. The size 16T sac is also available from Pendemonium. Both establishments are located in the U.S.; if you can't locate the proper sacs locally, you could always inquire about international sales/shipping.

With respect to the ink-view windows, I've found that the default water/ammonia solution (followed by a thorough rinse with plain water) does a good job of getting them clear, although, of course, it won't remove the amber tint.

Cheers,

Jon