Old Ink Won't Go Away

[PudkipZ]

Hi folks,

 

Until recently I have been a sucker for black ink and used Organics Studio carbon black ink. Though I have to admit it's getting rather boring, which is why I invested in Diamine amber and blue black ink.

 

So I take my pen (which has a converter) and I flush it a couple times (like a lot of times) and fill it with the amber ink. I write some with it, and it looks pretty cool, but after a few seconds it doesn't look golden yellow but greenish yellow (which looks awful). I guess it's because there is still rests of ink in it and I flush it even more and leave some water in it for a couple hours. Refill again, no luck. Repeat, no luck.

 

So my question is basically, how do I remove all of the ink residue?

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Try some warm soapy water or pen flush. Is it in the converter or between the feed and nib? If the latter, it is easiest just to remove the nib and feed to wipe clean. A bulb syringe (for infants' noses) is a great cleaning tool as well.

[Chouffleur]

Try some warm soapy water or pen flush. Is it in the converter or between the feed and nib? If the latter, it is easiest just to remove the nib and feed to wipe clean. A bulb syringe (for infants' noses) is a great cleaning tool as well.

Be sure to clean the bulb syringe afterwards. It helps avoid those oh-my-God-our-son-is-leaking-Levenger's-Amethyst-from-his-nose events.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Chouffleur

[Sandy1]

 

Hi,

 

Patience and persistence are the watchwords for pen cleaning, especially when completely removing all inky residue.

 

There are many threads (and YouTube videos) on pen clean-up. As you don't mention the pen you're working on, this Topic has a range of suggestions / techniques and includes the sage advice of the esteemed Mr Ron Zorn:

Limit to Soaking? https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/229245-limit-to-soaking/?p=2453755

 

Bye,

S1

Edited August 28, 2015 by Sandy1

[ac12]

An UltraSonic Cleaner and soaking the section.

 

There is a lot of places where flushing won't work (like the fins on a feed). Because the ink in those places are out of the ink flow path, so flushing won't clean it out.

For that I do soaking, usually overnight, and if the water has ink in it, I soak again, repeating this cycle until no more ink comes out of the section/feed.

 

I position the section, nib down, in a tall narrow glass.

This way, the ink will drift down out of the feed.

[beanbag]

I use a section of 3/8" ID clear flexible tubing. Slip one end over my syringe, and the other end over either the nib end, or sac end of my pens' section to flush a few times back and forth with water. Then I let it soak for just a few minutes. Then I repeat the procedure. If no new ink comes out, then I am done. With this same setup, I expel the water and suck air back and forth a few times. Then use a can of compressed air to blow out the rest of the water. The turn-around time is pretty fast this way.

 

If there is old, dried out ink, then I take it to my lab's ultra sonic cleaner, and put the nib/ section in a plastic container.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Hi folks,

 

Until recently I have been a sucker for black ink and used Organics Studio carbon black ink. ....

 

I assume this means that the ink has carbon particles in it, such as India and Hero Carbon Black (I think that's the name of it) inks do. If some of the carbon particles are in a bad place you'll need to dislodge them; you will not be able to dissolve them in water. You could leave the carbon particles in contact with eater until the Sun turns into a red giant star and the carbon won't dissolve. You can't dissolve the carbon with anything that won't destroy your fountain pen, either.

 

So if the carbon is causing the clog the only way you're going to get it out of there is physically.

 

The suggestion to take the nib and feed apart is good. Then you can use a toothbrush, and maybe some soapy water, to clean it. The soapy water won't dissolve the carbon bits, but it may get between them and the nib or feed that they're stuck on and lubricate the carbon bits' way out of that part of the pen. Also make sure that you clean the inside of the section if you take the nib and feed out.

 

The ultrasonic cleaner can really help here. And if you can't take the nib and feed out for intensive attention then an ultrasonic cleaner may be your best bet. There are cleaning compounds for ultrasonic cleaners, and you can put the pen parts in the ultrasonic cleaner with water that has some dish detergent in it to try and get the carbon particles out.

 

Good luck!