Flow Issues. From The Heat?

[mattp]

Hello all, I've tried searching for this topic but came up with no luck so I'm hoping you guys can help me. I have a sailor 1911s and I had brought it with me to work on Friday. After work I had to pick a friend up at the airport, so I grabbed his car from his house and headed to philly. It was warm here in central jersey on Friday and I mistakenly left my pen in the box in my car. Now after that happened, I've had a few hard starts, and some times I actually need to prime the feed to write. I've NEVER had these issues with this pen before so I'm wondering if it's time in the warm car may have caused a problem. It's also worth noting that now when I go to tighten the cap I don't feel that "spring" on the last quarter turn. Could anyone shed light on what this could be? Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[tinta]

If no part of your 1911s was deformed by this (I would presume , baking), you may just have had ink harden in the fissures of your feed. I would thoroughly soak, flush the pen, pull apart the converter (if you are using one) & clean that too. After the pen is fully dry, fill it with the most well behaved ink you own & try it.

 

You did not mention the grade (size) of the nib or the ink that you were using at the time of the baking. Is it a wet pen, a dry pen or is it set at a medium flow?

 

My five 1911s sized Sailors all have very reliable feed systems (in two styles). They give me a most consistent flow with the inks that I use.

 

BTW:

Edited May 23, 2016 by tinta

[mattp]

Thanks! And it's a medium nib and the only ink I use in that pen is iroshizuku Kon-peki. I mean the windows were cracked so it wasn't like super super hot in there but it was warm. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it is most likely the ink that may have dried in the feed. It has medium to medium dry flow (I'm a lefty 😩). Like I said before, I have had no flow issues with this pen before. I've even left it inked for months and as soon as the nib touches paper or writes; that's why this has been strange to me. Thanks for the help!

[owend]

Assuming nothing mechanical, such as any distortion from over-heating, I would think that it's dried ink. In warmer conditions, any exposed ink in nib, between tines etc, will evaporate faster, leaving the ink solids as a "crust", and there may have been enough air inside the cap to take the water vapour evaporated off the nib. That would explain the cure when you prime it, as the fresh ink will dissolve at least some of the crust - I would expect it to write darker at first when it starts writing?

 

It would also explain previous easy starting after months unused - the temperature wasn't high enough to cause excess evaporation.

 

Also the lack of "spring" on tightening - some ink dried into the threads. If the ink in the converter was heated and expanded, it may have forced some ink out into the cap where it dried on the threads.

 

I would give it a flush, probably only a quick one is needed as you're only dissolving the dried ink, but also soak/flush the inside of the cap.

 

End of lecture! Anyway, I'm in England, we normally do cold and wet, overheating isn't often a problem

 

Owen

[mattp]

Thank you for the response! I'll give the pen a good flush! I'm also in the process of looking for a new everyday writer but there are too many choices 😩 I need something slightly bigger than my 1911s with a little more ink volume if possible

[tinta]

While this recommended pen is not in the same league as your Sailor 1911 Standard, it is a pen that has worked admirably for my left handed wife.

She positions the paper at 90 degrees to what's considered the usual, then writes downward. This way she does not smudge any of her work.

For a good while now, a Lamy Safari with a 1.1 mm nib has been knock-about her daily writer. The Lamy's converter hold more ink than a Sailor's.