Montblanc Permanent Blue Reformulated?

[Tasmith]

Did Montblanc reformulate it's Permanent Blue ink this year?

 

The first bottle purchased in 2014 performed flawlessly in my MB-146 and Waterman Kultur. Each pen start writing immediately regardless if left unused for a day or even several days.

 

My second bottle purchased earlier this year has cause both pens to hard start if left unused for just several hours or more.

 

I've even thoroughly flushed each pen with JB's and water between the last four refills and they still hard start.

 

Getting really frustrating.

[Joane]

No idea about reformulations but I stopped using Permanent Blue because it stained the inside of the convertors and even its own glass bottle. Some don't mind that in a tradeoff for permanency but it's not for me.

[cellmatrix]

Did Montblanc reformulate it's Permanent Blue ink this year?

 

The first bottle purchased in 2014 performed flawlessly in my MB-146 and Waterman Kultur. Each pen start writing immediately regardless if left unused for a day or even several days.

 

My second bottle purchased earlier this year has cause both pens to hard start if left unused for just several hours or more.

 

I've even thoroughly flushed each pen with JB's and water between the last four refills and they still hard start.

 

Getting really frustrating.

I've bought this ink early on and more recently this year and I don't think there has been any reformulation. To me, its slightly dry but its always been that way. Shading continues to be quite evident and color seems very much the same vivid dark blue its always been.

 

I am sorry you are frustrated. Are you sure you don't have some precipitate hanging around inside your feeds that your JB's is not getting to? I had one of my MB's get a low flow, a long time ago, and I used a pen wash at the time too (it was rapid - eeze I believe) and it did not help, but I sent it out to Greg Minuskin, and he said the feed was clogged, and when I got it back, it became the same wet writer it always was. Maybe try sending your pen off to someone who can do a professional cleaning on your MB, who can pull the nib out and look at the feed. Given my prior experience, I believe that's what I would do if I were again confronted with your dilemma. Anyway, I hope you can solve the problem, good luck!

 

No idea about reformulations but I stopped using Permanent Blue because it stained the inside of the convertors and even its own glass bottle. Some don't mind that in a tradeoff for permanency but it's not for me.

 

No staining of my MB 149 ink window despite much use. As far as maintenance, it flushes out of pens and cleans off of hands better than any other permanent ink I've used. Its quite a remarkable ink as far as I'm concerned.

[Jordan N]

I had very similar experience with Permanent Blue cartridges. The only difference is that ink was very wet, spreading like I'm using some bold nib. Not sure how old was that ink, but it expired in February this year. I returned those cartridges.

[The Good Captain]

I've had this ink in a Pelikan M205 for ages and it's behave perfectly. No idea about the formula but it's cracking ink.

[carlos.q]

I've had this ink in a Pelikan M205 for ages and it's behave perfectly. No idea about the formula but it's cracking ink.

+1

This MB Blue permanently resides in my Pelikan M205 with no problems.

[Tasmith]

Thank you for all of your valuable insight and advice. My MB 146 is writing better after yet another flush in JBs. Looks like I'm going to have to at least flush it thoroughly with water before each refill.

 

The Waterman Kultur which I used to think of as a bullet-proof pen continues to struggle with MB Permanent Blue. Carlos.q, I'll try it and see how it works it in my Pelikan M200.

[Masque]

Looks like I'm going to have to at least flush it thoroughly with water before each refill.

 

This is a very good practice in general. Even when refilling with the same ink, even if you empty your pen daily, this is a practice that will keep things humming along.

 

...presuming you are using pure water. I've seen hard water cause clogged feeds as well, which is a terrible irony.

[perfaddict]

 

I bought the bottle on the right late 2014, and the new edition on the right a few months ago. No difference in performance or characteristics.

[EbonitePen]

I purchased a bottle when it came out and have had similar issues with it since, just as you describe. Mine has the white label. People who used the ink too are often surprised when I say that it doesn't perform well. So maybe some inconsistency with the formula?

[thygreyt]

I have a white label too. It now resides on my noodlers creeper.

 

On my ivanhoe it stained the converter, nib and kinda clogged the feed. On the noodlers its been great.

[Tasmith]

Think I may have found the solution to the second bottle of MB Permanent Blue behaving so badly. Just watching it slosh around in the pen's ink windows it seemed somewhat thicker than it should be, at least when compared to the Akkerman, and Pelikan 4001 inks in my Pelikan M200 demonstrator and Waterman Kultur blue demonstrator.

 

I added six drops of distilled water to the bottle and mixed well. I thought one drop per 10 milliliters in the 60ml bottle was a good starting point. Clean out my MB 146 and Pelikan M200 and refilled with the slightly watered down ink.. Both pens write so much better! No hard starting and drying out in the feeds. So far, so good.

[ShortRound131]

Will adding distilled water to change the properties of the ink? (Permanence)

 

Would it help write "wetter"? Stain less?

 

Think I may have found the solution to the second bottle of MB Permanent Blue behaving so badly. Just watching it slosh around in the pen's ink windows it seemed somewhat thicker than it should be, at least when compared to the Akkerman, and Pelikan 4001 inks in my Pelikan M200 demonstrator and Waterman Kultur blue demonstrator.

 

I added six drops of distilled water to the bottle and mixed well. I thought one drop per 10 milliliters in the 60ml bottle was a good starting point. Clean out my MB 146 and Pelikan M200 and refilled with the slightly watered down ink.. Both pens write so much better! No hard starting and drying out in the feeds. So far, so good.

Edited October 31, 2016 by ShortRound131

[Tasmith]

Will adding distilled water to change the properties of the ink? (Permanence)

 

Would it help write "wetter"? Stain less?

 

So far it has performed very well and I haven't noticed any change in the properties. Soaked a piece of paper in water for 30 minutes and the inked is completely water proof.

[SeeksAdvice]

Serious particulate problems for me. I don't think it's growing anything, I think that whatever is in the ink is solidifying. Had it destroy a refillable roller ball.

 

My problem is, I need something that will last at least 50 years for record keeping for certain files. It's either this, Sei-Boku, or Kiwa-Guro.

 

I utterly detest this ink, but not quite as much as "permanent black" that is anything but. Would have expected MB to create something really durable and as functional as Sei-Boku, but apparently not.

[makris]

Could you please clarify which bottle is the most recent, the blue label or the white label? Thanks!

[Mr.Rene]

The original label was a white label (around 2013-2014 years) for Blue or Black ink

[makris]

Thanks! I have the blue label blue ink which I purchased at Paradise Pen. It is working well in my MB 149 obbb.

[jmccarty3]

My bottle is the white label, which I purchased last year from FPH in NY. I cannot get it to work well undiluted, having tried in several pens. Most vendors' web sites show the white label bottle, although MB's site shows the blue label.

[Tasmith]

Recently purchased my third bottle of MB Permanent Blue from the Montblanc Boutique in Tysons Corner, VA.

 

It is even worse than the second bottle. Completely gums up my pens. I always clean and rinse out the pens prior to re-inking. Even rinsed again when my MB-146 and TWSBI Eco started skipping after being left unused overnight.

 

My 146 became almost unusable, hard starts and skipping and the Eco wasn't far behind.

 

Cleaned and dried both pens and now use R&K Dokumentus in them. Both pens now write perfectly again.

 

Dumping the MB Permanent Blue out!

 

Ps. The use by date on the bottle is 01 Sep 18.

Edited June 17, 2017 by Tasmith