Burping Pen ......

[timboD]

Hello FPN-ers

 

need some help with my burping pens.

 

I have never had this issue before until I moved cities..... my pens burp ink! .......maybe my inks, like fine wine, don't travel well?!

 

All the pens have done it.... MBs less so

 

Scenario

OK lived in Sydney Australia...coastal city, humid + sea level, higher (relatively) temperatures, then

 

moved to Canberra, inland at altitude 577m, dry heat, temperature way colder and a wide variation in temps

 

that's it ... driving me nuts

 

 

 

selection of inks include

J herbin

Noodlers blue eel

noodlers baystate

monteverde

 

pens

MB 159

MB mozart

kaweco sport AL

noodlers rollerballs

Jherbin rollerball

noodler charlie

Edited December 3, 2017 by timboD

[EMQG]

I'd bet money that the temperature varying throughout the day is the cause. The air in the barrel expands and contracts with heat and cold, which can cause burping.

[Tasmith]

I'd bet money that the temperature varying throughout the day is the cause. The air in the barrel expands and contracts with heat and cold, which can cause burping.

 

Good point. My Wing Sung 698 with and extra fine nib never burped when it got low on ink until the temperature dropped last month. I'm now careful to refill it when it gets about have empty. Didn't realize the drop in temperature could be the cause.

[praxim]

I am not familiar with the pens in question. In past times I used a fountain pen in Canberra without a problem. Its climate may be different from that of Sydney, more extreme in temperature, less so in humidity, but it is hardly unique. Further, at that time I travelled regularly to coastal cities without encountering pen difficulties. My lone example at the time was a Waterman Expert.

 

Have all the pens in question been emptied, maybe flushed, and refilled since arriving in Canberra? A difference in trapped air pressure would account for singular problems. They should not persist.

[timboD]

Good point. My Wing Sung 698 with and extra fine nib never burped when it got low on ink until the temperature dropped last month. I'm now careful to refill it when it gets about have empty. Didn't realize the drop in temperature could be the cause.

That sounds very similar to what my pens are doing, the temps are dropping very low at night, then they have a burp ... Perhaps storing tips up or some such thing to allow air exchange

[timboD]

I am not familiar with the pens in question. In past times I used a fountain pen in Canberra without a problem. Its climate may be different from that of Sydney, more extreme in temperature, less so in humidity, but it is hardly unique. Further, at that time I travelled regularly to coastal cities without encountering pen difficulties. My lone example at the time was a Waterman Expert.

 

Have all the pens in question been emptied, maybe flushed, and refilled since arriving in Canberra? A difference in trapped air pressure would account for singular problems. They should not persist.

Yes all pens flushed and refilled, no joy there : (

[timboD]

I'd bet money that the temperature varying throughout the day is the cause. The air in the barrel expands and contracts with heat and cold, which can cause burping.

Sounds like the culprit,,,,,, may just have to be careful ..... Thanks everyone

[CAG_1787]

Sounds like the culprit,,,,,, may just have to be careful ..... Thanks everyone

 

Storing them nib-up is a good general practice that may help with this.

[gerigo]

Burping is the result of ink being pushed out of the pen from a change in pressure in the pen. This can either be caused by drastic changes in temperature or air pressure. For some pens with huge ink capacities that are pretty low on ink, the expansion of the pocket of air will cause ink to be pushed out.

 

The most obvious one that most people don't know about, at least in the modern context today, is that our bodies are quite warm and when we hold our pens, the change in temperature will cause the ink to blob in the most inopportune time, when we want to start writing.

 

One way is to just accept there is going to be a little blob here and there, and wear it as a badge of being part of the fountain pen crowd. The other way to mitigate this issue is to use pens that have quite large feeds, such as MB, Pelikans and the likes. Leave the vintage pens out because they are going to be the most burpy.

[rwilsonedn]

A habit that can help quite a bit is simple: when you first pick up a cold pen, hold it in your hand, nib-up, until your hand has warmed the barrel and it no longer feels cool in your palm--give it a minute or two, depending on the temperature of the pen and your hand, not just a few seconds. That will often allow the air pressure to equalize and solve the problem.

ron