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My Pens Keep Drying Out Really Fast Except For One. Any Advice?


MTHALL720

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Another thing to make sure you do generally speaking when it comes to filling ink, agitate (gently shake) the bottle or vial before filling. Some inks especially Noodler's bulletproof, or inks with other properties (lubrication/etc) may settle to the bottom when not handled for a while. The uneven mix can cause problems like rapid evaporation, or taking forever to dry on the page.

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Make SURE that the pen is cleaned out.

I have flushed till the water comes out clean, but when left overnight in a glass of water, in the morning there is a cloud of ink in the glass. Which obviously means all the ink was NOT cleaned out.

So soaking is an important part of cleaning.

 

Flushing does NOT does guarantee that the ink channel is cleaned. It all depends on how the feed is designed. Some feeds will flush via the ink channel, others will flush through the ink fill port and bypass the ink channel to the nib.

 

If the cap does not seal well, it could let the feed/nib dry out.

 

Try a different ink. I have 3 pens with 3 different Noodlers inks, and all 3 pens behave differently.

N Liberty's Elysium in my Parker 45 will dry and clog if not used daily. Even so it will gradually clog the feed and nib slit.

However, I have a friend who has absolutely no drying/clogging problem with LE in his pen :wacko:

N Lexington Grey has been absolutely great in not drying out and clogging.

Diamine Sherwood Green is worse than Liberty's Elysium. It will dry and clog most of the pens that I have used it in. It only works in WET pens.

 

Some pen/ink combos will drain the ink back out of the feed into the cartridge/ink sac more than others.

Storing the pen flat will prevent this drain back.

Of course the ultimate is the desk pen method, store the pen nib down. As the ink evaporates from the nib, it is replaced, so the nib never dries out, until you run out of ink.

 

Next the nib. If the slit of the nib has a large gap, the gap may be large enough to not be able to retain a wet ink, and the ink will flow back out of the slit into the feed. So when you go to write, the ink has to first fill the slit. Hold the pen up to a light and see if you see daylight between the tines. If so, the slit is dry.

 

Finally. I keep an inkwell with water on my desk. When I have a pen that does not write, it gets a quick dip into the water. 9 times out of 10, that primes the pen and I am off and writing. The only times that the dip does not work, is when the nib/feed is clogged.

 

That is it for now.

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

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I often have 17 pens inked, so there will be some that dry out...Some sit there for quite a while.

......cure? Simple a half a shot glass of water or an old rubber postal cup with a sponge.

Dip and go.

 

I have many brands of ink....which really don't matter much....when a pens been hanging around the back of the pen cup for a long time. I never got around to timing my inks for how long it takes the pen to dry out since I started having more pens than good sense.

 

I am told Noodlers makes many styles of inks, besides the thick supersaturated inks........try a thinner two toned shading ink.

Herbin makes a nice unsaturated ink.......nice shading inks.

 

We are living in the Golden Age of Inks....IMO it's rather short sighted to have just one......like going into Dunken Donuts and having just the powdered sugared one....always.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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This used to drive me nuts, I keep the mega driers Parker Sonnets in a pen case with a clear top, it might have come with a Platinum pen, sanity restored. I also bought a bunch of cheap velvet single pouches for the rest. My ones that don't dry out are screw cap pens (so way more expensive), or my four Studios.

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

 

B. Russell

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the nibs and the performance of the pen are just outstanding but the pen itself just feels cheap and (bleep). The fact that it's sold with the barcode painted on does not help, the silly name, nor does the plastic clip.

For the asking price of the Preppy, it can be reasonably expected to be full of compromises, both in the design intent and also from the consumer's perspective, especially since few would dispute that the pen delivers well in terms of function and performance.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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For the asking price of the Preppy, it can be reasonably expected to be full of compromises, both in the design intent and also from the consumer's perspective, especially since few would dispute that the pen delivers well in terms of function and performance.

My preppy 05 works quite well, considering that it mainly sits upright in a cup filled eye dropper style [with added o-ring] with Noodler's Kung Te-Cheng for months and months, and just gets uncapped for envelope addressing with the permanent purple ink known to clog most pens hard as stone if not well sealed.

 

Not the greatest nib or sharp edged at that, but it'll write even with that.

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Not the greatest nib or sharp edged at that, but it'll write even with that.

I'd say it beats the nibs on the Sailor HiAce Neo and 11-0073 desk pens in terms of usability by a noticeable margin. Personally I think it writes at least as well as the nibs on the Sailor Lecoule (of which I have three).

 

I just turned one of my Preppy EF nib donors into an eye-dropper, filled with Rubinato Nero Inchiostro black writing ink and fitted with what seemed to be the broadest of the Plaisir F nibs I had (but, in reality, it was probably just my original choice of ink that made it lay down a thick line), to see what the fuss about ED pens are. I still don't like the idea, but at least it's cheap to do, with pens and inks for which that I care little. For me,

converter-fill >> eye-dropper ≥ piston-fill

in terms of the inherent value the filling mechanism employed brings to a fountain pen.

 

Which makes the Preppy all the more impressive for the asking price, because a user can effectively pick between the two better filling mechanism options, have a choice between three easily interchangeable nib widths, and enjoy the benefits of the spring-loaded inner cap preventing ink from drying even if the pen is unused for a long time.

Edited by A Smug Dill

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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I'd say it beats the nibs on the Sailor HiAce Neo and 11-0073 desk pens in terms of usability by a noticeable margin. Personally I think it writes at least as well as the nibs on the Sailor Lecoule (of which I have three).

 

I just turned one of my Preppy EF nib donors into an eye-dropper, filled with Rubinato Nero Inchiostro black writing ink and fitted with what seemed to be the broadest of the Plaisir F nibs I had (but, in reality, it was probably just my original choice of ink that made it lay down a thick line), to see what the fuss about ED pens are. I still don't like the idea, but at least it's cheap to do, with pens and inks for which that I care little. For me,

converter-fill >> eye-dropper ≥ piston-fill

in terms of the inherent value the filling mechanism employed brings to a fountain pen.

 

Which makes the Preppy all the more impressive for the asking price, because a user can effectively pick between the two better filling mechanism options, have a choice between three easily interchangeable nib widths, and enjoy the benefits of the spring-loaded inner cap preventing ink from drying even if the pen is unused for a long time.

 

 

Downside to the preppies though is that the caps have been known to be not quite durable. Especially in posting, the cap lip would get cracked and with no firm hold onto the pen the spring loaded cap would just either eject off or stay unsealed. Some people have taken preventive measures of using heat shrink plastic around the cap lip or just taping it ahead of time.

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Downside to the preppies though is that the caps have been known to be not quite durable.

It's a $3 pen, effectively a consumable, and I don't think anyone could reasonably expect it to last 'forever'. All a user could hope is that it doesn't crack and/or leak at the most inopportune moment, if as a consumer they choose to go with that grade of pen (by price, and by material for construction).

 

Being a savvy consumer is all about making well-considered compromises choosing what is available in the market.

 

Some people have taken preventive measures of using heat shrink plastic around the cap lip or just taping it ahead of time.

That's a good idea, even if I'm not personally inclined to post the cap on the barrel when writing. I think I'll go put tape around the cap lip now. Thanks!

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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For the asking price of the Preppy, it can be reasonably expected to be full of compromises, both in the design intent and also from the consumer's perspective, especially since few would dispute that the pen delivers well in terms of function and performance.

 

 

Very true, but I don't think a solid-color plastic and a simple plastic sleeve for retail packaging (or a simple sticker instead of the barcode) would add much more than a nickel to the cost. Let the actual disposable pen - the varsity - have the ugly barcode.

 

For that matter, why the hell can't we get the varsity in an extra fine? Medium is the weirdest choice for that nib, IMO.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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For that matter, why the hell can't we get the varsity in an extra fine? Medium is the weirdest choice for that nib, IMO.

Yes! I hate the nibs in the Preppy/Plaisir. Pilot's "disposable" nibs are far better than those on many production pens.

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Very true, but I don't think a solid-color plastic and a simple plastic sleeve for retail packaging (or a simple sticker instead of the barcode) would add much more than a nickel to the cost.

Just to be clear, by 'compromises' I specifically meant to include attributes that are not desirable. I'm sure Platinum could produce a better pen that it is prepared (and can afford) to sell for $3 if it tried, but why should the manufacturer do so and make that a better value proposition for the consumer, when it risks cannibalising sales of 'better' models of that brand?

 

Giving consumers what they want is important, provided that it helps them part with their hard-earned (or inherited, or however acquired) dollars. Helping consumers spend/consume/sacrifice less of what they have to get more (things, satisfaction, and so on) in return is not the goal of either for-profit enterprise or technological advancement.

 

Personally, while I don't like the barcodes on the pen barrel and all that, for the fact that I choose to use a $3 pen (and not just take the nib and transplant it into a different pen body), I'll happily accept that's what Platinum chooses to serve up at that price. There is simply no real competition at that price point, and I know it, Platinum knows it, and I suspect you know it too.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Just to be clear, by 'compromises' I specifically meant to include attributes that are not desirable. I'm sure Platinum could produce a better pen that it is prepared (and can afford) to sell for $3 if it tried, but why should the manufacturer do so and make that a better value proposition for the consumer, when it risks cannibalising sales of 'better' models of that brand?

 

Giving consumers what they want is important, provided that it helps them part with their hard-earned (or inherited, or however acquired) dollars. Helping consumers spend/consume/sacrifice less of what they have to get more (things, satisfaction, and so on) in return is not the goal of either for-profit enterprise or technological advancement.

 

Personally, while I don't like the barcodes on the pen barrel and all that, for the fact that I choose to use a $3 pen (and not just take the nib and transplant it into a different pen body), I'll happily accept that's what Platinum chooses to serve up at that price. There is simply no real competition at that price point, and I know it, Platinum knows it, and I suspect you know it too.

Because Pilot does better for less money than the Preppy with their V-pen. The nibs on these ostensibly "disposable" pens are far better than Preppy/Plaisir, and they can be refilled as well. I've paid many a hard-earned dollar to Pilot and Platinum both, and I'm just a broke-a$$ college student. If Pilot did a preppy-like pen, they'd steal the market from Platinum because of superior nibbage in lower-line pens. Wow we're off topic.

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Because Pilot does better for less money than the Preppy with their V-pen ...‹snip›... Wow we're off topic.

But would the Pilot V-pen (of which I've never heard, to the best of my recollection) be a good candidate – because of whatever characteristics and/or features it purports to have for marketing purposes – for preventing inks from drying out in the nib and feed?

Edited by A Smug Dill

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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Because Pilot does better for less money than the Preppy with their V-pen. The nibs on these ostensibly "disposable" pens are far better than Preppy/Plaisir, and they can be refilled as well. I've paid many a hard-earned dollar to Pilot and Platinum both, and I'm just a broke-a$$ college student. If Pilot did a preppy-like pen, they'd steal the market from Platinum because of superior nibbage in lower-line pens. Wow we're off topic.

 

But would the Pilot V-pen (of which I've never heard, to the best of my recollection) be a good candidate because of whatever characteristics and/or features it purports to have for marketing purposes for preventing inks from drying out in the nib and feed?

 

Hi SD,

 

I believe the pen Bass is referring to is the Pilot Varsity, ("V-pen" is one of its street names... like "Metro" for the Metropolitan).

 

I purchased the multi-color 8-pk of Varsity's off of AmazonSmilePrime a while back... and they're actually pretty good little pens for what they are... and I've never had any start-up issues with them.

 

However, IIRC, I have had one or two of them skip on me now and again. :unsure:

 

All in all, though, they're worth a shot. Be well... and enjoy life. :)

 

 

- Anthony

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Do you store them tip up, tip down, or on their side? I find that if I store them tip up, the ink drains back down. This problem is lessened if I store them on their side.

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It's a $3 pen, effectively a consumable, and I don't think anyone could reasonably expect it to last 'forever'. All a user could hope is that it doesn't crack and/or leak at the most inopportune moment, if as a consumer they choose to go with that grade of pen (by price, and by material for construction).Being a savvy consumer is all about making well-considered compromises choosing what is available in the market. That's a good idea, even if I'm not personally inclined to post the cap on the barrel when writing. I think I'll go put tape around the cap lip now. Thanks!

At least a year I would hope, just because it’s $3 doesn’t mean it should be forgivable if it falls apart in less than that.

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Sorry for the delay in responding -

 

@Smug - the preppy's are nice pens and don't dry out on me, but I prefer an INSANELY HUGE NIB. I don't actually write so much as a doodle yell. :)

 

For all - the Pilot Varsity, V Pen and U Pen (which is erasable) along with the BIC refillable are some of the most reliable fountain pens in the desert. They are terrific - and refillable. HOWEVER, as above, I am trying to use my ink collection in my lifetime so I use pens that consume vast quantities of ink. :)

 

I also found that with my love of super saturated inks, I had more trouble with nibs getting dirty. Sonic cleaning and flushing were not enough. I would say it is like washing your car at a touchless car wash - it is better than not washing the car, but it just isn't that clean.

 

Also, don't discount factors like surface tension and adhesion which can play heck on the pens writing.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Amber, fair enough.

 

I prefer pens that are capable of laying down very fine lines consistently, and ideally not overly wetly, so as not to unduly lengthen drying time on the page, or increase the risk of bleed-through and/or unintended smearing. All without unfortunate side effects of ink drying and clogging the nib or feed when the pen is capped and unused for a few days, or hard starts when one briefly pauses writing with the pen uncapped, of course. Thus Platinum #3776 Century models fitted with something-F nibs would be my first recommendation for tackling the O.P.'s problem, but for the purposes of experimentation, a Preppy is probably an acceptable, cheap proxy for testing whether the spring-loaded inner cap contributes significantly to an effective solution/workaround.

 

I can appreciate sheening and colour-shifting attributes in an ink if they are evident when writing with a 'Japanese Fine' nib on premium notepaper such as Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Leuchtturm, Maruman, Midori, et cetera that are 'fountain pen friendly' by nature but marketed to stationery consumers at large as being for general use and/or everyday applications, as opposed to touted as 'designed for' use with fountain pens to best elicit certain attributes from inks to look pretty. An ink such as Diamine Jalur Gemilang just sheens no matter what or where (even if or when a user doesn't want it to).

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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