Ammonia Solution - 10%

[kavanagh]

Dear FPN Colleagues,

 

This is probably a silly question....but how do I make a 10% ammonia solution ( to flush out ink deposits in a pen ? ).

 

What kind of ammonia do I have to purchase ?

 

Also, do I immerse the whole pen in the ammonia solution ?...or just the feed ? ( I own a Pelikan M200 and Sheaffer Legacy ).

 

Or can I use something from Tryphon / Triphon ( the Italian Company ) ?.

 

Thanks,

 

kavanagh

 

 

[Romagno]

Dear FPN Colleagues,

 

This is probably a silly question....but how do I make a 10% ammonia solution ( to flush out ink deposits in a pen ? ).

 

What kind of ammonia do I have to purchase ?

 

Also, do I immerse the whole pen in the ammonia solution ?...or just the feed ? ( I own a Pelikan M200 and Sheaffer Legacy ).

 

Or can I use something from Tryphon / Triphon ( the Italian Company ) ?.

 

Thanks,

 

kavanagh

 

Buy a bottle of household ammonia - non-sudsy

Take 1 part of ammonia, add 9 parts water = 10% ammonia solution (by volume).

 

You can use this to flush pens to remove old ink.

You can soak dis-assembled pens, nibs, feeds to loosen old dried ink. DO NOT soak hard rubber in ammonia, water, or any other solution, as it will discolor.

 

Always flush everything with cool, clear water to remove ammonia when you are done.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Romagno

[superbleu]

household ammonia you can buy at the grocery store is 5-10 percent (according to wikipedia)

 

Richard Binder suggests to use a 1:10 dilution of this on his website,

 

which would be .5 to 1% ammonia.

 

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/care.htm

 

[Pete]

household ammonia you can buy at the grocery store is 5-10 percent (according to wikipedia)

 

Richard Binder suggests to use a 1:10 dilution of this on his website,

 

which would be .5 to 1% ammonia.

 

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/care.htm

 

He's speaking of regular ammonia solution-- from the article: "or a 1:10 solution of clear household ammonia in water"

[Buzz J]

Mates,

 

Better carefully check the label on your ammonia product. I am able to buy 100% unadulterated ammonia at my local Kroger.

 

Do the math as appropriate. If you buy a 50% solution, add one cup of it with 4.5 cups water (total is 5.5 cups of which .5 is ammonia = 1:10 ratio.). If the ammonia smell seems strong, you might recheck your formula.

 

Interesting to note that 1:10 and 10% solution are not the same. 1:10 is 11 parts, one of which is the ammonia - ~9%. 10% is 10 parts, one of which is ammonia. Regardless, either dilution is close enough.

 

Happy repairs!

 

 

John

[Romagno]

Mates,

 

Better carefully check the label on your ammonia product. I am able to buy 100% unadulterated ammonia at my local Kroger.

I think you had better read the label. Ammonia (NH3) is a gas at room temperature. Ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH), from which household ammonia is made, is a solid at room temberature. This agent is very caustic to human skin, and must be handled with care.

 

Although I am not an expert on the range of concentrations of household ammonia, I agree with what a previous poster said, i.e., that it is usually a 5%-10% solution. A further dilution of this solution (1 part household ammonia to 9 parts water) is the soultion to which Richard Binder refers in his article.

[JDlugosz]

I've been wondering about this. I needed some ammonia cleaner, which they no longer carry in the stores or Home Depot, but I found some "old fashioned" stuff at Elliot's hardware next to the cast-iron frying pans. I got the non-suds version thinking I would use it for the pens also, given the choice.

 

However, the reason I wanted it in the first place was to wash up shellac that splattered on the tile floor. Ammonia dissolves shellac, and is used for cleanup when pure alcohol is not practical because of a large area.

 

But... I keep hearing that pens are made with shellac holding parts together! How can that be? I also see that they use heat to remove those parts, rather than simply dissolving the shellac back in alcohol. So I wonder if what the call shellac is not actually the stuff that everyone else does (comes from the Lax bug, dissolves in denatured alcohol).

 

--John

[Pete]

I've been wondering about this. I needed some ammonia cleaner, which they no longer carry in the stores or Home Depot, but I found some "old fashioned" stuff at Elliot's hardware next to the cast-iron frying pans. I got the non-suds version thinking I would use it for the pens also, given the choice.

 

However, the reason I wanted it in the first place was to wash up shellac that splattered on the tile floor. Ammonia dissolves shellac, and is used for cleanup when pure alcohol is not practical because of a large area.

 

But... I keep hearing that pens are made with shellac holding parts together! How can that be? I also see that they use heat to remove those parts, rather than simply dissolving the shellac back in alcohol. So I wonder if what the call shellac is not actually the stuff that everyone else does (comes from the Lax bug, dissolves in denatured alcohol).

 

--John

 

It's the same shellac. Either the ammonia isn't as effective on dried shellac, or there's not enough surface area exposed for the ammonia to get to the shellac, since the shellac is used to seal threaded or tight fitting parts. I'd guess its the latter because I've used ammonia to clean up some brushes that had week old dried shellac on them, if I remember correctly. Now that I think about it, they had to be soaked in the ammonia and squeezed for a day or two to get all the dried shellac out, so it didn't just cut right through the dried shellac.

[SquelchB]

I'd have one question - is household ammonia a white powder that forms crystals on the wall of the glass if stored for a longer period?

[Have Fun]

Not taking the p... has anyone tried or advocated urine? What ratio would you dilute that to ?