Hero Carbon Ink: Initial Review

[mb146]

"Greetings to all. I ordinarily do not write comments or endorse this ink, but I would like to share my experience with this Hero 234 "Advanced High Carbonic Ink". I recently bought four bottles ($3.75 each) from a local store that were filled with 56 ml. of black ink. The bottles came in their original cardboard box. I noticed there seemed to be some dried ink on the outside of the bottles. When I opened each of the bottles, the seals did not appear damaged, so I assumed the dried ink was from the factory during processing? The bottles did not not appear to have been totally filled to the neck of the bottles.

 

I filled a Chinese 359 Summer fountain pen (medium nib) using a converter. I used the pen without any problems from the start. After several days, the ink did appear to leave a dried residue on the nib and seemed a bit thicker than commercial fountain pen ink, but continued to write without a problem. The flow of the ink seemed smooth (not too wet, but not to dry) with consistent coloration. The ink was very dark in color, with very little feathering on regular multipurpose copy paper (92 bright). The ink dried on the paper very quickly. I tested to determine if it was permanent by rubbing it with water. There was some smudging, but the ink did not wash off. I also soaked the paper in water, the ink did not wash off, but rather only faded and smudged a bit but was still legible. Pretty permanent in my opinion!

 

The pen was used for aproximately two weeks and when the ink ran out I refilled it and used it for another two weeks. No problems were encountered. When I washed the pen out, there was some very minor staining of the convertor, but it did not seem to affect its function. As an experiment, I did add 1 - 2 ml. of plain water to the ink bottle to change the consistency of the ink and shook the bottle to mix it well. It did make the ink thinner, and it performed just as well (if not better) than before I modified it.

 

In conclusion, I would confidently use this ink in any of my lower priced, everyday use fountain pens. In my opinion, the quality control in the production of the ink is questionable. To err on the side of caution, I would not take the chance of putting this ink into my beloved Montblanc fountain pens or any expensive fountain pens. My recommendation is: Chinese fountain pens + Chinese ink = Unbeatable fun experience. Enjoy! :)"

 

Just as an update:

 

1. I added even more water to "thin" it out (50:50 mix) and I added about 5 ml. of dish washing soap. Ink flows very nicely now and does not dry out at all.

 

2. I have not experienced any issues with the ink damaging the plating on the fountain pen, residue or staining. Perhaps it has to do with "quality control"?

 

3. I would have to say that the ink is still very dark, consistent and a real pleasure to write with.

 

I also see the price of the ink has also increased but it is still great value for the money. Its a nice inexpensive ink for everyday use in your inexpensive fountain pens.

 

 

[OCArt]

mb146, I'm glad you had good luck with this ink. It is a wonderfully dark, black ink and does initially write well but I found that my pens needed to be used very frequently or they would dry out. Maybe I'll try your dilution trick.