Does Anything Happen To Ink When It Gets Cold?

[inkyleftie]

I sometimes leave my briefcase, containing 5 or 6 fountain pens, in my car outside overnight. It's starting to get quite cold here, although nothing like the low temperatures some FPNers experience.

Does the cold have an adverse effect on ink?

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you.

[tfwall]

I sometimes leave my briefcase, containing 5 or 6 fountain pens, in my car outside overnight. It's starting to get quite cold here, although nothing like the low temperatures some FPNers experience.

Does the cold have an adverse effect on ink?

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you.

 

The ink chemistry can change, but for you the more immediate issue might be loss of your pens due to the ink freezing. I don't know what temperatures you consider "quite cold" but if the ink freezes solid, it can rupture your pens.

[FPFan]

NO WAY I would every leave fountain pens in a vehicle over night any time of the year! Lord only knows what could happen, including potential theft.

[someonesdad]

I agree with Chemyst -- get your pens indoors if the temperature will get near freezing or you could be looking at ruined pens. Or, fill them with Noodler's Polar series of inks. Where I live we've been getting temperatures in the teens (10 to 20 deg F) and that would be death for a fountain pen.

 

I tell people who move here from warmer climates that they better make sure to blow out their sprinkler systems in the fall -- if you forget, you only make that mistake once! About 25 years ago I forgot one line on our system and the line froze. Next spring I was cursing the idiot that didn't blow the line out, as my son and I had to dig that line up in very tough, hard ground (it was a challenge even with a pick).

[inkyleftie]

Thank you - some very good points made. It's not 'that' cold in coastal Blighty, but best to be prepared. I have to confess that my pens are not particularly valuable, and probably wouldn't be worth a second glance to a potential thief, but they do mean something to me of course. They are all safe and warm indoors right now!

[tfwall]

They are all safe and warm indoors right now!

 

[Inka]

All inks are primarily water, subject to freezing and as it expands could potentially damage a pen.

There are few exceptions, such as Noodler's Polar inks that are freeze resistant, but you give up some performance due to the anti-freeze properties.

I've done extensive freeze testing on my Polar inks, filled in the free Preppy eyedropper pens I got with large Noodler's bottled inks, I know they're freeze resistant and wouldn't hesitate using them in more pricey pens.

Here's just one test I've done on freeze-resistant Polar Black where I took the time to take photographs and write a review, showing it really does resist freezing.

 

Polar Black is "Freeze Resistant"!

Here's a teaser-shot from that article... and yes that's solid ice on the back of the pen barrel and frost all over the cap...

http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu56/InkaFX/PolarBlackInIce1.jpg

 

 

While I'd not recommend leaving your fountain pens outside in your vehicle in sub-freezing weather, at least there's an alternative ink that will work if you have no other choice.

I leave ball pens out in my vehicle at all times of the year, from boiling hot Florida summers to freezing Florida nights, I wouldn't do the same with any fountain pens I cared about despite what ink I use.

 

Polar inks tend to feather and bleed-through a bit more than your typical inks, but they're also permanent and have Eel lubricating qualities making them great for piston-fill or converters.

To me they also look a bit chalky, not as vibrant as many saturated inks look, but again they have their place and purpose in my ink rotation and I use them accordingly.

I have pens filled currently with Polar Black, Polar Brown, and Polar Green, all having Fine or Medium nibs and nothing broader since these inks tend to flow like fire hydrants even from the finest nibs.

As long as you understand this unique behavior and know what to expect, Polar inks can be very useful tools during cold weather, and contrary to popular belief it really does drop below freezing in northern Florida during some winter nights!

 

I hope that helps.

[Dioxazine]

I live in a really cold region and had to be careful when expecting inks in the mail.

 

I hadn't tried these inks before, but I think they came out perfectly normal once thawed;

 

Lamy Blue (Bottled) - developed ice sheets on top.

Private Reserve Buttercup - slushied.

Noodler's Yellow and Blue Ghost - may have oozed on their own at some point and messed up their own labels. Liquid when I got them (turned over the bottles, watched the bubbles.)

Rotring Brilliant Ultramarine - slushied.

 

They're all fine now. I was expecting some bursting the bottles, but the slushy behavior of PR Buttercup and R. Brilliant Ultra was actually pretty safe (No real change in volume. Of course, they're not really generous with ink. Lots of "freezing room" in there.) I think after slushying, inks might stay that way. Not blocks of ice. Except Lamy Blue, but I chalked that up to being really thin and probably having a really simple composition.

[tinta]

My concern about cold temperatures & ink revolves around ordering inks by mail, during the frigid months.

The closest store selling interesting bottled ink is more than an hour's drive away.

I live in a rural part of Southern Ontario Province (not exactly the Great White North) but temperatures can get down to -20 degrees Celsius & stay there for days.

Our mail is delivered to a postal Super Box (an ice box in the Winter).

 

I've been trying to figure out a "safe way" of getting inks by mail during the Winter.

To date I have reasoned three possible options:

----either not order inks in winter altogether

----or have the inks packed in an over-sized box, that has to remain at the Post Office for pick-up

----or pay the extra premium & ship by courier straight to the door (even then, I wonder what the temperature conditions are in the courier trucks & their depots).

[WayTooManyHobbies]

Inka - fantastic test - a fountain pensicle!

 

I'm glad to hear the Polar inks work as advertised. I purchased a Lamy Logo with a bottle of Polar Black for my 15 year old nephew's Christmas gift. He plays winter sports, so the pen will be left outside in the bus during Michigan winters. Nice to know that it should survive, and won't stain his other belongings.