Sonnet Ink Evaporation Fix

[senzen]

I've taken a very poor picture of my Sonnet cap but hopefully you can see how I used the epoxy resin that I coloured with black powder pigment. I also dripped some inside. Just for the full effect. My cap now holds water where it didn't before.

 

 

That looks nice!

[mitto]

I think the cracks that are in the inner cap of a Sonnet pen cause the ink evaporation.

[Chrissy]

I think the cracks that are in the inner cap of a Sonnet pen cause the ink evaporation.

 

They do, but water poured out of my cap, so I decided to make sure that I had an airtight cap. I had already tried a temporary fix to block the cap end and established that I didn't pull any ink out of the nib when I did that. However, I decided I didn't want candle wax on there.

 

In my pen my fix worked perfectly and I'm a happy person.

[mitto]

I would rather leave my Sonnets UNTREATED and uninked and to just look at their beauty. Sorry to say it but for me the Sonnets are not to write with or better say not to enjoy writing with. They are beautiful, though and, hence, worthy of keep loking at and playing with.

[senzen]

After a long time I finally managed to get some silicone grease, to fix a Platinum converter, and had some time to remove the wax and apply it to the cap crown on the Sonnets; seems to have done the trick and it's barely noticeable.

 

 

The one with Ama Iro has spent days outside a pen case and hasn't evaporated as drastically as before; I can hardly believe these might finally turn into reliable pens. Silicone grease rules!

[Ron Z]

Wax on the outside to fill the vent holes is not necessry.

 

The vents in the top of the cap vent around the inner cap, not into it, and serve the same purpose as the vent holes in vintage pens. They do not connect through to the inner cap. The inner cap develops cracks at the inner end when the cap is assembled. The way to fix it is to drizzle some thin epoxy cement into the inner cap and allow it to harden You need just enough to cover the cracks at the inside end. It doesn't have to be very deep, and the repair is invisible.

 

I suppose wax could be used, but it will soften and could run if the pen is left in a place (like the sun) and it get warm enough. I wouldn't use it. I prefer epoxy because it doesn't contain solvents that have to evaporate to cure.

[pajaro]

I think epoxy has about the right viscosity to be easy to use. If I ever get around to doing this, I will probably use epoxy with a 5-minute set time. I shouldn't need to work it, and I think the drying time should be okay

 

.

[Colourfingers]

 

The problem seems to be vent holes in the end of the cap, around the jewel. I have heard that such holes are a European Union requirement, intended to prevent small children suffocating if they swallow the cap. I don't know if that's true. Regardless, I don't own any small European children so I resolved to block the holes.

 

And that sentence ladies and gentleman is my last laugh of the day.

[PeterR-C]

I have just come across this thread - very interesting. I have four 1994 sonnets which dry out overnight, and the cartridges sometimes empty out even though I have hardly used them. I have tried the water trick and all four caps leak copiously. I use them in hot climates (I'm an archaeologist and I record finds in Egypt etc) so I'm guessing that the candle wax solution might not work, as Ron Z indicates.

 

I have looked online for epoxies and I find superglues and epoxy resons that need to be mixed from two tubes. This seems a bit irreversible and also difficult to apply inside the cap. What more liquid varieties should I look for? Can anyone recommend? All help gratefully received.

[halffriedchicken]

This is an old thread but in case someone is still looking for an easy solution to fix the Sonnet's cap and others that may have similar sealing problems, my suggestion is do NOT use plumber's putty which is a waterproof sealant. I just reread the label which says the putty can cause ABS plastic to weaken. 

 

(This is an update to my original post where I used plumber's putty but later found out it may harm your inner cap)

Edited July 7, 2021 by halffriedchicken
Correction

[alexwi]

Have you tried the plumbers putty or this is just an idea?

 

I'm asking because I have a couple of Sonnets that need this in order to become usable.

 

A while back, @Ron Z said that he used a drop of epoxy for this and I was considering E6000 glue, which remains flexible, but haven't tried.

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

[halffriedchicken]

I just recently tried this but I am actually going to change my recommendation and remove my comment. i just reread the directions on plumber's putty and the product says it is not for abs plastics because it can cause weaknesses in the plastic. 

[halffriedchicken]

35 minutes ago, alexwi said:

Have you tried the plumbers putty or this is just an idea?

 

I'm asking because I have a couple of Sonnets that need this in order to become usable.

 

A while back, @Ron Z said that he used a drop of epoxy for this and I was considering E6000 glue, which remains flexible, but haven't tried.

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

I did use plumber's putty and it works well but this is a case of "shoulda read the warning label."

[alexwi]

1 hour ago, halffriedchicken said:

I did use plumber's putty and it works well but this is a case of "shoulda read the warning label."

I just checked and the label on the one I looked at says not to use on plastic. Is this what you're referring to?

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

 

[Carguy]

2 hours ago, alexwi said:

Have you tried the plumbers putty or this is just an idea?

 

I'm asking because I have a couple of Sonnets that need this in order to become usable.

 

A while back, @Ron Z said that he used a drop of epoxy for this and I was considering E6000 glue, which remains flexible, but haven't tried.

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

I have E6000 glue and my very first Sonnet suffers from this problem. Has anyone ever used this?

[alexwi]

1 minute ago, Carguy said:

I have E6000 glue and my very first Sonnet suffers from this problem. Has anyone ever used this?

I'm on the fence with it since I got it because it's self-levelling and I'm not sure how much I need.

 

I have a chinese Sonnet whose cap I've been meaning to slice open with a Dremel to see exactly what shape I need to fill with whatever material I end up going with.

 

Alex

[halffriedchicken]

I am trying another idea I was thinking about. My second choice that I am testing now is waterproof silicone putty ear plugs by Mack's. They are for swimming to avoid getting water in your ears.

 

From what I can see inside the Sonnet cap there is the outer cap, the inner cap, and a small brass plug inside the inner cap to join the outer cap. I covered the brass plug with the silicone putty ear plug to make a waterproof seal so that the inner cap is able to hold water without dripping. I tested the inner cap using an ink syringe to put water only in the inner cap and it does not drip. I will leave the pen capped and unused for the next 2 weeks and get back to you on how it turns out.

 

Again, using the back of a pencil I stuffed a whole dried black pepper sized amount of material and that seems to be enough to cover the brass plug and seal it with the inner cap. Of course, you have to avoid putting too much in the cap so that the nib doesn't touch the plug.

[Carguy]

2 minutes ago, halffriedchicken said:

I am trying another idea I was thinking about. My second choice that I am testing now is waterproof silicone putty ear plugs by Mack's. They are for swimming to avoid getting water in your ears.

 

From what I can see inside the Sonnet cap there is the outer cap, the inner cap, and a small brass plug inside the inner cap to join the outer cap. I covered the brass plug with the silicone putty ear plug to make a waterproof seal so that the inner cap is able to hold water without dripping. I tested the inner cap using an ink syringe to put water only in the cap and it does not drip. I will leave the pen capped and unused for the next 2 weeks and get back to you on how it turns out.

 

Again, I used a black pepper sized amount of material and that seems to be enough to cover the brass plug and seal it with the inner cap. Of course, you have to avoid putting too much in the cap so that the nib doesn't touch the plug.

Please do…a Sonnet was my first Parker pen and I have 6 that I never write with because they always dry out.

[halffriedchicken]

30 minutes ago, Carguy said:

Please do…a Sonnet was my first Parker pen and I have 6 that I never write with because they always dry out.

I have 2 Sonnets so I inked up both and will test 1 in 2 weeks and the other 2 weeks more. 

[halffriedchicken]

@Carguy @alexwi So to follow up, today is two weeks since I made the new seal for my Sonnet with the silicone putty ear plugs from Mack’s. Typically my Sonnets would start to show signs of dry out in a few days without use, a dry nib which I would need to dip in water or to prime the feed with ink. Two weeks of not being used would generally be impossible for my Sonnet. Today I uncapped my Sonnet and it wrote nicely without any hard starts or signs of dry out. The nib was ready to go. 

 

In case you’re wondering how the putty reacts when in contact with ink, I have also used this same silicone putty in the body of a Noodler’s Charlie pen because it’s an eyedropper but I don’t want burping issues. I put in some of the putty to block around the same area the piston of a Noodler’s Nib Creeper would be and so far the putty works well to provide a water tight seal and it has not reacted to ink in the pen. I’ve used it with MB’s Midnight Blue, and I think I also used blue black Parker Quink too. I don’t know how it would react to any harsher inks like an iron gall but my guess is it should be fine. 

 

Just as a reminder what I did was I took a black peppercorn sized amount of putty and covered the brass plug at the end of the inner cap using the blunt side of a pencil and sealed the inner cap and the brass plug. I then tested to see if the inner cap could hold water by putting water in an ink syringe and filled the inner cap. From my test, it seems as long as the inner cap can hold water and not drip, the cap will not have problems with dry out. And that’s it. The putty is removable and this hack can easily be reversed, so as long as you don’t clean out your cap with paper towels then the seal should be fine if undisturbed.

 

Here is a link to Amazon US for the earplugs I used.

https://www.amazon.com/Macks-Pillow-Soft-Silicone-Earplugs/dp/B003LZQGN6/ref=sr_1_5_mod_primary_new?dchild=1&keywords=silicone+ear+plugs&qid=1626900143&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sr=8-5