Sonnet Ink Evaporation Fix

[halffriedchicken]

Update:

 

Today I took out my second Parker Sonnet that I had filled up 4 weeks ago with Montbanc Midnight Blue. That ink is for me a very dry ink. I uncapped the pen and it wrote a nice wet line with no hard starts. The ink color was more concentrated and it took around five lines of scribble in a Mead notebook to get the color back to its regular color with this pen and paper. 

[Carguy]

I finally got around to getting some silicone earplugs and shaped a piece to go in the cap of my Sterling Fougere and it now works perfectly with no hard starts or drying out. Haven’t been able to write consistently with this pen in over 10 years!

[halffriedchicken]

25 minutes ago, Carguy said:

I finally got around to getting some silicone earplugs and shaped a piece to go in the cap of my Sterling Fougere and it now works perfectly with no hard starts or drying out. Haven’t been able to write consistently with this pen in over 10 years!

That's great news  I'm really glad your pen works now! 

[corgicoupe]

I would like to see someone post a schematic of what is inside the Sonnet cap in order to get an idea of how best to plug the leak.  There also seems to be a possible leak under where the clip joins the bezel surrounding the cap jewel. TIA

[halffriedchicken]

On 9/19/2021 at 9:41 AM, corgicoupe said:

I would like to see someone post a schematic of what is inside the Sonnet cap in order to get an idea of how best to plug the leak.  There also seems to be a possible leak under where the clip joins the bezel surrounding the cap jewel. TIA

Here's a crude sketch of what the cap looks like from what I can see. The brass plug screws the inner cap to the outer cap and my guess is that it attaches to the clip. The inner cap is what prevents the nib from drying out. The outer cap and clip do not affect that function of preventing dry out. The problem is that the brass plug does not seal the inner cap to be air tight, which is the whole point of adding silicone putty. You put the putty to mold on top of the brass plug to cover and seal the inner cap so it does its job. 

[Carguy]

And the putty fix is still working PERFECTLY for me.

[corgicoupe]

17 hours ago, halffriedchicken said:

Here's a crude sketch of what the cap looks like from what I can see. The brass plug screws the inner cap to the outer cap and my guess is that it attaches to the clip. The inner cap is what prevents the nib from drying out. The outer cap and clip do not affect that function of preventing dry out. The problem is that the brass plug does not seal the inner cap to be air tight, which is the whole point of adding silicone putty. You put the putty to mold on top of the brass plug to cover and seal the inner cap so it does its job. 

That is very helpful. Thanks much.

[halffriedchicken]

@corgicoupe You're welcome. I am glad that helps.

[mr T.]

On 9/21/2021 at 10:48 PM, halffriedchicken said:

Here's a crude sketch of what the cap looks like from what I can see. The brass plug screws the inner cap to the outer cap and my guess is that it attaches to the clip. The inner cap is what prevents the nib from drying out. The outer cap and clip do not affect that function of preventing dry out. The problem is that the brass plug does not seal the inner cap to be air tight, which is the whole point of adding silicone putty. You put the putty to mold on top of the brass plug to cover and seal the inner cap so it does its job. 

Thank you for this sketch. It made finding a solution for the problem with a Sonnet that sometimes dried out within a day quite easy. Filled the inner cap/brass plug with a thin layer of candle wax (stearin wax) and the evaporation problem with the Sonnet is gone now. Did the same with a non Parker pen (an Inoxcrom) that has a similar construction/design and that also had a problem with evaporating ink. Did fix it too. 

[halffriedchicken]

@mr T. That's great you were able to fix the problem. Wax seems like quite a simple and effective solution. I'm glad the sketch helped. 

[Number99]

Hello everyone.

 

 I also love sonnets.

 However, my sonnet has never dried up.

 I used to think that the sonnet dry-up problem was about vintage sonnets.

 However, when I checked, my sonnet also had a duct that could breathe.

 When I wondered why my sonnet was always damp, I posted it because I thought it might be due to the handling of my pen. 

This is my pen case.

 

https://unsharpen.com/extras/lihit-lab-compact-pen-case/

 

 It is waterproof and airtight.

 

 I put pens in it one by one.

 

https://m.ja.aliexpress.com/item/1005001585197272.html?srcSns=sns_Copy&spreadType=socialShare&bizType=ProductDetail&social_params=20368801363&aff_fcid=ec4c0ce48ed44085a6ae2fa6d4d548ac-1635473739549-01974-_m0OjB8S&tt=MG&aff_fsk=_m0OjB8S&aff_platform=default&sk=_m0OjB8S&aff_trace_key=ec4c0ce48ed44085a6ae2fa6d4d548ac-1635473739549-01974- 

 

 Sorry for the long link.

 

It looks like felt but is lined with a plastic sheet (highly airtight).

 I originally carry a pen like this to protect it from hits.

 I think it happens to protect Sonnet from drying out.

 It's not what I intended, but it seems to have good results regarding pen protection and drying.

 We do not recommend it because everyone has their own way of doing it.

 However, I would like to introduce that there is a way to keep the pen unchanged.

 

 There may be other ways.

 

 Apparently I'm choking "sonnet" instead of "children".