De Atramentis Black Document Ink

[Lorna Reed]

I bought a bottle of De Atramentis Black Document ink because I was not happy with the colour of Diamine Registrars ink. I love the black, but am having awful problems with it in my pen. I've used it in my Italix Parsons Essential with medium nib. After four days the pen was completely blocked, and the photo shows what came out of it when the section and feed were put in cold water. (Sorry for the reflection across the photo)

I cleaned the pen thoroughly and tried again, adding a couple drops of dish soap to the ink. This has helped somewhat, as so far the pen has not got blocked again, but it is a very hard starter now. I have to twist the converter each time, to push some ink into the feed to get it going.

Is there anything else I can do with this ink, to make it practical to use, or should I give up on it? I can't see myself flushing it out after every use.

Should I just buy a dip pen to use with it, even though the label says 'Exclusive handmade ink for use in fountain pens'.

I would be very interested to hear others experiences of this ink.

[Bartimaeus]

That looks pretty bad.

 

I used De Atramentis Black document ink a couple of years ago for some time and didn't have trouble. But I don't remember what pen it was, and I don't own any of the pens I had back then anyway.

As of this Wednesday I'm using De Atramentis Brown document ink without any trouble so far. I'm now using it in a Hero 616 Jumbo that was absolutely new.

 

Maybe there was some reaction between the document ink and a residue of ink you had used in your pen earlier? Maybe the material of the feed has some reaction with the ink?

But if it's bad for your pen, I would take the ink out of it right away!

[WilsonCQB1911]

I think this might be a problem with the Diamine ink, not the DeAtramentis. I say that because I had Registrars in my 149 and flushed (but not rigorously) and put in Montblanc Permanent Blue. I had a concrete-like sludge form in the body of the pen. It took tons of flushing, and several fills of ink to finally dissolve and clean out completely. When I flushed the pen out there were flakes of sand-like substance that would come out. I've thrown out my Registrars and never looked back.

[Lorna Reed]

Thank you Bartimeus and WilsonCQB1911 for your suggestions. I did flush the pen before filling with the De Atramentis, but not very thoroughly. I hadn't thought there could be an incompatability between the two inks. I have now had the pen in an ultrasonic cleaner and given it a very good clean. I've inked it again with the De Atramentis and will see what happens. I'm hoping for the best as I do like the ink - it's a very good black.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I want to thank everyone for the very specific points made about these inks. It was also very helpful to get that reminder about the dangers of interactions between inks. I'm always careful with Baystate Blue, but it's a good reminder that other inks can do the same thing, or worse.

 

I'll confess I'm not a very good pen flusher.

[pjford]

To state the obvious, flow characteristics are not the criteria in creating these inks, permanancy is what the ink manufacturer is after. All registrars inks are corrosive and should not be left in the pen. Even dipping will deposit in on the feed and if it stays there, it will effect the pen. Will be sending our friend Lorna a replacement feed and nib unit, with our compliments. Good luck. MrPen

[Lorna Reed]

To state the obvious, flow characteristics are not the criteria in creating these inks, permanancy is what the ink manufacturer is after. All registrars inks are corrosive and should not be left in the pen. Even dipping will deposit in on the feed and if it stays there, it will effect the pen. Will be sending our friend Lorna a replacement feed and nib unit, with our compliments. Good luck. MrPen

Thank you very much Mr. Ford. That is extremely kind of you.

[View from the Loft]

My husband and I have a Lamy dedicated to this ink, which we use for tasks which require permanency such as addressing envelopes and writing cheques. We have found that we have to flush this pen far more frequently, and now treat this ink as per an iron gall in terms of pen maintenance.

 

Not my favourite ink, and it won't be replaced when the bottle is empty (only another couple of months in my estimation) as a friend went to the US and brought two bottles of Bulletproof Black back for me.

[Lorna Reed]

After giving the pen a thorough clean of several cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner, and refilling with the De Atramentis Document ink, I have had no further problems. It's now been a few days and the ink is flowing well in the pen - no more clogging or drying.

As suggested, the problem must have been with the Diamine Registrars which was previously in the pen. Lesson learnt - when changing to a different ink, thoroughly clean out the pen first.

Many thanks to Mr. Ford, who sent me a new section and feed for my pen, with compliments - exemplary customer service!

[WilsonCQB1911]

After giving the pen a thorough clean of several cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner, and refilling with the De Atramentis Document ink, I have had no further problems. It's now been a few days and the ink is flowing well in the pen - no more clogging or drying.

As suggested, the problem must have been with the Diamine Registrars which was previously in the pen. Lesson learnt - when changing to a different ink, thoroughly clean out the pen first.

Many thanks to Mr. Ford, who sent me a new section and feed for my pen, with compliments - exemplary customer service!

Registrars must not play well with others. So far that is the only ink I've had that kind of problem with, and I'm a serial ink switcher.

[Mafia Geek]

It likely is a reaction between the registrars ink and the document ink. Registrars ink is an iron gall ink which means it has dissolved iron in it. If it reacts with something to cause the iron to precipitate out, it will completely clog the pen. That is why iron gall inks should never be mixed with any inks and any pens used with iron gall inks need to be really fully cleaned before filling with a new ink.

[vikasbargale]

I think this might be a problem with the Diamine ink, not the DeAtramentis. I say that because I had Registrars in my 149 and flushed (but not rigorously) and put in Montblanc Permanent Blue. I had a concrete-like sludge form in the body of the pen. It took tons of flushing, and several fills of ink to finally dissolve and clean out completely. When I flushed the pen out there were flakes of sand-like substance that would come out. I've thrown out my Registrars and never looked back.

 

Hi, Please dont blame the Diamine Registrar ink for this problem. Yes. Mixing inks can be problematic. But in your case, the problem was MB permanent blue ink. The ink has such properties. Means for experiment, put a drop of MB Permanent blue in water and you will see it forms small clumps. Its natural for that ink. The ink flows smoothly through my MB 146. Point is the clumps are natural to that ink and not fault of the Diamine Registrar ink. Being IG ink, you have to follow weekly pen mainatence when using it. As for my MB 146, I always use only MB inks in it.

 

Thanks

Dr. Vikas