Sheaffer Skrip (Slovenia) Users: I'd Love Your Input

[Daisy]

Hi Pen! You're right, breathing in mold spores isn't good for you, but fortunately these are not airborne in any way: they're trapped in the ink.

 

I was visiting with some friends today, one of whom is a retired microbiologist, and it occurred to me to ask her about SITB. Two useful tidbits emerged:

 

1) In her opinion, there is nothing one can do to rescue a bottle with SITB

 

and

 

2) In general -- not as an absolute rule -- if it stinks it's bacterial, if it has no smell (or has a yeasty smell) it's a yeast, and if it smells like mold it is.

 

I love learning these things!

Edited October 31, 2012 by Daisy

[JeanManuel]

Update: last week I recieved my replacement Sheaffer ink bottles from Concess.se who represents Sheaffer in Scandinavia.

The package is slightly different. Same glass bottle, reading "Slovenia" on the bottom. But the sticker bears "Sheaffer skrip" on the taller side. The barcode is on the shorter side. Also the address on the paper sticker is in Slovakia (both countries entered the E.U. in 2004).

 

No smell, nothing floating on the surface!!

 

So, Sheaffer got that fixed.

Edited November 6, 2012 by JeanManuel

[dan in montreal]

A few years ago, I started a thread about odd stuff floating in at least new Sheaffer Skrip ink bottles. I noticed stuff floating in Skrip brown and Skrip black. It didn't look like mold (or what I thought mold looked like). Both bottles were new, both had a smell which seemed to be the offspring of a humid basement and some strong chemical. I ended up returning both to the shop and they assured me they would send them to Sheaffer, refunded the bottles and off I went. I've since been through quite a lot of bottles of ink from different brands (Parker, Waterman, Noodlers, Rotring, J. Herbin, Platinum, Pilot, Pelikan and Private Reserve) and have never experienced anything resembling this. I did have an issue with Diamine Oxblood, but I think the stuff is just related to the dye in their red / orange inks, as has been discussed here at length.

 

By the way, none of my pens ever experienced any mold problems and the only thing I use to clean my pens is plain tap water. I used both Skrip inks for 3 or 4 filling before returning them. If it was mold, am I right in thinking my pens would have been affected?

 

Time passed and since I did not run into anything resembling the Herbin contamination problems a good while ago on this board, I went out and got a nice bottle of Sheaffer purple, filled my Ahab and THEN decided to shine a light to the bottle and... there were those pesky little thing floating on the surface, the same stuff I saw in the black and the brown. A case of Déjà vu.

 

I came back here and the only more or less recent mention of something like this dates back to 2012 : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/226851-is-this-mold/

 

This is almost 2015. The stuff in my bottle looks like the stuff in most of the pics contained in the above mentioned thread. If it was contamination during production, it must have been fixed (and I don't think my bottle has been sitting on the shelf of this store for 3 years, although I can't be sure!).

 

Do any of your bottles exhibit the same characteristics?

If it is mold, I'll just return in. If not, what could it be? There are a few guesses in the other thread, one being it may be related to the cap liner. Could it be inert, crystallized dye?

 

It's a bummer, as I like the color a lot!

 

[ac12]

I don't think I have anything in my bottles.

But then I did not shine a flashlight into the bottles to look.

I will check the next time I am into my ink box.

[dan in montreal]

Thanks ac12, that's what I'm looking for. I'm not one to panic and there might be something in the ink composition that causes this, other than mold. It's the only brand that I've run across that exhibits this "problem" with what seems to be some regularity (but then again, I'm basing this view on my experience with a limited sample of bottles, albeit over 2 or 3 years).

[Flaxmoore]

My Skrip red is perfectly happy, actually. Best red i have, bar none.

[dan in montreal]

At this point, red is the only color that has not failed me!

[carlos.q]

No problems with Skrip Black or Purple!

[Arkanabar]

Nothing is floating in my bottle of Turquoise Skrip.

[RLTodd]

FWIW

 

I have never had a mold problem in Skrip or any other ink.

AND, I live in mold heaven. Basically on the boarder of reclaimed swamp land at the junction of tow rivers. Everyone gets mold here, but not in the ink.

[bwnewton]

I've never had any problems with Skrip (Slovenia) ink.

[amberleadavis]

Dan, in the link you provided Sam Capote suggests that it is not mold ... see his biocide shoot out tests, his opinion carries weight ...he suggests it is part of the manufacturing process.

 

Recently when experimentig with vintage powered inks, I read that the ink should be filtered after mixing. Some of the chemicals just form little rocks that can clog your pen. I have seen that happen as inks age.

 

I have Skrip inks that are older than me (and I'm not young).sorry you are having trouble.

[dan in montreal]

Thanks amberleadavis - and to everyone who has chimed in.

I did check out Sam Capote's tests, and it may well be something other than mold.

That's pretty much what I thought from the get go, but since the older comments in this thread mentioned some form of acknowledgement from Sheaffer regarding pontential contamination, I thought I'd ask if anyone had noticed something a-floating in their ink as of late.

 

As for the older made in USA bottles, I also have a little bit left (unfortuately I'm down to my last bottle and a half of red) and have never had any problems.

But them again, these bottles contain the mysterious RC-35!

 

Just to make sure, I emailed the Canadian distributor for Sheaffer / Cross (strange mentioning them together) and if anyone is interested, I'll get back to you guys with his take regarding this issue.

Edited December 16, 2014 by dan in montreal

[amberleadavis]

We'd love to hear the reply.

[dan in montreal]

The Canadian Sheaffer / Cross distributor's rep got back to me and the only thing this person could say was 1) they were going to pass the info along to their contact at Sheaffer and 2) hope they in turn will advise the Sheaffer QC team. So that's about it.

[amberleadavis]

Dan, we might know someone who can find you a vintage red.....

 

As for Sheaffer, does this mean that they aren't going to replace it?

[dan in montreal]

Dan, we might know someone who can find you a vintage red.....

 

As for Sheaffer, does this mean that they aren't going to replace it?

 

Well, that is mighty nice of you. I'll surely send a message your way when I run out!

 

As for your question, the distributor just said she would advise Sheaffer and that's all she could do. In the meantime, I brought back the bottle to the shop where I bought it and they replaced it. The new one seems to be OK. I'm assuming they wll send the bad bottle back to Sheaffer. I took a couple of photos before returning it. They look an awful lot like the ones posted by other people in the original thread, which is why I revived it.

 

 

 

The out focus second picture (sorry!) looks worse than it is in real life (the flash really makes those particles shine!).

 

They might not be fungi, but they certainly look gross.

[4lex]

I love Skrip red, my best red ink. All the other Skrip inks look pretty standard to me… Can't find any mould in them so I guess this was sorted...

Edited December 21, 2014 by 4lex

[amberleadavis]

So long as the shop replaced it, I think you are in good shape.