Nib Drying Quickly With New Ink

[Myridium]

Hi,

 

I just bought some new ink (Diamine Evergreen) to use with my TWSBI fountain pen and have noticed that my nib will dry up if the lid is left off for about 3 minutes. When this happens, it takes about 15 seconds of pressing the nib against the paper to get the ink flowing again, so it's quite irritating when I leave the cap off for just a moment and come back to a dry pen. Does this happen because the ink evaporates and leaves behind dye that clogs the nib? It's quite a dark, saturated green colour so I wouldn't be too surprised. Would diluting the ink with tap water help in this case?

 

Cheers

Edited March 21, 2016 by Myridium

[T4TEXAS]

Not tap water, but you could try distilled water. I would start with a 3:1 ratio ink:water and then see if you want to go stronger or weaker.

 

Keep in mind that 3 minutes exposed is probably pushing it a bit.

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

And if you prefer the color as is, you could keep a small cup of water on your desk to dip the nib if it dries. Not a solution if you are taking your pen with you, of course.

[Myridium]

Thanks for the suggestion; I'll have to get a hold of some distilled water then and have a go. I wouldn't mind lightening the green a bit anyway. This is primarily a problem when I'm not at home, so the dipping is not ideal.

 

Is there a particular reason that tap water should not be used? I have heard that particularly hard water (containing a lot of metal ions i.e. calcium) may be bad for a pen, which makes sense, but if it's not a particular problem in my region then should I be concerned about using tap water?

[shawndp]

Tap water has chemicals added - Cholrine and Aluminium Sulphate and Sulphur Dioxide at the very least here in Toronto. If you ever had fish you know you can not stick them in tap water because of the chlorine. My knowledge of water chemistry is limited but would take a stab at saying that your ink may take some issue with something in it, so distilled is probably a safer option.

 

That said, maybe try capping your pen (not screwing it all the way in necessarily) so as not to let it dry too much. All the best!

[Sasha Royale]

Replacing the cap, without "securing" it, is called, by some, "soft capping". It protects the ink in the nib from circulating dry air. It is DESIRABLE that the ink dries after 30 or 40 seconds exposed to air. Even more annoying, is ink that is still wet, after three minutes on the paper. Unfortunately, ink does not know that it is still in the nib, rather than on paper.

 

Capping your fountain pen also keeps it from rolling off the table.

[mike.jane]

I once had a problem like this in a Parker 51 Special. I was using Diamine Royal Blue. The pen didn't like it and would dry up easily, sometimes when uncapped, sometimes capped but over the weekend. All in all an unreliable combo.

 

I fixed it by mixing the ink with a another ink that the pen had no problems with; in this case Parker Blue, 1:1.

 

Now, I know that there shall be disclaimers about mixing inks. There can be risks... I suppose. As I acquire more inks I'm also becoming less a fan of mixes, but so far, 'if the shoe fits that way, I'll still wear it.

[Myridium]

Thanks for your input, shawndp. I suppose there are many additives to be wary of.

 

Replacing the cap, without "securing" it, is called, by some, "soft capping". It protects the ink in the nib from circulating dry air. It is DESIRABLE that the ink dries after 30 or 40 seconds exposed to air. Even more annoying, is ink that is still wet, after three minutes on the paper. Unfortunately, ink does not know that it is still in the nib, rather than on paper.

 

Capping your fountain pen also keeps it from rolling off the table.

 

You have a point with quick drying being desirable, but I find it strange that ink evaporated from between the tines isn't replaced with fresh ink from the feed via capillary action. I would expect that if I left my pen out without the cap for a substantial amount of time, the whole ink reservoir would gradually seep out into the nib and evaporate until the gap between the tines was clogged with dye. I suppose this might be what's happening in my case; maybe putting the pen to the paper finally allows the dried up dye to flow out of the nib and unclog it.