Jump to content

Jinhao & Baoer Dry-Out (Troubleshooting)


dvalliere

Recommended Posts

I've purchased a number of Jinhao pens (and a few Baoers) in recent months via eBay. I like the way they write (with one or two exceptions) but they seem to dry out very quickly. (My Parker 51, TWSBI Mini, and Pilot Varsities can go a long time without use and start right up. I haven't even found how long is too long!)

 

Generally, re: my Jinhao's and Baoers:

  • If not used for a day or two, they'll start hard.
  • If not used for 2 or 3 days, they'll need priming (twisting the convertor or running the nib under water)
  • They seem to do a little better when stored horizontally rather than vertically.
  • No, it's not an issue of the ink "sticking" to the rear of the converter because I've gotten into the habit of shaking them downward before use.
  • I don't think it's a broken inner lid--they still have a satisfying snap when opening and closing. I also opened one to verify and the inner cap was fine.

 

So, is this merely the reality of cheap pens not sealing particularly well? I've seen some folks talking about the converters being (partly?) to blame. Can y'all advise and help me improve this issue?

 

Thanks!

Dylan

 

Postscript: I'm using Jinhao x450s, x750s, 159, and Baoer 801, 508.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 4
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • dvalliere

    2

  • ac12

    1

  • bobje

    1

  • Bluey

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Wash the converter and nib with water and detergent when you first get the pen and you shouldn't have any problems. The problems you're experiencing are caused by oily leftovers from the factory.

Edited by Bluey
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic comes up periodically. Attached below is a discussion from 2012. Some people have had luck with the following:

- blow into the cap to determine resistance. This can locate where air is leaking in, providing the opportunity to stop that gap with wax.

- switch inks.

- keep fewer pens inked.

- buy different pens that focus on ink condition, such as the spring-loaded inner cap of some Platinum pens.

- remember that breather holes in a cap serve a purpose, and not all air entry points are bad.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/211314-pens-drying-out/

Reviews and articles on Fountain Pen Network

 

CHINA, JAPAN, AND INDIA

Hua Hong Blue Belter | Penbbs 456 | Stationery | ASA Nauka in Dartmoor and Ebonite | ASA Azaadi | ASA Bheeshma | ASA Halwa | Ranga Model 8 and 8b | Ranga Emperor

ITALY AND THE UK

FILCAO Roxi | FILCAO Atlantica | Italix Churchman's Prescriptor

USA, INK, AND EXPERIMENTS

Bexley Prometheus | Route 54 Motor Oil | Black Swan in Icelandic Minty Bathwater | Robert Oster Aqua | Diamine Emerald Green | Mr. Pen Radiant Blue | Three Oysters Giwa | Flex Nib Modifications | Rollstoppers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wash the converter and nib with water and detergent when you first get the pen and you shouldn't have any problems. The problems you're experiencing are caused by oily leftovers from the factory.

 

I have thoroughly cleaned each and every pen before first use with water and dish soap. Nib, feed, converter. And thoroughly rinsed. I do not believe this to be the problem in this instance.

 

This topic comes up periodically. Attached below is a discussion from 2012. Some people have had luck with the following:

- blow into the cap to determine resistance. This can locate where air is leaking in, providing the opportunity to stop that gap with wax.

- switch inks.

- keep fewer pens inked.

- buy different pens that focus on ink condition, such as the spring-loaded inner cap of some Platinum pens.

- remember that breather holes in a cap serve a purpose, and not all air entry points are bad.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/211314-pens-drying-out/

Thank you. I've tried to find past information on this but did not stumble upon the right stuff. I'll study up on your link.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a few Baoer 388s, and have this problem.

In some cases, I think hard starting is very much related to the ink, where some inks seems to dry out the feed more so that others.

In my case, Noodler's Liberty's Elysium will dry out when the pen is left nib up. But when I lay the pen flat, it does not dry out. I think in this case, the LE is draining back out of the feed into the converter when stored nib up.

The same pen with Waterman blue, takes much longer before the nib/feed dries up, stored nib up.

I have another Baoer 388 with Noodler's Lexington Grey, and it works just fine when stored nib up.

 

And just so you know that I am not picking on Noodler's ink, I have the same problem with Diamine Sherwood Green in my Lamy joy. It will hard start when stored nib up, but works just find stored flat.

 

Also if the pen is marginally dry, it seems to dry out faster than a wet pen, resulting in hard starts.

 

So for certain inks, you just have to bite the bullet and store the pen flat.

 

The other thing to look at is the tip. You will need a loupe and some micromesh or a buffing stick for this. What you are looking for is a baby bottom profile. This has been the cause of several of my hard starting pens, which would sometimes hard start, during the day after a long pause of writing. Once I polished the tip to remove/reduce the baby bottom, the pens wrote just fine. But you need to be VERY CAREFUL when polishing the tip, as you could ruin the tip, if you are not careful.

Edited by ac12

San Francisco Pen Show - August 28-30, 2020 - Redwood City, California

www.SFPenShow.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...