Sailor Fp Drying Out Even With Cap On

[nachas]

I have a thirty year old Sailor 1911 model fountain pen with a fine point. I love this pen, but if I don't use it for a day or two the nib dries out even with the cap tightly sealed. I was wondering if there were something -- such as silicone -- I could put on the cap threads to prevent this from happening. I have some inexpensive Pilots and Lamys that will work perfectly even after being in a drawer for a couple of weeks and I've noticed that these pens have caps that seal really well.

 

Any help will be very much appreciated

 

Martin

[Driften]

I don't think silicone on the cap threads is going to help. Some pens just are like that and it's not related too closely to the cost of the pen. I have Sailor 1911/ProGear that don't dry out and I've had one that does dry out faster. Mostly drying out issues are from bad cap designs were the air chamber around the nib is larger or leaks air. You have an old pen maybe it's missing the inner cap liner or was before they started doing that.

 

You might try a different ink. Monteverde sells inks that they say don't dry out as easy and they are nice inks.

[senzen]

I only have one pro gear, no drying out; I did put some silicone grease on the threads, but only to stop the slight squeaking. Blow some air through the cap to see if there's a hole somewhere.

[A Smug Dill]

I was wondering if there were something -- such as silicone -- I could put on the cap threads to prevent this from happening.

 

 

On the premise that you find where the physical 'leak' is, yes; anything that seals the leak will do, including (but not limited to) applying and shaping a thin layer of epoxy resin to essentially form an airtight inner cap. Otherwise, it's like blindly applying a broad-spectrum antibiotic or anti-fungal treatment, and keeping your fingers crossed that it'll work.

[Honeybadgers]

blow into the cap. Can you feel it leaking anywhere? I don't know about the construction of that cap. but a threaded cap should NOT have a drying out problem within a single day. If there's a leak as you blow into it, is the finial held to the cap by a screw? if so, remove the screw with a small screwdriver, add a tiny bit of thread sealant (available online) to the screw and screw it back in, or use bathroom sealant (a very, very tiny amount(

 

How's the feed? a pen that has an old ink clogged feed is prone to having hard start issues and feeling very, very dry. Try flushing it with a dilute (5-10%) ammonia mixture and see what happens. if you get a ton of ink starting to come out after the second or third flush, it may be the issue. I fix quite a few vintage pens that pass air through the feed, but are so plugged that they just don't write correctly until they've had 20-30 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner and a pass through with ammonia. They feel like they just become very very dry after you ink them and set them down.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Honeybadgers