Do rollerballs also leak on planes?

[Rique]

I gave my brother a rollerball (Parker Sonnet) on his birthday, and now he wants my head because of that. The cursed thing has leaked three times on planes: the ink comes out of the back of the refill, floods the barrel and come out of the "nib" end. All three refils were Parker originals.

Has anyone passed through a similar experience? Is there anything that can be done (other than ditching the thing and getting a real pen, that is a FP...)

 

best regards,

Rique

[Glenn-SC]

I have had this happen with Pilot liquid rollerball pens several times.

I no longer buy these pens.

[Louis R]

I have flown quite a bit with my Waterman Expert II pens. For the rollerballs I use Culmer EF refills since the beginning. I have never had any leaks in at least 50 flights. I can't comment on the Waterman refills as they don't make any EF.

[garythepenman]

Yep they leak, well not all but I was sat next to a guy on one flight, what a mess . I offered him my Namiki VP to use. I think he's converted to FP's now. Then again who know's what he will end up with. I've never had a problem with a fully loaded FP on aircraft, half full ?....not willing to try due to slightly less airpressure in the cabin or is it slightly more ?.. Never mind, just be careful.

[TMann]

Wow, that's weird. I'd never heard of that happening before. I would guess that the possibility of leakage depends greatly on the design of the RB refill. The refill used in the Parker Sonnet is one of the older ones made. I wonder if the interior mechanism has been redesigned to deal with low pressure situations such as air travel.

 

TMann

[JeffTL]

Rollerballs are essentially very poor quality fountain pens -- even the expensive ones. I'd be willing to halfway trust the Pelikan Roller, which takes international-type cartridges and converters designed for fountain pens, but any cheap name-brand fountain pen somehow seems less mess-prone than a rollerball.

[Rique]

Thanks everyone for the replies - the conclusion seems to be, they do leak!

Perhaps that´s my big chance to convert my brother to FPs?

 

regards,

Rique

[Viseguy]

The uni-ball Vision Elite is supposed to be "airplane safe" -- or so the package says. I haven't tested it in the air, yet. As pens, they're quite serviceable. The ink is quick-drying and waterproof.

[saintsimon]

If you take into account, that most FPs are only airplane-safe when full or empty, the only care-free airplane-safe FP seems to be the the Parker '61' capillary filler.

It is a pitty, that Parker abandoned this technology for the 'Jet-Age', while more and more people do take flights.

Edited December 8, 2005 by saintsimon

[PaulK]

I fly requently and always take a rollerball (I started the topic regarding FPs & airplanes). Never ever had a problem with any one of them leaking (pretty decent variety of rollerball refill too: Schmidt, Cross, Levenger, Parker, & Mont Blanc).

 

Regards,

 

Paul

[zwingster]

Do rollerballs leak on planes? Yes dammit. A new! Parker rollerball leaked all over my pen pouch. Spent the evening in my hotel bathroom cleaning ink off of everything. Grrrr.

[PenH]

Now that we have resurrected this dead thread, I have to say I fly regularly and take fountain pens. I was flying with a Parker 45, but kept it in a zip lock bag. It would leak a little, once in a while. I now fly with a Pilot VP and have had no problems with it. I use the CON-20 converter in it. I also carry a Schrade Tactical pen and it is actually ideal, it has an o-ring on the body between it and the cap, so the cap screws down onto the o-ring, sealing it very well. The pen is completely sealed from the effects of the change in air pressure, so no leaking.

 

I have one of the newer models of the Schrade Tactical pen, I don't believe the older ones had the o-ring.

[Precise]

I've had especially bad luck with Monteverde gel and rollerball refills. They have leaked in my pocket at sea level.