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View Full Version : Why is Pelikan ink so good for certain pens?



lowks
June 10th, 2015, 11:38 AM
I have one cross Apogee that behaves atrociously with other inks. It would write and after sometime dry up, then I would have to shake it violently to get the ink to move again. I have tried everything. Ultrasonically clean the nib/feed unit, changed other inks: Florida blue, Montegrappa, Waterman brown .... the problem persists. That was until I remembered how the pen used to write like a dream initially when I used Cross Blue with it. Giving it a last gasp try, it worked again and the pen was well behaved again, and wrote without problems page after page until it was time to refill the pen again.

I did this same experiment on a very uncooperative old Sheaffer Touchdown with similar results. What is the property of Pelikan Ink (since Cross inks are rebranded Pelikan inks anyway) that makes it so friendly towards these more fussier pens ?

KBeezie
June 11th, 2015, 10:52 PM
Should never shake a pen violently to get flow going, much the same way as you should never press down on the nib to promote ink flow, as you'll eventually push the nib away from the feed and each time the problem becomes worse. The fact that it dries up while writing may be an indicator that you've sprung or pushed the nib away from the feed that it looses contact during the normal course of writing and cannot replenish; a good test of this, is next time it dries up, try turning the pen over and touching the nib to the paper so that it nudges the nib back towards the feed, if it starts writing immediately after doing that, then the nib is either sprung or needs to be re-seated so that it's closer to the feed. Ideally no pressure should be used with a fountain pen as they're not ball points.

Not sure about specific property, But generally speaking with every Pelikan (4001) or Edelstien (Jade is primarily what I used, Adventurine was nice too, but a bit wetter) ink I've used they tend to run on the dry side in terms of flow, and many of my older pens tend to be wetter on the feed so works better especially when I'm using more absorbent paper, and are at least easier to clean up than something that's bulletproof or iron gall based.

I'd be curious to know what inks were the ones giving you problems in the first place, if they were thicker, more saturated, bulletproof/waterproof, etc. IT could be that the Pelikan inks you have, don't have the properties of all the other inks you do have.

lowks
June 11th, 2015, 11:29 PM
Thanks for the response. The inks that gave me problems were: waterman blue and brown, montegrappa blue

KBeezie
June 11th, 2015, 11:59 PM
Thanks for the response. The inks that gave me problems were: waterman blue and brown, montegrappa blue

Can't speak for Brown or Montegrappa Blue, but Waterman Inspired Blue tends to be rather well flowing (much like waterman black) and well behaved with generally no issues in regards to starting up.

Perhaps see if the Pelikan ink starts to behave the same after the same period of time as the other inks.

lowks
June 12th, 2015, 12:08 AM
Okay will do. So far I am 3/4 through first refill of Cross blue without any issue on the Apogee