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MrClockWork
March 7th, 2013, 02:00 PM
My preppy (eyedropper) seems to gushing every so often and it is driving me NUTS!

What I can tell:
the nib unit is pushed all the way in and never works itself loose.

the feed inside the clear section seems to be completely saturated.

Any thoughts?

KrazyIvan
March 7th, 2013, 02:46 PM
Do you have a good seal between the barrel and section?

MrClockWork
March 7th, 2013, 03:32 PM
pretty sure. I have a good O-ring and a good bit of silicone grease on the threads. Should be a good seal.

fountainpenkid
March 7th, 2013, 03:41 PM
pretty sure. I have a good O-ring and a good bit of silicone grease on the threads. Should be a good seal.

Eyedroppers burp when there is air-space inside the barrel (when the ink is low)...is your pen only burping when the ink is low?

vhr5
March 7th, 2013, 03:48 PM
I also had the same problem last night, with my new preppy eyedropper, that I used for the first time. I was writing a letter, when a blob of ink dropped onto the sheet of paper. I checked the nib, barrel, and section to see if anyone of them were loose, they were not.

I blotted up the remaining ink on the nib and continued writing. Shortly afterward I noticed the flow of the ink from the nib had become very poor. I wonder if it is the ink which is causing the problem. Any ideas?

vhr5
March 7th, 2013, 03:51 PM
Eyedroppers burp when there is air-space inside the barrel (when the ink is low)...is your pen only burping when the ink is low?

Mine was filled earlier that night, so the ink wasn't low in the barrel.

fountainpenkid
March 7th, 2013, 04:06 PM
It may be the feed system is too simple to take that much ink pressure above it...

MrClockWork
March 7th, 2013, 04:19 PM
Mine has about 1/3 of a barrel of ink left in it. I am using Noodler's Kiowa Pecan. Maybe it is just a burp. It is still pretty annoying though.

ilangai
March 7th, 2013, 04:31 PM
Mine has about 1/3 of a barrel of ink left in it. I am using Noodler's Kiowa Pecan. Maybe it is just a burp. It is still pretty annoying though.

When you buy a Noodler's Ink (at list when i bought a 4.5oz eyedropper) it's written to fill when you get to 1/3 amount of ink in the barrel.. So, i'm pretty sure that's what happened in your case.

fountainpenkid
March 7th, 2013, 06:20 PM
Mine has about 1/3 of a barrel of ink left in it. I am using Noodler's Kiowa Pecan. Maybe it is just a burp. It is still pretty annoying though.
That is why all eyedroppers should have an ink shutoff valve. :)

cedargirl
March 8th, 2013, 12:06 AM
I also had the same problem last night, with my new preppy eyedropper, that I used for the first time. I was writing a letter, when a blob of ink dropped onto the sheet of paper. I checked the nib, barrel, and section to see if anyone of them were loose, they were not.

I blotted up the remaining ink on the nib and continued writing. Shortly afterward I noticed the flow of the ink from the nib had become very poor. I wonder if it is the ink which is causing the problem. Any ideas?

Hi vhr5

I've had eyedroppers burp ink when they get low in ink. A couple of Indian pens do this regularly. I'm getting better at remembering to fill them (its a bit ironic - one of the reasons for using eyedroppers is their greater fill capacity, but you can't use a third of it!).

But I have also had problems with a full pen when it (the ink) changed temperature significantly. I recently went out to a meeting and picked up an eyedropper which had been sitting unused on my desk all day. I clipped it close to my heart(!), just above the top button on an open necked shirt, where it was warm an snuggly for an hour. When I pulled it out and uncapped it, it gushed ink all over my writing pad ... mess everywhere.

Never had that experience before, but I'm pretty sure that's what did it. I had noticed how cool the pen felt against my skin when I first put it there.
Never again!

fountainpenkid
March 8th, 2013, 06:04 AM
It is great to see so many interesting filling systems brought back to the market in recent years, but I don't think the eyedropper was meant to get another chance...they seem totally impractical unless there is some way to keep them from burping...maybe companies making eyedroppers should put a sliding gasket that falls down the pen barrel as the ink level goes down...i don't really know how that would work though...

snedwos
March 8th, 2013, 07:36 AM
I've been told by a pen maker that eyedropper conversions don't really work. The entrance to the feed has to be designed in a certain way to cope with the changes in pressure (which is why his eyedropper pens are more expensive). The nipple on a C/C pen isn't designed for this, it's only meant to cope with the small, sealed unit that is the cartridge.

On the gasket issue: Danitrio eyedroppers have a shut off piston thingy, pretty much excactly like a plunger filler, just without the floppy gasket that allows the pen to fill.

KrazyIvan
March 8th, 2013, 08:33 AM
I bought an vintage Japanese eye dropper with a shut off valve. I have not had a chance to test it in water yet but I'm guessing the seal on the blind cap may need some work.

fountainpenkid
March 8th, 2013, 09:12 AM
I bought an vintage Japanese eye dropper with a shut off valve. I have not had a chance to test it in water yet but I'm guessing the seal on the blind cap may need some work.

let us know how it works!

vhr5
March 8th, 2013, 01:31 PM
Hi vhr5

I've had eyedroppers burp ink when they get low in ink. A couple of Indian pens do this regularly. I'm getting better at remembering to fill them (its a bit ironic - one of the reasons for using eyedroppers is their greater fill capacity, but you can't use a third of it!).

But I have also had problems with a full pen when it (the ink) changed temperature significantly. I recently went out to a meeting and picked up an eyedropper which had been sitting unused on my desk all day. I clipped it close to my heart(!), just above the top button on an open necked shirt, where it was warm an snuggly for an hour. When I pulled it out and uncapped it, it gushed ink all over my writing pad ... mess everywhere.

Never had that experience before, but I'm pretty sure that's what did it. I had noticed how cool the pen felt against my skin when I first put it there.
Never again!

Temperature! That would explain, the burping issue in my case! That night I was sitting in a small room with my space heater running. The room did get quite warm, as I was writing. I'm only using the Preppy until my other Fountain pen comes in. That should eliminate the problem.

Thanks for your assistance, Cedergirl!:)