Leaving Pens Inked Up?

[Willieboy]

I write everyday but some pens may not get used every day. It may be a few days between uses for some pens. Do I risk damaging those pens I may not use every day by keeping them inked up and ready for action?

[Rusty888]

people have a wealth more knowledge than me, however every day is fine. If its 2 weeks or more depending on the pen and ink i would empty them out.

There would be no damage on modern pens just ink drying up that requires cleaning that could take a lot longer or if you leave for years then yes possibly some filling mechanisms might not work.

Use your pens weekly

[jar]

Every pen is different. Many of my pens can sit unused for weeks, sometimes a month and still start right up. Others give me grief just sitting unused for a week or so. But that is about the limit of harm that sitting unused can cause unless you are talking about sitting long enough for the ink to really dry out.

Let your pens instruct you.

[rdcalhoon]

I keep my inked pens handy at my desk and grab a different one each time for phone notes or whatever. Each one is used at least a few words every couple of days. I seldom even have hard starts unless the pen is near empty.

[tandaina]

I always have more pens inked than I can use every day. That's just normal (it is too, shut up!). Doesn't hurt them one bit. So long as you use them often enough that they don't dry out I've never had a problem with a modern or antique. The antiques often dry out *faster* than modern pens, but that isn't always true. (I've got Pelikan P1s which are sort of like Parker 51s that have been forgotten in a bag for months, and when found wrote just fine, still full of ink and happy.)

Bottom line, I wouldn't ever worry about a couple days. But if they'll be unused for a couple *weeks* I'd clean them out and store them properly.

[Chrissy]

I also think it depends on the pens, how well sealed they are and maybe even the way they fill.

It's like horses for courses really. I have a Mb piston filler that always starts straight off after sitting with ink in it for months. I know I never need to worry about it.

I also keep ink in 'user friendly' pens that I know are simple to clean out. e.g Parker 45 pens, or any pen where the nib and feed screw out, or easily pull out for cleaning.

On the tricky side I would include some modern pens like Waterman Carene or Phileas, which aren't designed to be taken apart by the end user, so they are difficult to get really clean. Or many of the vintage pens that you need a knock out block to get the nib and feed out. I would keep a close eye on those and use them daily when they are inked.

It's not the end of the world though if a pen does dry out with ink in it. You can always soak the section in an ammonia solution or a commercial pen flush, or even sonicate it in an ultrasonic bath.

[TarBlue]

If a pen has been sitting for a while, is it okay to empty the ink back in the original ink bottle or should the ink be discarded?

[tandaina]

If a pen has been sitting for a while, is it okay to empty the ink back in the original ink bottle or should the ink be discarded?

I never, ever return ink to the bottle. Good way to lose the whole bottle to contamination/mold..

[TarBlue]

If a pen has been sitting for a while, is it okay to empty the ink back in the original ink bottle or should the ink be discarded?

I never, ever return ink to the bottle. Good way to lose the whole bottle to contamination/mold..

Thank you!

[kbrede]

I never, ever return ink to the bottle. Good way to lose the whole bottle to contamination/mold..

I did not know that. I've been putting the ink back.
Thanks,
Kent

[Chrissy]

If a pen has been sitting for a while, is it okay to empty the ink back in the original ink bottle or should the ink be discarded?

It's not good practice because of contamination. I never do it. If you don't want to waste it you could always empty it into a sample tube.

[ainterne]

I glad this came up, I wanted to know what other people do.

If someone asked me, I would say, clean the nib, keep the pen full and you should be fine for a long time. However I have tested this, and what is true is all pens do different things. Most of my Waterman old smaller pens dry out after a few weeks and the ink dissolves and is gone. I have checked and it didn't leak out, I sat them all on paper towel to check. Those pens have breathers holes in the cap and that's the reason.

Other pens, normally the larger pens, the level stays the same and I don't lose any ink, or nothing easily measurable. Mostly these pens don't have breather holes in the cap.

What damage damage can be done? Other than using inks that perhaps could damage the feed perhaps, the sac's are pennies in reality, so if the sac was to dry out then I can change one of those in a few mins. If I sold one of my pens I use, I would always change out the sac as a matter of course, a bit like servicing a car before it's sold.

In real terms if I was thinking about keeping the pens for years and years then I think there could be some damage, but very slight. Correct me if I am wrong, but there are some inks that can do more damage than others, or perhaps quicker to damage. I try and stay with the well known brands that I hear not negative responses about.
I think there could be more damage from not wiping the pens down and leaving oils on the exterior of the pen from my hands. Does any one else have concerns or info on oils being left on pans over many years, I would be all ears.

The reality is, that like others here I have more than I can exercise everyday, so I choose only the pens I want to use in rotation and clean the others out now.

Here are the bits I am not sure I should tell you.....

1: My cleaning of the blocked pen feeds consists of me filling my cheeks up with warm water and blowing water through the pen..... Seriously if anyone ever could see in through the window, I think I will be taken away pretty quick. Probably looks like I was trying to blow them up like balloons. I do find though the feedback in pressure tells me if things are getting clearer. I do have bulbs etc, but when working with a few pens I find it easier to blow water through them.. Ok, anyone else do that, or is it just me lol ??? Please don't not reply that will make me feel worse...lol

2: I cleaned out 20 pens a few weeks ago and since they are all pretty much lever fills, I kept using the lever to suck up warm water shake them, expel etc., I unwittingly used the same finger nail to do all of them.. The following day my nail turned black at the top and my finger was as sore as can be. It took a week or so for it to go back to normal. So never again with one finger..... Some sacs take lots of flushing, some of the newer ones I have been using only take a couple of flushes and they are clean. Slowly I am getting rid of the older ones.

[ac12]

@OP
As others have said, each pen is an individual. Some will dry up before others. To get a dried pen writing again, I will do a "quick" dip of half the nib into water. Just in and out quickly. Then leave the pen nib up for a few minutes, for the water to go down the feed and liquify the dried ink. I think this does similar to what you may have read or seen in old movies of the writer putting the nib to their mouth before they start writing.

@ainterne
If the ink channel is blocked, then I use my UltraSonic Cleaner to clear the ink channel first. Can't force water thru a blocked ink channel, and I have run into a few that were BLOCKED SOLID.

Then I use a bulb syringe. Much easier than blowing with your mouth, and I don't have to worry about getting food or drink into the pen. Although you may have to make adapters to fit some pens. I determine clean by how much less ink there is coming out of the pen as I flush. Although I will blow thru the section after soaking, to blow out the water in the ink channel.

[Cob]

==blush==

Just that...
Cob

[checkrail]

If a pen has been sitting for a while, is it okay to empty the ink back in the original ink bottle or should the ink be discarded?

If I empty a pen, the ink usually goes into a sort of mixer bottle of Quink Blue-Black. Perhaps I am lucky, but I have never had a contamination or decay problem with ink in 45 years of continuous FP use.
I am not sure all inks are as stable as that, though.
Kind regards
Timothy

[ainterne]

@OP
As others have said, each pen is an individual. Some will dry up before others. To get a dried pen writing again, I will do a "quick" dip of half the nib into water. Just in and out quickly. Then leave the pen nib up for a few minutes, for the water to go down the feed and liquify the dried ink. I think this does similar to what you may have read or seen in old movies of the writer putting the nib to their mouth before they start writing.

@ainterne
If the ink channel is blocked, then I use my UltraSonic Cleaner to clear the ink channel first. Can't force water thru a blocked ink channel, and I have run into a few that were BLOCKED SOLID.

Then I use a bulb syringe. Much easier than blowing with your mouth, and I don't have to worry about getting food or drink into the pen. Although you may have to make adapters to fit some pens. I determine clean by how much less ink there is coming out of the pen as I flush. Although I will blow thru the section after soaking, to blow out the water in the ink channel.

Lol...that did tickle me thinking about that.. no naturally I don't blow food or drink into the pen....lol... Some people will think I am nuts for this, but I do keep a small database and notes etc for all things parts. The reason is that while my kids are not that interested now, they are becoming interest slowly in what I am doing and so I try and keep notes for when I am not here anymore. That way if they need to know what to do they have a quick reference without having to learn everything from scratch.

These are some of them, my notes are not fancy and over detailed but not meant to be, just enough to make them think, I have ton of them I have built up from my experience or other peoples good idea's that I can search on. I don't really deal with some pens specifically or newer pens generally, that't just choice. I wish someone would make a much more adjustable bulb....

1: Ink sacs can be changed in 5 mins and so if one dries up I don't worry, very cheap. . Do not shellac seal the ink sac until the pen is going to be sold, then service the pen, that includes a new sac. Not putting on shellac makes it easier for you when servicing pen and quick to change sac. Put small plastic bag over nib and top of feed. Seal with band....stops ink leaks into cap for short term inked pens.

2. To flush pen, draw warm water into mouth and blow through feed, don't rely on just normal flow of water. Use bulbs, but can be messy. Clean with flushing water when happy with flow. Difficult block, try very fine syringe, that has always worked in last resort. Push needle into channel and keep feeding water, be gentle. Last resort remove nib and clean feed. See nibs for warnings. Keep flushing until ink not visible. If purchased from unknown source then dismantle and rebuild pen anyway.

3: Feed will not be damaged unless left for years and years. It may need cleaning but will not be damaged via normal daily use or lack of use, however check for specialized materials or colors etc. Feeds need to be kept uncontaminated.

4: If the ink is allowed to leak into the pen the threads will often stain . Use Amodex for reviving badly maintained pens threads. Removing the stains is quite easy with Amodex and a soft tooth brush to clean between the threads. Use carefully on BHCR and no water. If splashed while flushing quickly dry. Do little amounts at a time.
It always works well on Red Ripple or example Green Vintage O.S. Wahl Eversharp Deco X. If in doubt about cleaner, paint on broken cap and set for a few days, clean and view for results. Buy broken parts from various to test, keep supply stocked for testing.

5: Clean the cap out of any leaked ink or staining will occur. Let the pen dry before capping, so as not to allow water droplets to fall into the cap and have any effect on section. Push paper towel into cap to ensure its dry before storage. Also do not tighten cap on pen, do not stress threads for long term. Keep lots of ear-buds handy.

6: Clean the body of the pen well before storing. Cleaning with hand sanitizer gets off oils very well... then clean and protect. Put protective coating on pen or store in plastic tubes for longer storage. Plastic tubes used for shipping are ideal, label tubes well if not clear. Store pens out of air circulation. Put the salt pacs in the plastic tubes, but wrap in a little paper so salt cannot access pen if broken.

7: Put storage tubes in vacuum packs to draw out air and seal for longer term storage > 6 months....keeps pens dry. Do not over vacuum, think about effect on parts.

8: Use ink sacs that do not soak ink. Notice some ink sacs only need 2/3 flushes and some need many more. Sac choice is important for ease of maintenance, use my old order history notes for best purchases.

9: Stay clear of high maintenance pens, not worth it, let someone else have the hassle. No money in them long term, high maintenance, small return after buying parts etc. Stick with simple and tested. Parts easy to come by.

10 High value pens keep separate from low value, if cheap pen breaks or leaks do not allow to ruin other pens.

11. Store nib up at slant. Do not encourage ink into feed and nib while storing. e.g. Do not buy flat display cases.

[ainterne]

ac12 ....

I was thinking about your post, and hoped you could enlighten me on something. Can you put more than one pen in an Ultrasonic cleaner or is there an overhead for that? So could someone put in 3 pens or is that not a good idea? I come across totally blocked pens so rarely that I haven't had the motivation to dig deeper. Are there any gotchas to look out before when buying? Can you leave them in the cleaners to long for example? Do they vary in how powerful they are and are there negatives with that in any way? Are they relatively low maintenance, Are there parts that can be damaged on items cleaned? Any tips would be appreciated. I am thinking about moving into the 20th century and getting one. I don't know anywhere near enough about them to make an informed decision.


Also I wanted to share this with you per your reference to the films. I remembered seeing this before about why the scribes of old put the nibs in their mouths. Like you, I also keep a very small pot of water next to me when using a dip nib, your right it works wonders dipping occasionally, but when I start I always use a Q-TIP, pop it in my mouth and then wash the nib quickly with it. It's the hole on the top of the feed and between the tines that I want to moisten with saliva. I use the Q-TIP in this way because I had seen this before, but I must admit I had forgotten about letting it dry before using it.


This was written by a dentist, which is why did suggested the paper towel over putting the nib in the mouth.


Once inserted, moisten a paper towel with saliva and wipe down the nib top and underside and allow it to dry for a minute or two. The saliva will actually coat the metal with a protein pellicle that helps to render the metal hydrophilic (fluid loving). The ink should now adhere without any problem.


Saliva has a lot of qualities that can be used for different reasons over water. When I was young and learning to dive, i remember being told to spit in my goggles and wash the inside of the glass with the saliva. The reason was that the glass would not fog up as much once underwater... It worked. I am not sure of why now years later, but I do always do the same when diving Your right of course...as long as your mouth is clean before you start before undertaking any of these activities...

[skriefal]

I left a TWSBI 540 inked for 6 months or so without use. It started right up after a stroke or two. IIRC the ink was Noodler's Eel Blue.

[k5MOW]

A lot of great information here.

Roger

[KBeezie]

Depends on the pen and ink and nib material. For the most part, the pens I choose to keep (ie: I tend to sell/give-away/etc poor performers if I can't tune them myself), a few days will do absolutely nothing to the pen except maybe add a few second to waiting for the ink to reach the tip of the nib, and maybe evaporate some of the ink depending on the sealing.

If I have a pen that I don't even touch for 2 to 3 weeks, I'll de-ink it for storage, or start looking at my current pen/ink rotation and decide what to rotate out. Just did that recently where I actually de-inked my Montblanc 225 as I haven't touched it in a while because the Pilot Murex fills that gap in the western XXF or Japanese EF and also acts as my 'dry writer'. So now I just have 4 pens inked, primarily because I'm awaiting some incoming pens to play with (would have only 3 inked, but decided to try Black Eel in the Lamy 2000's EF, which was the ink I was using in the MB225 for the longest time).