SITB! Why me?

[FredRydr]

SITB has struck again, this time in a 3/4-full 50ml bottle of German-made Montblanc Bordeaux that I hadn’t opened in a couple years.

I was rushing to add a third pen to my daily carries, selecting a Sheaffer Balance Premier oversized Vac-Fill in golden brown striated celluloid. The plunger is like new, only used infrequently since Ron Zorn restored the innards. But when the plunger reached the bottom of the barrel, it struggled a bit. When I lifted the section from the Montblanc shoe bottle, a strand of bordeaux “snot” stretched between the two. My wife was loading the car and urged me to hurry, but I wanted to get “the treatment” into the pen immediately and flush it well. I did so and left it uncapped in the sunlight before rushing out to the car. I’ll repeat the treatment when I get home, and
make an effort to find more in-depth information.

[TSherbs]

Gross, Fred! Hey, as they say, even the high and mighty MB has *#$% that stinks.

[Chrissy]

Ouch Fred! As TSherbs says it seems like no brand is immune from SITB.

[Jon Szanto]

It’s weird.

I haven’t had a mold problem in years, and only a couple times total. Completely out of the blue (no pun intended), last week I went to fill a pen with a nearly full bottle of Monteverdi Horizon Blue, bought last year. As soon as I opened the bottle it smelled rotten, like garbage. I put the cap back on and set it aside. I have no idea how it happened.

[Sailor Kenshin]

It’s weird.

I haven’t had a mold problem in years, and only a couple times total. Completely out of the blue (no pun intended), last week I went to fill a pen with a nearly full bottle of Monteverdi Horizon Blue, bought last year. As soon as I opened the bottle it smelled rotten, like garbage. I put the cap back on and set it aside. I have no idea how it happened.

Known problem with some batches of MV inks. They were replacing the tainted bottles back when I got one.

[TSherbs]

It’s weird.

I haven’t had a mold problem in years, and only a couple times total. Completely out of the blue (no pun intended), last week I went to fill a pen with a nearly full bottle of Monteverdi Horizon Blue, bought last year. As soon as I opened the bottle it smelled rotten, like garbage. I put the cap back on and set it aside. I have no idea how it happened.

Known problem with some batches of MV inks. They were replacing the tainted bottles back when I got one.

huh

first I heard of it

[CrayonAngelss]

Ew!

[Robalone]

I think it was known to happen to this brand, but , I opened an almost new bottle of Private Reserve that I hadn’t used for a year, and it had a 10mm 'mat' of mould sitting on top of the Black Cherry ink….groooooosssss !

[FredRydr]

Finally home, so I can have a closer look. I follow Steve McQueen's method and poke it...



...but with a chopstick. Hmmm...similar color and texture.

IMG_5707.JPG

The pen is getting another Shaklee Basic G treatment.

CAE27654-3F7F-44E4-835C-B0D6DE0806C1.jpeg

[carlos.q]

How do you use this Shakelee treatment?

[FredRydr]

I flushed out the ink with water, then drew into this Sheaffer Vac-Filler the diluted Shaklee Basic G (it is highly concentrated). Let sit for a while. Finally flush rinse very well. Mind you, this is a plunger-filler that I will not disassemble, so I flush a lot using the plunger. I would disassemble any pen that enables it, such as a Pelikan, and force flush and rinse using a bulb syringe. I've replaced a sac that was filled with infected ink.

[Chrissy]

It’s weird.

I haven’t had a mold problem in years, and only a couple times total. Completely out of the blue (no pun intended), last week I went to fill a pen with a nearly full bottle of Monteverdi Horizon Blue, bought last year. As soon as I opened the bottle it smelled rotten, like garbage. I put the cap back on and set it aside. I have no idea how it happened.

Known problem with some batches of MV inks. They were replacing the tainted bottles back when I got one.

I remember that one of jungljim's Monteverde mystery inks turned out to have SITB. He had already sent me an early sample while sending some other samples but then found a problem in his bottle and had to switch to a different ink to use as the mystery ink. Monteverde replaced his bottle. It was Wisdom Purple.

I also had a brand new bottle of Montblanc Elixir Pourpre ink, sent to me from Mb in Hamburg, that grew a large mould growth on my Mb Woolf. nib and feed They requested the pen and the bottle, fixed the pen and withdrew all of that ink as it was found to be tainted with SITB that should not have been present.

As Montblanc inks and Monteverde inks are both made in Austria I wonder.....

[Jon Szanto]

As Montblanc inks and Monteverde inks are both made in Austria I wonder.....

Schnitzel droppings in the ink vats.

[Chrissy]

I flushed out the ink with water, then drew into this Sheaffer Vac-Filler the diluted Shaklee Basic G (it is highly concentrated). Let sit for a while. Finally flush rinse very well. Mind you, this is a plunger-filler that I will not disassemble, so I flush a lot using the plunger. I would disassemble any pen that enables it, such as a Pelikan, and force flush and rinse using a bulb syringe. I've replaced a sac that was filled with infected ink.

Fred, just for completeness please could you mention the dilution rate of Shaklee to water once more? Thank you. Then I will know where it is straight away.

[FredRydr]

Fred, just for completeness please could you mention the dilution rate of Shaklee to water once more? Thank you. Then I will know where it is straight away.

This is the solution recommended by Richard Binder. Here are the instructions and cautions.

DF5F2D56-0EFF-4962-B905-4FC197357F97.jpeg

[FredRydr]

Has anyone found success with a replacement seal or o-ring in a 2.8cm inside-diameter cap of a 50ml Montblanc ink bottle?

[Chrissy]

Has anyone found success with a replacement seal or o-ring in a 2.8cm inside-diameter cap of a 50ml Montblanc ink bottle?

I've always found those seals to be particularly tight and have never needed a replacement seal. I cap them really tight so that I need my rubber strip to get them off.

[Jon Szanto]

Has anyone found success with a replacement seal or o-ring in a 2.8cm inside-diameter cap of a 50ml Montblanc ink bottle?

In the past, when I've had the seal inside the lid go bad or missing, I cut a circle out of a styrofoam plate or container. It is soft enough that it compresses a bit and makes a good seal against the jar top. If it eventually gets flat, I cut a new one.

[Ron Z]

As Montblanc inks and Monteverde inks are both made in Austria I wonder.....

Schnitzel droppings in the ink vats.

Dan Reppert got some ink vats from Sheffer. They found a dead mouse in the bottom of one. Dyed, of course.

[Jon Szanto]

Dan Reppert got some ink vats from Sheffer. They found a dead mouse in the bottom of one. Dyed, of course.

Hehe. Well played, Ron.