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Today I went to refill my Lamy 2000 with Monteverde Horizon Blue. I noticed (luckily, before dipping my pen into it!) that the ink wasn't flowing in the bottle as I swished it around. In fact, it seemed to have turned to gel! A closer inspection showed that there still was some liquid in the bottle, but the entire bottom was covered with a solid mass. I didn't get the distinctive moldy odor that I've experienced from some previous incidents, but it was definitely ruined. This ink was not in the original bottle. I had previously transferred a large amount into an old Parker Penman bottle (my favorite bottle design of all time), and I had also taken the opportunity to dilute it 50/50 with distilled water, since pure MHB was too saturated for my taste. I don't want to give anyone the impression that I'm warning you all way from MHB. If anything, I'd consider this a warning about dilution. Ink depends on biocide ingredients to retard the growth of mold or bacteria. Diluting the ink 50% also means diluting the biocides 50%, and they may just not be effective when cut to half their original, intended strength! Just to drive the point home, I went back and inspected the remaining un-diluted ink in the original MHB bottle, and it's perfectly OK.

The day before yesterday, I received a shipment of four Monteverde inks, in the 80 ml bottles, from a reliable vendor. I have gotten accustomed to opening new bottles of ink to check for problems. To my surprise, the bottle of Motivation Orange contained a large amount of goopy contamination. There was no unusual odor, unlike the problem with Montblanc yellow ink several years ago. The vendor has already dispatched a replacement bottle, but if you have this ink, you should check it. As with the Montblanc ink, it may not be an isolated problem.

So I received a few bottles of ink from a friend of mine, and one of them has a giant pile of goo in it that's got to be mold. It's about the size of a stack of 3 pennies. I think the brand is called "Small Endowment," and it's Chinese, but I can't find any other information about them. It's a cool color of ink, though, and I'm wondering if anyone has had success salvaging something like this before? Would it be possible to strain the ink through a coffee filter to remove the solids and then treat it with some sort of mold/fungus killer to make it usable? Or should I just throw it out and forget I ever had it? I'm attaching an image below, but I also put a video on Instagram that shows it better: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpcsepZDKH-/ Thoughts?

I bought a box of cartridges of the new Golden Yellow ink two weeks ago Sunday, at the Chicago Pen Show, from an authorized dealer. Golden Yellow is a new ink this year, and mine seems very new. My box has an expiration day of May 2018. The ink cartridges have been in the box since I bought them, which again was all of 15 days ago. Today I took out a few, and I noticed something strange floating inside. Looking more closely, it appears to be SITB, and it's in every single one of the eight cartridges, all sealed. I'm not really figuring out how to upload photos here these days, but I think I can attach one. There are more photos here, for those interested. But I wanted to let folks know to check Golden Yellow ink cartridges before using them. Maybe it's an isolated problem, maybe not. Tomorrow I'll have to call the retailer and see if they'll give me a credit or exchange. Montblanc USA wouldn't help me out there, and frankly I'm disappointed. It's just a $5 item in the first place, and I spent a lot of time calling Montblanc about it. But lesson learned.

I am happily the newest owner of one of Amberlea's favorite inks, Noodler's Baystate Blue. I got it used on eBay and unfortunately there appears to be some sediment along the rim on on the dropper. I was not very successful at trying to capture an image of it but here is what I got anyway, I see three main possibilities: Natural separation of some components of the ink as this is a highly concentrated ink Chemical reaction to the introduction of some other ink. I have read this can happen with BSB and poor pen hygiene Something biological (bacteria/fungi) growing in the inkAnyone have an opinion on what is most likely with this ink and the appropriate measures to take?

Got this bottle for a Christmas present last december. Tops, 1/3 of the bottle has been used. Just recently (about a month ago) started noticing this really thick, slow moving ink in the bottle's bottom when I turn in upright. There are no white moldy particles floating atop the ink, and the "sludge" mixes back into the ink when the bottle is shaken. However, in a mere hour, the SITB will reform if left unbothered. I really like this ink and its qualities, but it makes me anxious to think that this could happen in my pens. I have attempted diluting samples to some avail, hoping perhaps that additional water could "sop" up any distilled dye "particulates." I want to keep using my M54, but I am fearful. Guide me, oh FPN masters. What might be done to save this ink? Is this just a bad bottle, that I should request a replacement, or is this a common occurrence?

A while back (>6 mo), I thought I had SITB in a bottle of PR Black Cherry. (Amber later informed me it was not SITB and was in fact normal.) Thinking it was SITB I strained the ink through a coffee filter, and put it into two new containers, one of which I added phenol, the other I did not. A month or two ago I noticed a growth on the top of the untreated container. I left it sitting around because I was meaning to take a picture to add to the annals here. A couple days ago I looked at it and noticed all these round black spots on the top that I presume to be fruiting bodies. I am not very well equipped for macro-photography, but I can make more attempts if someone needs a less blurry image. I had not used the ink since I did the straining. I may have opened the jar since then, I am not sure. I do not think I did as proper of job sterilizing the jar as generally advised. Regardless I have no intention of trying to salvage the ink.

I have a bottle of Diamine Orange that has flecks of something in it. These flecks are about the size of very coarse pepper - the largest ones are about 1/32 of an inch. They do not dissolve when I shake the bottle, and they are heavy - they fall quickly (within a second) to the bottom of the bottle. Any idea what this is? I'm pretty sure I don't want it in my pens. Thanks, Jon

GASP!! THE HORROR! But please don't be too afraid. Let me explain. I have a bottle of Private Reserve Avocado that I only just opened recently. The smell was immediately awful, like ammonia. So I dug around with a toothpick and found a bit of jelly goop at the bottom. (It was a little terrifying, but fascinating.) I know the immediate response is to dump it down the drain. BUT... I hate to waste ink, and I have a terrible knack for playing with things I shouldn't. So of course I filled up a Pilot Petit 3 with the ink anyway. I know some hearts just skipped a beat out there. But I've had this cheap-o pen (the reason I am experimenting with this one is because of that cheapness) filled and used for several weeks, and have had no problems. No funky stuff growing, no flow issues.. By all means, it works perfectly. I just get a whiff of ammonia now and then in a particularly wet area in my sketching. But I actually don't find the smell to be any more or less offensive than many markers I own. I also have a junker Welsharp mini pen I found at an antique mall that had no cap. I pulled the nib out and decided to use it as a dip nib, specifically with one pen body for this one specific ink, in order to keep cross-contamination at bay. I suppose the point of this topic is to ask whether anyone else out there has gotten use out of their contaminated inks? Do you feel comfortable doing so? Has it worked/not worked for you? WOULD you use it as a dipping ink only? Or am I just a cheapskate with a danger streak? I am by no means telling you to go ahead and use ink that has SitB, that it is safe, blah blah blah. Not in the least. And I surely would NOT use contaminated ink in any of my regular fountain pens. I'm just sharing my experience in living on the edge of inkdom, and that I've been able to use the ink in a limited way to avoid (literally) throwing my money down the drain.

I have a bottle of Sailor Jentle Blue from at least two years ago that I'm not even sure I ever used. I recently went to open it to try it after receiving my new Sailor inks, and lo' and behold there were big bubbles in the ink. And not the kind that just are from shaking the bottle. There's no mold on the ink or in the bottle. The ink doest look thick or slimy or anything. But it does seem like some kind of biological activity is happening, which shouldn't be happening. I come to that conclusion based on evidence that if I pop all the bubbles, the bubbles come back. It's been too long for me to take this back to the store where I bought it, even if I could find the receipt. So I've read a lot here about what to do when good ink goes bad. The summary seems to be filter the ink as best as you can (I have a 20 micron woven wire filter, as well as special milk filters), and add phenol. Also I suspect one should sterilize the container into which the ink will go, especially if that's back into the ink bottle. I'm wondering about using some Iodophore (sp?) an iodine based sanitizer readily available. Anyway a pic so you can see...

So I have nearly 200 ink samples that had been sitting in a box. Right now, I'm stuck at home so I figured why not organize my ink samples. That's when I found this: http://dizzypen.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/wierd-samples.jpg Periwinkle has turned into a gelatinous mass as has Dragon Cat Pink and the two Dakota Red samples have a serious case of SITB (seen best with the second dakota vial). Anyone else experience this?

Hey Folks A while ago I got a bottle of Diamine Racing Green, and when it arrived, it had a serious case of SITB. Here is a pic http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5330/9885114643_d04e9c3c0f_b.jpg I contacted Rolf at missing-pen,de who was great and replaced the bottle straight away. I got it a few weeks ok, and checked it, and it looked a little bubbly, but thought that might be due to travelling, so I let it settle had a look, and wasnt too sure..... so I give it a shake and left it to settle again..... Here are some pics, one from above so you can see the oily discoloration, and another so you can see what looks like a little build up. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7299/9885111893_1155d93235_b.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/9885015544_7e401947ac_b.jpg Maybe I am being a little paranoid, but does this new bottle look a bit iffy as well? I have not used it just in case Hopefully some other users can have a look and let me know how their bottle compares..... Thanks Ren