Flushing pens with deionized water

[RoyalBlue]

I've just been reading the hard water thread regarding deposits left if hard water is left to dry out of a pen or converter.

 

For obvious reasons distilled water is often recommended to obviate this problem. In England it's easy for me to buy bottles of deionized water from Wilkinson's - they are only about 50 pence each. But are there any drawbacks in using this, which is not the same as distilled water? Anyone with some chemical expertise have a view on this?

 

I ask because after doing some Google work on deionized water the mention of ions leaves me unsure whether the water can act in some aggressive way with the metal or other parts of a pen or with the next ink put into the pen (a little bit of the DI water is bound to stay behind when I shake, blot, and refill with ink).

 

Thank you,

Tom

[ZeissIkon]

Deionized (aka DI) water from a pharmacy/chemist shop should be similar purity to distilled water. It is required to be labeled differently because the process may leave different impurities than distillation would, but it shouldn't harm a pen (surely better than bad tap water, no worse than the best tap water). If you were getting ultra-pure DI water from a chemical supplier or chemistry lab filtration system, there's a slight possibility that the rabid solvency of ultra-pure water could damage pen materials (especially inadequately passivated metals), but that stuff costs more than European gasoline, frequently even more than distilled spirits, and isn't sold over the counter in pharmacies in any case. The DI water sold over the counter is functionally equivalent to distilled water for all purposes.

[chemgeek]

Deionized water is nearly pure and mostly devoid of any mineral/salt content, with a resistivity of 10-18 megohms/cm2. "Distilled" water is typically reverse osmosis purified water, and typically has 98% of the mineral/salt content removed, and a resistivity of around 2 megohms/cm2. Either is fine for your pen. For very long exposure, deionized water is actually significantly corrosive to exposed metals because of its very low metal ion content, compared to distilled water. For water cooling circuits, for example, the reverse osmosis water is actually preferred.

 

Since your pen does not live in distilled water, and the nibs are typically constructed of metals that are very resistant to corrosion, it should not be a significant issue. The nice thing about deionized water is that it will leave no trace of salts or residues when it evaporates.

 

Cheers.

[wheezur]

Deionized water is nearly pure and mostly devoid of any mineral/salt content, with a resistivity of 10-18 megohms/cm2. "Distilled" water is typically reverse osmosis purified water, and typically has 98% of the mineral/salt content removed, and a resistivity of around 2 megohms/cm2. Either is fine for your pen. For very long exposure, deionized water is actually significantly corrosive to exposed metals because of its very low metal ion content, compared to distilled water. For water cooling circuits, for example, the reverse osmosis water is actually preferred.

 

Since your pen does not live in distilled water, and the nibs are typically constructed of metals that are very resistant to corrosion, it should not be a significant issue. The nice thing about deionized water is that it will leave no trace of salts or residues when it evaporates.

 

Cheers.

+1 for this fine explanation.

[handwriter]

Deionized water will be fine. Note that unless tap water in your area is hard, it will be OK.

[FrankB]

Deionized water should be just fine, as the others have said. As a side note, the tap water in my area is so hard you can drive nails with it. I have used it for years to flush my FP's with no ill effects.