Serious Problems With Large Eyedropper Fountain Pens ?

[vans4444]

I have a few Indian EDs from different makes. Some older pens did send a blob of ink out as they emptied. My newer one do not have the same problem but can get very wet when they need to be refilled. I put Sheaffer NN feeds in three of the older ones and this did cure the problem with the occasional blob.

 

I also have an old Watermn's ED with a Number 2 Ideal nib. It also gets very wet when it is nearly empty.

[Enai]

I am able to write my Airmail eyedroppers dry with no blobs. I must have cold hands.

[Fuddlestack]

My Airmails are OK unless I do something deliberately naughty such as warming the pen up and not allowing the air out. But it crosses my mind that one might cut a few more slots and channels in an Airmail feed, extending the arrangement that is already there back into the section.

 

Opinions?

[Oldtimer]

The one problem I have with eyedroppers is basic physics. If the pen isn't full, the heat from my hand warms the pen, the air bubble in the barrel expands and the ink starts getting forced from the feed and blobs. It's more a problem with droppers because the air bubble is larger and you don't have the insulating effect of barrel and cart/converter/sac.

 

I have that problem with two penmanships whether they are held or not, whether they are used as eyedroppers or not. i leave them standing overnight and the caps get leaked in. I use a cartridge and i get blobs also. I would like to understand what causes these blobs, since with my experience i have discarded the warming theory.

 

So, what would explain blobs in my situation? The pens write dry all the time, except when they throw out the blob. There most be a big feed channel i guess, bigger than it needs to be.i don't want to hijack the trail but document another situation where it happens when warming is not the cause, also to see if someone has an explanation for this case.

Edited November 30, 2014 by Oldtimer

[Oldtimer]

UPDATE: So... I tried heat setting it. I know it shouldn't have worked, but it worked. Now the pen does not leak, no blobs and it is working smoothly and drier using its cartridge. Now, i cannot wait to use all the ink to make it and eyedropper. The feed on these appear to be plastic, kind of bluish translucent, that's why i say it shouldn't have worked. But it dif. Maybe removing and placing everything back fixed soemthing.

[jmccarty3]

The rationale of the Sailor "gathered" (or "ridged") 1911 pens is that they transfer less heat to the pen body, therefore minimizing the effect on ink flow. These pens are not eyedroppers, of course. The Waterman 100 Year Pen is the only other example of this that comes to mind. It seems to me that with a cartridge/converter pen like the Sailor, that this would be a negligible advantage, but with an eyedropper, it could be significant.

[deepak23]

Most of my pens in regular rotation are large EDs and I am yet to face major issues of 'puking'. Some pens with deep feed grooves did have this issue which was solved by adding a thin plastic strip inside the feed groove. It also helps that the normal day temperature averages 30+(deg C) for most of the year.

Edited December 7, 2014 by deepak23