Oh, No! Diamine Ancient Copper Problem

[Penman222]

I have had Diamine Ancient Copper in my Parker "51" Special for a week or so with no problems. I will watch for the arrival of any orange growth however.

[ever onward]

Do you store your pen nib-down or flat? I wonder if that makes a difference?

 

When the Bexley was in my rotation, and getting the goop, its nib was kind of in all directions. I have a 14-pen case that goes with me throughout the house, from office to kitchen to den to bedroom, and my pens' nibs probably gets turned in every direction there is. But....I don't notice a lot of ink creep on other nibs in the case, so I don't know if nib direction is relevant. Could be, though, certainly.

 

I'm glad to hear the goop isn't a big problem for others. I can deal with it. It's interesting, though. And slightly gross.

 

-eo

[radellaf]

There was a bit of that growth with the cap on, but it really got "virulent" when I was making tally marks (100?) over the course of an hour, thus letting the water evaporate out of the ink. Eventually when writing bits of the stuff (tiny dye crystals I assume) flaked off on the page from the part of the nib nearest the paper. I put a few drops of water on the...growth and it did not immediately dissolve. I assume it would given time or agitation, but I wanted to keep tallying so I just gently wiped the nib & feed off with a tissue. They didn't come back for the little bit more tallying I did, and the pen has been capped and unused for about a week now and there's nothing on the nib. Dunno if I'll see it again, so glad I took the photo when I did. I've never seen anything like that before.

Canon Powershot S100. Overkill just for this, but lemme tell ya, one nice camera. The background was a dark slate countertop. Sure did go to all the way to black for the photo.

 

Since this was crumbly I wouldn't call it "goop", per se, as that makes me think of the slime mold that you can get in a bottle of ink. This behaved more like damp, very fine, sand.

[amongsttheleaves]

I've had this happen with Diamine Pumpkin in an Esterbrook, and Diamine Red Dragon in a Parker IM - in both cases the pens were left inked and standing vertically (nib upwards) in my pen cup for a few weeks without use as these are my editing inks and I wasn't editing at the time - both have been easy to clean up, but are admittedly rather unsightly. The Red Dragon had dried out completely but the Pumpkin flowed without a problem. So far I haven't discovered anything nasty lurking in my bottles.

[ever onward]

Does anyone know why there are no Edit buttons in our responses? I'm dying to correct my typo. (In case you're a curious cat, I mean this: "and my pens' nibs probably get turned...")

 

-eo

[alexander_k]

If that's the issue you have, then, it's nothing to worry about. I have a similar problem with Diamine Pumpkin. I believe that it's simply the pigment from the ink left behind when the moisture of the ink evaporates. Seems to only occur with the yellow/orange inks, so must be a particular pigment. It is unsightly, but doesn't damage the pen. I usually just wipe the nib before I use it, and rinse more frequently in between fills

 

I've had the same with Diamine Orange: unnerving but apparently innocent.

[Muncle]

I just picked up my Snorkel that has it loaded. Haven't used it for about a week (bunch of new pens came in). It had some crumbly bits along the bottom of the times, and right on the tip, but nothing too bad. It wiped off easily enough. I wonder if it has something to do with pens sitting for a while. It was stored horizontally.

[mirosc]

Had this with Online Brown. Harmless. A quick wipe and everything's fine.

[JLT]

It looks like crystalization. Some dyes are prone to this behavior. If it is crystalization, there is no permanent harm done. The crystals are soluble and should wash and wipe away without a lot of fuss and bother.

 

 

[fuchsiaprincess]

Just heard from Diamine. It is indeed crystalisation of one of the dye components of the ink, which occurs if a pen is not air tight or the conditions are warm, and will not harm the pen in any way. They are looking at replacing this particular dye, so for those who are fastidious about the aesthetics of their nibs…… there is light at the end of the tunnel (and it ain't a train )

Edited March 9, 2012 by fuchsiaprincess

[hughdrbf]

Glad to read all these posts about your experience with DAC.

 

Mine is not about the "goop", but rather that the nib dries after a few days' storage (nib up). Same pens with other inks the nib doesn't dry out.

 

Also, I'd love to have DAC shade when it goes down.

 

So, i'm wondering if diluting it a bit would serve both desires well - no more nib drying up and shade effect.

 

Interested in your thoughts.

 

Thanks.

 

Hugh

[Ghost Plane]

For the poster wondering about edits - it's a board software function. You have 24 hours to edit your posts, then they become fixed.

 

Intrigued to read about this as I have a bottle of Ancient Copper incoming.

[Stompie]

Oh, I have used AC in a number of pens and have had no problem at all, but then most of my feeds have been tinkered with to give a nice wet flow.

[inkstainedruth]

Someone warned me about a similar problem with the Diamine Kelly Green. Haven't tried the sample yet, though (or the one of Ancient Copper). Forewarned is forearmed -- I'll be watching for it with both of those.

Ruth Morrissona aka inkstainedruth

[DanielCoffey]

Pens with safety breather holes in the caps will have this problem when stored more than those with sealed caps.

[swampa]

I have got this using Diamine Pumpkin with a lamy safari. But not with a Platinum Preppy :hmm1:

[truncated]

If that's the issue you have, then, it's nothing to worry about. I have a similar problem with Diamine Pumpkin. I believe that it's simply the pigment from the ink left behind when the moisture of the ink evaporates. Seems to only occur with the yellow/orange inks, so must be a particular pigment.

 

I get it with Diamine Poppy Red in almost all of my pens. So far, my TWSBI and one of my 78Gs haven't gotten it, so I just use it in those pens. They could share a pigment though, I've not used any of the oranges mentioned here, so I don't know if they can lean reddish.

 

Edit: It's also happened with a hero 329 with no breather hole.

Edited May 19, 2012 by truncated

[jasonditz]

This has me wondering if the "breather hole" phenomenon is why this ink worked so poorly in my Noodler's piston fill. Pretty color but its kinda dry as inks go.

[desertsquid]

Just heard from Diamine. It is indeed crystalisation of one of the dye components of the ink, which occurs if a pen is not air tight or the conditions are warm, and will not harm the pen in any way.

 

I can anecdotally confirm what Diamine said. I had exactly the problem of which radellaf posted a photo. It only happened with my (non-airtight) Waterman Phileas, and I live in southern Arizona, which is somewhere on the warm side of hot. And it was indeed quite harmless, though it took longer to flush the pen than usual. In my case, it was Diamine Orange.

[Lorna Reed]

I had the 'goop' with Diamine Pumpkin in a Pilot Prera and a chinese pen. I'm using Diamine Ancient Copper in a MB149 with no problems at all. I use Diamine Poppy Red a lot in in several different pens with no problem.