Oh, No! Diamine Ancient Copper Problem

[reprieve]

I've been using Ancient Copper in several different pens since it was released and still haven't seen the fuzz or the goop or whatever you want to call it. I've had it in a Nakaya Neo Standard constantly for at least two months without issue.

 

From the posts I've seen here, it seems to occur most frequently with snap-on caps (that could possibly be less than airtight).

[fuchsiaprincess]

That is lovely to hear! Thank you for the good news

[fiberdrunk]

I finally took a picture of mine. This is Diamine Ancient Copper in a cheap Hero 266 pen. Like I said earlier in the thread, this happened with Higgins Sepia, too. It does have a snap-type lid.

 

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/7035921731_66e58ba006_k.jpg

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6889824342_5e40524753_k.jpg

[bangoo1]

Did you manage to clean all this off?

[fiberdrunk]

Did you manage to clean all this off?

 

I just wipe it off and keep writing. It doesn't seem to interfere with the flow. But I wouldn't want another one of these pens.

[orangepenguin]

I use Ancient Copper in a variety of pens, vintage and modern and never had an issue. As others have suggested, I would probably continue to use it and just wipe off any goo. Perhaps cleaning/flushing more regularly would be good. I don't think it would put me off from using a wonderful ink.

[inBOIL]

PR Orange Crush did the same for me in a pen once. (Can't remember which one--but probably the Pelikan M100, or an Esterbrook, given the year of use.)

 

It IS a bit of a "rude awakening" to say the least.

[tinta]

I should have done a wider search or at least have found "this" thread, before I special ordered a bottle of Diamine Ancient Copper.

 

Last week the bottle arrived, just a few days after I stumbled upon this thread.

Darn!

If I would have known about the excessive nib-creep problem with this ink, I wouldn't have ordered it.

For the first three or four (A5) pages, the nib & feed of my 1911-M (0.8 mm stub) showed no signs of crystalline creep. "I'll be one of those not affected", I thought.

Not so!

Soon, a tell-tale red/orange residue started forming on the surface nib, where the engraving lines intersect the central slit. After a few more pages, the tip & the side edges of the nib (by the feed combs) started sprouting this growth.

 

It was fascinating to watch its progress. Like in the film: "The Blob".

I had a devil of a time flushing out the nib/section & converter.

This is high maintenance ink.

 

Next time, before I order any ink, I'll try to do a more thorough research.

[Maduro]

I have the same problem as the OP with DAC in my Parker 45 EF nib. Love the color, so I'll be doing extra maintenance with this pen/ink combination.

[SamCapote]

I wonder if a Ouija Board would help the problem?

[duboing]

I don't know whether resurrecting old threads is frowned upon here, but I was glad to find this one. I bought some Ancient Copper, having admired a few written samples on here. It TERRIFIED me when it started furring up my Sapporo - I thought it might be terminal. Fortunately I only bought a small bottle because, benign or not, it's really off-putting having all that crud bursting out of every orifice.

 

Back to the utterly charming Diamine Chocolate Brown for me!

[elderberry]

Experiencing the same thing with Ancient Copper in my vintage Conway Stewart. It's quite yucky and regrows within a day when wiped off. It also becomes more and more over time. If I left the pen unattented for a few months it would probably have built its own civilization.

 

But well, the colour is pretty and the crud doesn't seem to hurt the pen, so I don't care too much.

[anomalogue]

Argh. The copper plague has spread to my TWSBI Mini EF. I'll have to quarantine it. I was hoping it wouldn't spread to this part of the world.

[Gloucesterman]

Wow, a silver nib with orange copper bunting!

Now there is a unique nib.

[Francis_Rex]

I just bought a bottle of this yesterday.

 

I wish I had read this first.

 

However, in the two years since this was first posted maybe there will have been some sorting out of this issue.

[plumista]

Yes, maybe this thread is somewhat old, and the maker might have had time to solve the problem of Ancient Copper, but my bottle came from TWD only three months ago.

 

My problem was not a disgusting surprise when uncapping my pen while this ink was inside (bacteria/mould growing under the right circumstances), but, after having used it for two or three refills without issues, I wish to use it to fill the pen on rotation, so open once again the lid... and find out a quite different colour in the remaining bottle!!!! A no-colour in fact, something strange that of course I do not dare using.

 

So bad, the ink is fully spoiled (an almost full 80ml bottle!), and also your heart a little bit, since you buy an ink for its coulour, don´t you?

 

Conclusion? Won´t repeat, will use another brand.

 

plumista

Edited July 30, 2014 by plumista

[MissChief]

I'm happy to have found this thread. I was beginning to wonder what was going on with my pens. I have the DAC in a few pens and at least two of them have come down with the goop. I only received my bottle of the ink a couple of months ago and, now, I'm a little leery of putting it in any of my pens, as much as I love the colour. I am happy to hear that it won't do any damage, though.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I love the color of Diamine Ancient Copper, but I'm glad I only bought a sample. I had the same crusting issue. The crust cleans off easily, but it's not something I should have to deal with.

 

What I found was that Noodler's Antietam is a very similar color and much better behaved.

[aardvarkbark]

I have had DAC in my Omas Extra Lucens for the past 4 days with none of this, and had it in the Omas Burlwood a couple weeks ago without ever seeing it. Maybe I just got a good bottle of it. This is one of my favorites.

[Aurko]

I had this same problem and I was wondering if it had anything to do with using an Iron Gall as my last ink. It worried me a lot and I flushed out that pen and soaked it for two nights to be safe.