Thirsty Pens: Ebonite Pens Drank Up All The Ink.

[akstorm]

So, I did not know where else to post this, so i will post it here.

 

I yesterday Got a bunch of pens, Some of them in ebonite. Was very happy to have these good pens. So i filled them up in the night, Checked them and kept them in my carry case for the next day.

 

I inked the two Kim&co. pens with black and blue inks and that is what i use the most in office. came to office today. Took out the black pen and well it didn't write, gave it a tap, shook it.... and still nothing, so i open up the pen and to my surprise the pen is empty.

 

Then I picked up the blue pen because i needed to take notes, and it doesn't write as well, Shook it, tapped it, failed to write, then opened that too and whooooaaa..... its empty too.

 

Two fully filled ED, with decent capacity, completely dry overnight with no signs of leakage whatsoever.

 

So out of surprise i took out my Ratnam and sons and Gama (filled at the same time, and both ebonite as well) to see if they were dry too..... but to my surprise they were still full.

 

So, i suppose the Kim's i have are just thirsty and drank up all my ink.....

 

Just wanted to share this experience to see if someone else has had such a thing happening to their pens.

 

Sorry to make it so dramatic... Its more fun to write this way....

 

Let me know what you people think might have happened. And If you have had such experience.

Edited February 6, 2014 by akstorm

[Moshe ben David]

you may not be so far off. With such old pens maybe the material did in fact dry out? Have you tried refilling them again just to see if eventually they get saturated....?

[hari317]

So, I did not know where else to post this, so i will post it here.

 

I yesterday Got a bunch of pens, Some of them in ebonite. Was very happy to have these good pens. So i filled them up in the night, Checked them and kept them in my carry case for the next day.

 

I inked the two Kim&co. pens with black and blue inks and that is what i use the most in office. came to office today. Took out the black pen and well it didn't write, gave it a tap, shook it.... and still nothing, so i open up the pen and to my surprise the pen is empty.

 

Then I picked up the blue pen because i needed to take notes, and it doesn't write as well, Shook it, tapped it, failed to write, then opened that too and whooooaaa..... its empty too.

 

Two fully filled ED, with decent capacity, completely dry overnight with no signs of leakage whatsoever.

 

So out of surprise i took out my Ratnam and sons and Gama (filled at the same time, and both ebonite as well) to see if they were dry too..... but to my surprise they were still full.

 

So, i suppose the Kim's i have are just thirsty and drank up all my ink.....

 

Just wanted to share this experience to see if someone else has had such a thing happening to their pens.

 

Sorry to make it so dramatic... Its more fun to write this way....

 

Let me know what you people think might have happened. And If you have had such experience.

never heard of such a thing. maybe someone played a prank on you, or you filled some other pens, or your mind is simply playing tricks

[akstorm]

you may not be so far off. With such old pens maybe the material did in fact dry out? Have you tried refilling them again just to see if eventually they get saturated....?

Will try that today... these are not old pens, they are brand new.... But will fill them again and see what happens tomorrow....

[akstorm]

never heard of such a thing. maybe someone played a prank on you, or you filled some other pens, or your mind is simply playing tricks

Not at all Hari, These 4 are the only ebonite pens i have, and who is gonna play a prank on me they were in my possession all the time. And i live alone, so no chance of anyone fiddling with them. Will fill them again and see what happens.

[hari317]

Not at all Hari, These 4 are the only ebonite pens i have, and who is gonna play a prank on me they were in my possession all the time. And i live alone, so no chance of anyone fiddling with them. Will fill them again and see what happens.

Ok. many freshly made Ebonite pens will have ebonite shavings(chips) in the barrel and inside the cap if they have not been cleaned properly at the factory. Shine a torch into the barrel and see if you see some such sludge (ink mixed with ebonite shavings).

 

but a full barrel of ink getting absorbed into the ebonite walls overnight? On the kim pens, the barrel walls are very thick, but i find it difficult to believe that the material is so porous. But I am looking fwd to your followup reports.

[akstorm]

Ok. many freshly made Ebonite pens will have ebonite shavings(chips) in the barrel and inside the cap if they have not been cleaned properly at the factory. Shine a torch into the barrel and see if you see some such sludge (ink mixed with ebonite shavings).

 

but a full barrel of ink getting absorbed into the ebonite walls overnight? On the kim pens, the barrel walls are very thick, but i find it difficult to believe that the material is so porous. But I am looking fwd to your followup reports.

I am surprised too, considering that ebonite is basically rubber, and rubber as far i remember is never hydrophilic, it absorbing moisture from water based inks is just weird.

 

And yeah i flushed them really well before filling up, so even if there was shavings left, a full barrel of ink, on two pens just drying off is a little too much.

 

i will surely update tomorrow about what happens.

[amk]

I think you must be right akstorm; you have bought a pair of pens straight out of the brothers Grimm fairytales, the Magic Unfillable Pens, and they will eat all your ink supplies before disappearing in a whiff of blue smoke and leaving a nasty smell behind.

 

Only thing to do is have them exorcised of their evil spirits by invoking a mightier and more evil one, like Bay State Blue :-)

[akstorm]

Bay State Blue

 

Nooooooo...... Oh god noooooo...... One simply does not take that name in front of lesser demons.... these poor pens will behave, they will have to, if they want to survive.

[SteveE]

When you refilled them, did they write wavy lines? Do they fall where others would not? If they drank too much, they may wander or be hard to control.

[akstorm]

When you refilled them, did they write wavy lines? Do they fall where others would not? If they drank too much, they may wander or be hard to control.

Steve, they did none of that ..... i guess they are seasoned drinkers. I wonder if pens have livers

[J English Smith]

Interesting. I am waiting on a Kim & Co. ebonite eyedropper at the moment. Let us know what you find out.

[Wile E Coyote]

Check all the paper in your house for writing you didn't create. You may have ghost writer.

[Inkling13]

My guess is that it's leaked and pooled somewhere you haven't noticed yet....

[mhguda]

akstrom, this is to let you know that you are not quite alone with this. I had the same thing happening with a new ebonite black Gama. I filled it, and when I next take it up to write, it does not want to write, I tap, etc. and in the end open it up and... empty barrel. Weird. Not a drop of ink left. I thought I must be mistaken, maybe the pipette did not fully fill or empty, maybe I wasn't paying attention, although I put two pipettes of black ink in there... Well, I just refilled, and used the pen immediately this time, and no more mysterious vanishings. And, I've found no strange ink pools, no pages written with what I could not have written, etc. either. I doubt we'll ever discover what happened... but it's intriguing all the same.

[akstorm]

Check all the paper in your house for writing you didn't create. You may have ghost writer.

Nothing found..... But i did feel a chill down my spine yesterday..... of wait everyone did...... it was cold. (i know my jokes are terrible)

 

My guess is that it's leaked and pooled somewhere you haven't noticed yet....

There are/were no strange leaked pools of ink. i keep my pens in a canvas pen pouch. if they leaked 2 barrels full of ink. Oh i am sure i would have noticed.

 

akstrom, this is to let you know that you are not quite alone with this. I had the same thing happening with a new ebonite black Gama. I filled it, and when I next take it up to write, it does not want to write, I tap, etc. and in the end open it up and... empty barrel. Weird. Not a drop of ink left. I thought I must be mistaken, maybe the pipette did not fully fill or empty, maybe I wasn't paying attention, although I put two pipettes of black ink in there... Well, I just refilled, and used the pen immediately this time, and no more mysterious vanishings. And, I've found no strange ink pools, no pages written with what I could not have written, etc. either. I doubt we'll ever discover what happened... but it's intriguing all the same.

Well i think even i would never know, filled them up again yesterday and checked them today morning, both the pens have ink, and both write.

 

I wonder if aliens took my pens in the night, i mean with their retractor beam and stuff and then wrote them dry, because they couldn't resist the feel of ebonite, and then left them where they took it from.

 

It still remains a mystery unsolved.

[hari317]

did you rinse them out before refilling yesterday? did the rinse have traces of ink? heavy traces or faint? any sludge found inside the pen?

[akstorm]

did you rinse them out before refilling yesterday? did the rinse have traces of ink? heavy traces or faint? any sludge found inside the pen?

I did rinse the pens, It had traces of ink, Heavy in one, faint in one (Even i don't understand where the ink went, because the traces were not enough to justify a full barrel of dry ink dye, did the pens absorb the dye as well?? I do not know.) , and lastly there was no sludge, i even inserted a long q-tip to see if there was something, but nothing.

 

So, basically i have no idea what happened to the ink. Because, i swear to god i filled those pens just fine, and i was not high, not on meth or pot or coke or all those stuff. I was perfectly sober and in my senses. it just beats me.

[hari317]

I did rinse the pens, It had traces of ink, Heavy in one, faint in one (Even i don't understand where the ink went, because the traces were not enough to justify a full barrel of dry ink dye, did the pens absorb the dye as well?? I do not know.) , and lastly there was no sludge, i even inserted a long q-tip to see if there was something, but nothing.

 

So, basically i have no idea what happened to the ink. Because, i swear to god i filled those pens just fine, and i was not high, not on meth or pot or coke or all those stuff. I was perfectly sober and in my senses. it just beats me.

how do you fill your ed pens? using a dropper or using a syringe?

[akstorm]

how do you fill your ed pens? using a dropper or using a syringe?

Both, depends on what i have handy. How does that make a difference??