Noodler's V-Mail North African Violet Bone Dry

[Strombomboli]

A strange thing happened when I put Noodler's V-mail North African Violet in a pen which I knew to be a very wet writer, a Pelikan Silvexa with an OBB nib: the pen hardly wrote anymore.

 

I had to push the ink forward from the converter which resulted in a light purple; after about one line, the colour turned into a very pale purple and after two lines, the pen didn't write anymore. First, I thought, the the feeder might be clogged, even though I had cleaned it before filling the pen with this ink.

 

In the end, though, I understood that it was the ink's fault, not the pen's. So I tried to get the ink flowing by adding some distilled water to it, but that didn't help at all. Therefore I decided to use another ink and filled the pen with Waterman Tender Purple. Now it writes like a garden hose again, just like it did before when it was fillen with ink from J. Herbin, and lived happily ever after.

 

Two of the North African Violet reviews mention flow problems, whereas the others speak of good, if not wet flow. So I wonder if I am the only one to have made this experience.

[inkstainedruth]

I have a bottle of NAV but haven't used it for awhile. I don't remember it being especially dry, and I think I used it in a pen that turned out to be a dry writer. But I would have to check my notes. And I got the bottle several years ago, and it could be that yours is just a different batch.

I do remember that the ink was really similar to PR Purple Mojo -- more vibrant, but also somewhat slower drying than PRPM.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

Iris, NAV was one of my early purchases upon returning to the world of pens. I found it to be inconsistent. I THINK the problem is that NAV will react to any ink you have left in the pen and then it behave badly. I have taken samples of NAV and added a flow enhancer (Flo+) and that solved the problem, but the next time I used NAV, I didn't need to add the enhancer and the flow was terrifically wet. I haven't done any testing to figure out exactly what makes the difference. If you figure it out, please tell us.

[Strombomboli]

Ah, interesting, dear Amberlea.

 

At the moment, I am quite happy with Waterman's Tender Purple, but when I'll get in the mood to tinker about with inks, I will try thorough cleaning, maybe another pen, and, also maybe, Flo+. Could you tell me a little more about this, i.e., what it is exactly? The net tells me different things, among them "FLO+ Engine Oil Additive", which I suppose is not what you are using. Does it have to do with photography?

 

And by the way: In the meantime, I received the FPN inks which you packed and with your kind note, thank you very much for both! Now, these inks are gorgeous and don't pose any problem whatsoever. (I have Galileo Manuscript Brown and Voltaire Candide Vermilion.)

[amberleadavis]

Flo+ was made by Organics Studio, but they are no longer making inks. Lots of people have had great luck with Photo Flo from Kodak.