Droplet Free Sloshing Ink For Vac700 Demonstrator

[tismijnestylo]

Hi All

 

I currently use an undetermined diamine blue colour (kind of blue black), and as I move the ink around in my VAC700 demonstrator, droplets and smudges are left behind.

 

 

I know the interaction between barrel material and ink chemistry is complex, so I’ll address my question only to TWSBI owners. Does any TWSBI demonstrator-owner happen to have a blue black or similar colour ink that does not leave such droplets behind? (Does that even exist?)

 

Please share your pictures!

 

Thanks!

Bart

[evyxmsj]

Ah, I would like to know this as well. At this point, I can only report that Pelikan Mandarin sloshes well.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

All of mine don't do that. 3 pens, 3 colors.

[sciumbasci]

Not a TWSBI owner, so feel free to ignore, but the same happens to my (generously) lubed converters. Although ugly, may it mean yours is well greased?

[tismijnestylo]

@Fuzzy_Bear

Which pens are you using? What material are they made of?

@sciumbasci

Interesting, my pen is brand new, so I presume that it came well greased from the factory. Perhaps I'll try some de-greasing 🤓

[Fuzzy_Bear]

TWSBI Diamond 580 USA

TWSBI 580 Red

TWSBI Eco Clear

 

Never flushed them, except for the USA model. That's before I found the loose nib unit.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Fuzzy_Bear

[aeba]

@sciumbasci

Interesting, my pen is brand new, so I presume that it came well greased from the factory. Perhaps I'll try some de-greasing

Thing is, that you'll want that rubber gasket on the steel rod to be greased with silicone grease to prevent wear and tear.

[The Good Captain]

Bearing in mind that TWSBIs are 'clear', then I would venture to suggest that the same thing could possible happen in any non-cc pen, but for a lot of the time, we just can't see it happening.

Because, those pens aren't 'clear'!

Personally, I wouldn't let it worry you.

[Witsius]

I've found Pelikan inks in general tend to slosh nicely.

[dapprman]

I've found that 4 diamine ink samples I have all stick to the sides of the vials they are in. In my TWSBI 580 Diamond I use J Herbin Poussant le Lune with no problem - might be worth seeing if they have a blue black. Only other J. Herbin I have in a clear/demonstrator pen is Emeraude de Chivor in a TWSBI ECO, and again there's no droplets or sticking (though obviously you do get the gold flakes settling on one side).

[Pensei]

I have Iroshizuku Ama-iro in a Pilot CH 92, and it makes a very nice smooth coating on the inside of the barrel. I think it's a different kind of plastic, but it might be worth a try. Similarly, I have Ajisai in an 823, and while a few drops cling to the rod, the ink is smooth on the walls. It may be that the rods are going to attract the drops no matter the ink, but I would be interested to learn otherwise.

[amberleadavis]

Actually, this a problem / feature of pens with large ink capacities. You want to watch for surface tension. I found the droplet thing happens a lot when the pen is brand new. Wash it out with a mix of dish soap and water. That may be enough to fix the problem for all the following inks.

[Aquaria]

I would bet that Waterman ink would be the standard for testing anything related to nib performance or barrel drying or staining of any kind.

 

Caran d'Ache Vibrant Green did that in my pen when it had been in the barrel a little too long, so I think it's related to drying of the ink in the barrel, more than anything. My Vac 700 was a pen that I didn't use often at first, but there were times when I did extended writing with the plunger opened to allow the ink to flow for the long session. Then I put it away again for a week or more before using it again. After a few rounds of that, I started getting the droplet problem, so I'm betting that it started drying up from that type of usage. When you open up the plunger, you're letting in air which will dry out the ink, like it or not.

 

That's why I don't use this pen as a standby writer. I use it often or I empty it and store it for later use, because it's not a pen that you can let keep inked for prolonged periods of intermittent use.

 

If it's not an everyday writer, don't overfill it and don't let the ink sit too long in it, even if you give it a small fill. Also, use a "wet" ink like Waterman or any of the Pilot lines, and avoid dry inks like Pelikan and Lamy. This isn't a bash against either ink, I happen to like some of their colors tremendously, but they are prone to dryness, and that won't serve this pen well.

Edited December 16, 2016 by Aquaria

[dcwaites]

Depending on your ink (how much surfactant (detergent) is in it) and how much silicone oil/grease is coating the walls of the ink reservoir, you can have one of three scenarios --

 

1) ink doesn't wet the walls at all

2) ink wets the walls completely, coating them all on the inside

3) blobbing - which you have.

 

Don't worry about it. The pen will work perfectly no matter what is happening. The mixture of chemicals in the ink is designed to help it get through the fine ink channels in the feed and down the nib slit onto the paper, not to look pretty on the inside of your pen.

[beanbag]

Yup, some inks will coat and some inks will bunch up and repel. So far, all my Japanese inks have been coaters. Splotchiness probably means silicone oil residue. Anyway, I have been able to "convert" an ink from blobbing into coating by adding just the tiniest amount of surfactant. Please add tiny amounts at a time, or you will get excessive ink flow.

 

 

Blue= Sailor Souten - a natural coater

Red = Montblanc Corn Poppy Red- totally blobs up, to the point that the ink can hang upside down under gravity. Added a touch of surfactant to make it a wall-coater.

Blue-green = J Herbin Emerald of Chivor - a partial wall coater, unmodified.

 

PS: yes, I have a TWSBI pen too, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I have a purple KWZI ink in it that is a wall coater, but there is also some splotchiness from the silicone oil.

Edited December 26, 2016 by beanbag

[amberleadavis]

Beanbag, those are great photos.