Smelly Pens (Cross And Pilot)

May 6, 2017

Hello

I am new on the forum. I have a few pens nothing really fancy. My most expensive pen is a Cross Century 2. I think I have a problem: I just opened it to change the ink cartridge and I smelled a weird odour, like rotting wood. Any ideas what it can be? I started using this pen again after being in the drawer for a few months.

With a Pilot Birdy, I had this problem as well but I am not using it for now. I am most concerned about the Cross. Any idea what I can do about it?

May 6, 2017

It's possible the ink in the pen had mold. I would recommend giving the nib and feed a good cleaning with pen flush such as J.B.'s. If you don't have that, then let the nib and feed soak in water overnight. Also check the bottle of ink you have been using and see if it has a similar smell. If you have been using cartridges consider getting some fresh ones.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Bennett

May 7, 2017

Hey average pen dude.welcome to the forum. I think it's the ink, as well.

May 7, 2017

Can cartridges go bad after a while? I have a whole stash that I am slowly using up but it is fro my school days so it is over 15 years old. I just have sitting them in a plastic box.

May 7, 2017

In my experience, cartridges can last quite a while if they are not used, but if you leave an open cartridge in a pen for a long time, depending on the ink, it can become moldy.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Bennett

May 7, 2017

Mold can be pretty insidious. Make sure you get those pens thoroughly cleaned out and keep them separate from any other pens you have inked until they've been cleaned as mold can spread.

If you're not using bottled ink that's one less thing to worry about. At least your ink supply isn't contaminated and you don't have to worry about the mold spreading that way. Unless your cartridges have dried out they should be safe to use.

...and welcome to the forum!

May 7, 2017

I doubt the problem is mould actually. People experience from time to time smelly pens, but I think most either don't really notice or don't write about it.

The only thread ever I came across re smelly pens (when I had one and was looking online for info) was this one and it's nearly 20 years old

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.collecting.pens-pencils/Qu8jdqIU8xM/HxXNXUDOlMkJ

And some mention of vintage pens smelling bad, but again most responses revert to talking about some modern pens smelling bad (namely the Ahab, which apparently smells terrible due to its material), but that's on another pen board and I think it's not allowed to link to it. Just google "smelly fountain pen".

I had also the issue of a very smelly fountain pen, a Sailor Lecoule, and the smell came I am sure from Sailor's Jentle ink. I have in bottles only Yama Dori and their regular Black, and when I smell the ink in the bottle the YD has the typical sweet smelling phenol odour, whilst the black has quite a terrible smell. Many say old Quink smelt the same, but imo it smelt differently, but I haven't smelt old Quink in many years, but imo it was a different smell than the sweet phenol smell (to me it's Marzipan like). Pilot Blue and Black smells very faintly of phenol, but seems otherwise odourless, same goes for J Herbin (I have Eclat de Saphir, Bleu Nuit & Emeraude de Chivor and notice no remarkable smell). I think I was spoilt by these non smelly inks.

Anyway, I had Sailor Blue and Black (in carts) in the Lecoule and the Lecoule developed a foul smell. Quite indescribable but hideous; in the old posts linked above the person describes it as "sour dish rag" or similar and I think that's kind of it, but still I really couldn't describe the smell, other than that it's quite a punch on the nose. Mould was definitely not at play, but just the Jentle inks. When I'd air the pens out and soak it like crazy the smell would go away and mostly stay away when using non smelling inks (Pilot, Quink, J Herbin, Diamine, Pelikan), but would always return when using Jentle Blue and esp Black. I keep Sailor Jentle Black in my Pro Gear Slim but keep checking on the smell all the time, and yesterday I noticed a similar, but still faint, smell developing in the barrel. The section & nib/ feed don't yet smell, like the Lecoule used to smell all over (cap, feed, section, barrel). So I immediately emptied out the Jentle Black and put my Pilot Black in.

I had to throw away the Lecoule, as no soaking or airing would help.

What inks were you using? I'm sorry I can't help you further, but as I had the same problem and couldn't find anything at all and just cannot believe that no one else has these problems (ie foul smell developing due to ink, no mould or fussy materials involved), but hope that others might chime in.

Maybe in your case it is mold or materials or whatever, but I don't think that the person from 20 years ago and I are the only ones who have experienced smelly pens.

I love Sailor inks, but so far with the smell they developed in my Sailor pens I really cannot see myself buying more of them, even though I love the colours. Yama Dori doesn't seem to have quite the smell problems of Black (and possibly Blue), but it just spoils the whole line naturally.

Do report back please whether you manage to get rid of the smell and how, and what inks you've been using.

PS To your other question, ink in carts can go bad, as can ink in bottles, but that doesn't happen that often. Some decades old vinatge ink is just as good as it was when it was made.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Olya

May 7, 2017

Hello Olya, thank you for your detailed reply. In the Pilot I only used their proprietary cartridges blue-black. After a year or so, the pen started to skip more and more so I put it aside. A few years later, I saw how to disassemble a pen, which I did and cleaned everything out with water. It actually started to smell bad after that. I think I did not leave enough time to dry but I have no idea.

In the Cross, I used their cartridges but recently I used standard international ones, they fit as well, not perfectly but they write (Cross cartridges are not easy to find in Belgium). But I have never cleaned out this pen before. I think I will get the flush liquid to see if that can solve something. Indeed, if I keep the barrel closed, I will not smell it but it is like seeing a fly on a wall: once you've seen it, you want to get rid of it.