Moisture Inside Barrel (M400/m200)

[1234124124124ASDA]

Hi,

I recently discovered I have quite a lot if moisture inside barrel of my M400 (behind piston in the shaft area). I have this pen for about 2 months now and cleaned it ca 4-5 times - with nib unscrewed and pen body under water tap.

Is the connection between filling knob and barrel supposed to be watertight or is this normal? Problem is on M400 the piston part cannot be easily removed, unlike simple unscrewing on M800 so I cannot simply wipe it with paper towel.

 

Do you have any proven methods or suggestions how to get rid of it? Leave the pen with filling knob fully unscrewed for few days maybe?

 

[hari317]

and cleaned it ca 4-5 times - with nib unscrewed and pen body under water tap.

 

Is the connection between filling knob and barrel supposed to be watertight or is this normal?

For future reference, cleaning the pen body under running water or submerging the entire pen body in a water mug or glass is wrong practice,

 

The volume behind the piston seal is always vented to atmosphere and is never watertight on any piston filled fountain pen.

 

Simply leave the pen to dry in a arid place and hope the trapped water evaporates off its own.

[Tweel]

I would add that you should really keep the water level below the joint between the black section and the striped binde that covers the barrel. Water can wick up underneath the binde and leave stains trapped in there, and soaked bindes may temporarily swell, while wet, and sometimes split along the seam.

 

It's not a good idea to habitually unscrew the piston of an M800, either.

[1234124124124ASDA]

Allright, thank you both for the advices. I have now put the pen with knob unscrewed in a dry place (along with some silica gel bags I found lying around), so hopefully it will dry out soon.

I will also improve my cleaning technique I promise!

Thanks again!

[Chrissy]

You've received very good advice. What you might try if you're very careful is to hold the pen tightly and shake it to try and flick the water out. It might not come out of the end where the piston knob is, but with a bit of luck, it might come out of the nib end.

 

You need a firm and sure grip though. Don't do it with a wet hand or pen.

 

Sometimes a similar thing happens with twist action converters, and you need to get water out of the twist end. I have known it to shake out.

[praxim]

It is one thing to get water out, another to get moisture out. Aridity is needed. Adding heat will encourage moisture to move off surfaces into the air. You then need to move that air out or absorb it in a gel before it cools again. Time in a dry environment works.

[Chrissy]

It is one thing to get water out, another to get moisture out. Aridity is needed. Adding heat will encourage moisture to move off surfaces into the air. You then need to move that air out or absorb it in a gel before it cools again. Time in a dry environment works.

 

Yes you're right, I thought there were droplets. However, moisture doesn't matter quite so much. At last it doesn't water down your ink fill.

 

It will dry out on it's own eventually.

[praxim]

Patience and time. They can be underestimated.

[Chrissy]

Patience and time. They can be underestimated.

 

I have plenty of one and none of the other.

[1234124124124ASDA]

So after 12 hours in dry place with some silica gel bags around, I can already see majority of the droplets gone. I think I'll leave the pen maybe till friday and hopefully all will be back to normal then :-)

[sirgilbert357]

So after 12 hours in dry place with some silica gel bags around, I can already see majority of the droplets gone. I think I'll leave the pen maybe till friday and hopefully all will be back to normal then :-)

 

 

I would just like to add that working the piston back and forth a handful of times will pump the air behind the piston in and out and force new, fresh air (possibly less humid) into the area with the water droplets. This could hasten it drying out.

[sargetalon]

Glad to hear that it is getting straightened out fairly easily for you. I have to say that this is not a problem that I routinely encounter.

 

I generally tend to cycle the pistons, nib down, in a cup of distilled water to clean my pens but I find the practice to unscrewing the nib and flushing the barrel to be effective and not harmful if done with care. I usually only do this for stubborn inks. Agreed that you cannot submerge and that you should not allow water to sit on the binde. Also, the tap should not be a forceful stream. I never cycle the piston under the running water while doing this for risk of sucking/forcing water behind the piston. Once the inside of the barrel is rinsed clean, the pen is dried off and then set aside for the inner barrel to air dry. I have not ever had any issues with moisture behind the piston seal doing this. With anything, care needs to be employed.

[1234124124124ASDA]

Thank you all for your support. I checked today and do not see any visible dropplets in the piston-rod area so I'd call this mission successfull
To overcomy my impatience, I have left my favorite ink (Sailor Yama-Dori) at work, so will keep drying the pen little more over the weekend and then I hope it will be safe to use again.