Bubbly Ink?

[Kamiyashi]

I was doing a lot of writing with my Visconti Midi Van Gogh pen at work today--picking it up, writing two lines, setting it down, repeat for hours--movements I suspect had something to do with what I saw. I wanted to check my converter to see how my ink was holding up when I was treated to this interesting site:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/3257015242_289db27d1b_b.jpg

 

The ink was one of my Iroshizuku and I've never seen it before with that ink or any other. Here's a better detail:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3525/3257015232_458fed6e03_o.jpg

 

Any ideas on what would cause that to happen? I didn't have any problems with ink flow or skipping--the pen still writes as beautifully as always. Quite a mystery and it's been that way for the last three and a half hours since I first noticed it.

[BillTheEditor]

Check the bottle of ink. Anything growing in there? Scummy, disgusting stuff floating on the surface? Stringy stuff in the ink? Bubbles on the surface of the ink? Smell "funny" (bad funny)? If so, you've got fungus/mold/STIB.

 

If not, forget I said anything.

[GreenVelvet]

Hmm... I get some bubbling with some inks in converters sometimes, particularly Noodler's Heart of Darkness. It's never this extreme but I've seen it before. I would wonder about air activity in the converter, but am curious to hear what more experts have to say.

[Kamiyashi]

It's a brand new bottle of ink and the first time I used it--nothing in it other than beautiful ink. The only thing I wonder is that I didn't shake the bottle--because I didn't want to make bubbles, ahaha--after it had sat outside for a less than an hour just above freezing temperatures. I was excited to use it so I did it straight away instead of waiting for it to warm up, but the ink wasn't frozen or anything. :embarrassed_smile: It's consistency was the same as the previous bottle of inks I own from the same series.

 

I just think it's odd that the pen still writes fine without any skipping. I finally "popped" them by partially raising and lowering the converter mechanism once and it still works fine. No clogs, everything is thankfully still fine. If nothing else, I think it's pretty...although that's probably the wrong reaction to have. :roflmho:

Edited February 6, 2009 by Kamiyashi

[EyeZ]

Have you cleaned your pen with soapy water recently?

The bubbles could be caused by the soap levft-overs , if the pen haven't been rinsed well.

Just a thought.

[hexadecimal]

You know, it does look rather attractive...

 

 

I'd suspect some slight traces of surfactant in the cylinder too.

[Edgar Allan Bo]

I got that when I clean my pens with soapy water, nothing wrong there... the ink flows even better (in case I'm using dry pelikan inks!)

[Kamiyashi]

I've never used soapy water in any of my pens; I only rinse with water. I had left it soaking overnight, though. But then again, I left three others and none of them did it--including one that I filled with the same kind of ink in a different Visconti. So strange. :roflmho:

[evegrimm]

I've had the same problem with my Lamy Safari--in fact, that was my reason for joining this board!

 

My 'bubbles' are much smaller than the OP's, and seem to be a result of my nib...taking out my converter and putting it directly into my ink bottle produces no bubbles.

 

Has anyone else had any problems with their Lamy Safari fine point nib?

 

Thanks!

 

BTB, I was using Noodler's Bulletproof in Hunter Green, but Waterman Black does the same thing.

Edited May 3, 2009 by evegrimm

[Ondina]

I got that when I clean my pens with soapy water, nothing wrong there... the ink flows even better (in case I'm using dry pelikan inks!)

 

Same here, at times without any connection, it just happens and does not affect performance or makes any difference, so I just ignore it, fill the converter again and off we go...........

[spotted and speckled]

I've had that a few times, but I always blamed the converter. I thought it didn't have a good seal on it and was sucking air into it.

 

I have never used soap on anything, so it can't be soap doing it. My pens and ink were new (funny--it's never happened with a vintage pen) so it's not a wildlife problem either. I haven't used that particular kind of ink though, so maybe someone else who has can shed some light on that?

[ZeissIkon]

Many inks contain a small amount of detergent to facilitate wetting in the nib/feed and improve flow. If something (say, a change in barometric pressure) caused the pen to "inhale" air while in a position where ink covered the converter end of the feed tube, you could get this kind of bubbling. The pen still writes well because the liquid forming the walls of the bubbles is connected to that in the feed, and as the nib draws ink the bubble walls get thinner and thinner (probably with some bubbles collapsing at the "open air" end of the stack) -- or because there's still a layer of continuous liquid at the feed tube, which is held there by the bubbles and thus isn't visible.

 

I can't see it doing any harm; if the pen writes well with the bubbles there, it's probably just a signal that it's a good time to refill.

[Ray Roewert]

Perhaps the ghost of Lawrence Welk is living in your pen!

[framebaer]

Ever Shake any bottle of Noodlers ink? Little bubbles to the next Galaxy!!!

[dizzypen]

That happened to me also. I just assume that air is getting in through the nib or where the converter meets the section. It still writes fine, so I don't worry about it.