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Penfount • Pen Community reshared this.


Hooray! I finally got my #BaystateBlue #FountainPen flowing properly again. It only took about a month of finicking with it. Now all I have to do is not leave ink to dry out in it for over a year again...
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

I’m not surprised that it was a Safari. I’ve had similar issues with ink drying out on my LAMY nibs (not as badly as Parker pens tho).

So that nib doesn’t dry out on me, I’ve started using that pen daily for journaling. Justttt in case, I also have a little water container to dip it in if it gets dry.

in reply to Julian Lopez

@Julian Lopez I've now instituted a weekly pen cleaning day. Every inked pen gets cleaned every Sunday whether it needs it or not.

Penfount • Pen Community reshared this.


So I've got my dedicated #BaystateBlue #FountainPen back to about 90% working again. I'm now leaving it soaking in distilled water for a few days to hopefully get the flow through the feed completely back to normal. I usually use regular tap water, but since our water's so hard here, I figured it was worth using distilled instead, especially since we still had some laying around.

Kevin Davy reshared this.


Is there a large #FountainPens community on the fedi?

Anyhow, I have a dedicated blue #Lamy Sarafi that I used to use for my #BaystateBlue ink, because it's notorious for permanently staining everything it comes into contact with. A while ago, I accidentally let ink dry out in this pen, and I haven't been able to get the feed flowing properly since. I've cleaned the pen several times and left everything soaking in water for several hours on a few occasions. I've also tried changing the nib. Eventually, I just emptied it, cleaned it out, and left it sitting on a shelf for a while.

I recently pulled it out again, cleaned it once more, and inked it up. Same problem. I'm going to leave it sit inked for a bit to see if maybe capillary action will eventually set in, but if this doesn't resolve the issue is there anything else I can try? I can always replace the pen, but I'd rather not if it can be avoided.

Unknown parent

Jonathan Lamothe

@Bearking I'll keep that one in my back pocket. I know the purpose of ink is to permanently mark things, but BSB is insidious!

If it weren't such a gorgeous colour, I'd have nothing to do with it.

in reply to Jonathan Lamothe Shannon Prickett reshared this.

So someone elsewhere recommended soaking in a 10:1 water:vinegar solution. I've considered this, but don't know if it'll damage the feed. Thoughts?
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

no, vinegar won’t damage the feed. But I’m not really sure it will help in this case. If you want something stronger than normal pen flush, try Rapido-eze. It’s designed for technical pens and can clean out some stubborn particles.
in reply to paradoxmo Shannon Prickett reshared this.

@paradoxmo I've heard mixed responses about pen flush. Many have stated not to let a pen soak in it.
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe Shannon Prickett reshared this.

if it’s standard ammonia-based pen flush, you should not keep the nib or the barrel submerged in it. You should fill the pen with it like you would with ink, and leave it there overnight. This is different than soaking.
in reply to paradoxmo

@paradoxmo Ohhhh! That's the part I wasn't understanding. I was just running it through the pen.
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe

vinegar is pretty safe in general and you can always dilute it. I think the safari has a plastic feed, too.

if it were me I would use a little dishsoap and an old toothbrush first and try to get into the feed's nooks and crannies. if the suds turn blue, it's working

in reply to Nick

@Nick Oh, there's an idea. I might give that a go if I can find an old tooth brush.
@Nick

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