# Clear sticky liquid from cartridges



## JonathanF1968 (Sep 4, 2019)

Weird thing, I opened a couple of my finished pens, that have been around for a few months, and there was a bit of clear liquid inside them. Not sure what that is.... Thicker than water. Almost like a thin oil? Weird.


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 4, 2019)

Did you use a lubricant like vaseline to insert components.?? I do this at times when I know it is a real important blank and just hate to ruin so I try every trick I can think of.


----------



## 1080Wayne (Sep 5, 2019)

What type of pen ?


----------



## DrD (Sep 5, 2019)

If these are pens with "cheap" Parker-type refills, it's the refills.  I wrote about this in an earlier post; I had to disassemble and clean some 40+ pens which I had put in storage as we moved about the last 8 or so years.


----------



## Mike8850 (Sep 5, 2019)

If it's a Parker style it's probably grease from the transmission.
Mike


----------



## DrD (Sep 5, 2019)

Mike8850 said:


> If it's a Parker style it's probably grease from the transmission.
> Mike


Yeah, I would have thought so too but a zip lock baggie with 10 or so of the cheap refills was full of the same clear, greasy like liquid and like with the pens, some - not most - of the refills in the baggie had the black plastic at the end of the tube partially separated from the tube.  There were no signs of ink, just this clearish fluid.


----------



## WriteON (Sep 5, 2019)

Air tight zip locks might be the culprit. If all are bad maybe it’s a storage issue. Did the faulty refills in the pens come from zip bags.


----------



## DrD (Sep 5, 2019)

WriteON said:


> Air tight zip locks might be the culprit. If all are bad maybe it’s a storage issue. Did the faulty refills in the pens come from zip bags.


The completed pens were in shoe boxes.


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 5, 2019)

DrD said:


> If these are pens with "cheap" Parker-type refills, it's the refills.  I wrote about this in an earlier post; I had to disassemble and clean some 40+ pens which I had put in storage as we moved about the last 8 or so years.


Well what was the result???


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

jttheclockman said:


> Well what was the result???


I wrote about earlier.  The result for the pens stored with the refills were a mess; there was dried ink all inside.  Many of the pens were salvaged by aggressive cleaning with hot water &/or 91% iso-propanol.  A few of the pens weren't.  As I said above, the refills stored in the baggie looked like they had been dipped in cosmoline - they were dumped.  As a side note, all of my Mont Blanc ball points were stored the same, but with Mont Blanc refills, and non of them had any issues.


----------



## WriteON (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> The completed pens were in shoe boxes.


Do you live in a humid area. In my Florida garage everything vinyl or rubber gets gummy from the humidity. Glues, caulks expire quickly. How’s your storage area?


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> I wrote about earlier.  The result for the pens stored with the refills were a mess; there was dried ink all inside.  Many of the pens were salvaged by aggressive cleaning with hot water &/or 91% iso-propanol.  A few of the pens weren't.  As I said above, the refills stored in the baggie looked like they had been dipped in cosmoline - they were dumped.  As a side note, all of my Mont Blanc ball points were stored the same, but with Mont Blanc refills, and non of them had any issues.


You keep saying I wrote about this earlier well I did not see it and am trying to get this topic up front. Is this a situation with all kits??  Has anyone else seen this??  Is this a particular kit or refill. I have hundreds of pen kits that have not been used yet. Does this material attack the finish on platings??  We all complain about those small plastic baggies the kits come in but maybe that is a great thing if this happens. I have never seen this. I have not seen this on any past pens I made. I do not always replace the refill so there are pens that use the factory supplied refill. Is there a photo of the refill or some proof of the bag with this fluid like stuff.?? My object here is to get some info here for us all. Is this something that vendors need to be aware of as they store kits and pick them off the shelves. There is a bottom line here that needs to be addressed I think.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

jttheclockman said:


> You keep saying I wrote about this earlier well I did not see it and am trying to get this topic up front. Is this a situation with all kits??  Has anyone else seen this??  Is this a particular kit or refill. I have hundreds of pen kits that have not been used yet. Does this material attack the finish on platings??  We all complain about those small plastic baggies the kits come in but maybe that is a great thing if this happens. I have never seen this. I have not seen this on any past pens I made. I do not always replace the refill so there are pens that use the factory supplied refill. Is there a photo of the refill or some proof of the bag with this fluid like stuff.?? My object here is to get some info here for us all. Is this something that vendors need to be aware of as they store kits and pick them off the shelves. There is a bottom line here that needs to be addressed I think.


Yup, I do keep saying that, and if you had taken the time to go back to the thread "Ink Leaked Into The Barrel" you would have seen this: "
Aug 17, 2019  #6         As I stated when I joined IAP several weeks back, I had been away from turning pens for several years.  All my equipment and finished pens were packed away.  As I began unpacking, I noticed every pen which contained an off-shore Parker-type refill had "exploded" - not literally but figuratively - within the pen, filling the barrel with what was now a tar-like ink mess.  As it turns out, the black plastic cap joined to the refill tube, opposite from ball, had totally or partially separated from the metal refill tube, spilling ink out all over the place.  Paper towels, q-tips, rags, all soaked in 91% iso-propyl alcohol eventually did the job.  I'm not too sure of the shelf life of these cheap refill.  I would offer to clean it out and replace with a quality Parker or Schmidt refill - but that's just me."
And I will tell you just as I told my graduate students in times past "I will not do your research for you again."
I have made no mention of refills leaking/exploding in the kit packets, only when stored as I have describe.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

WriteON said:


> Do you live in a humid area. In my Florida garage everything vinyl or rubber gets gummy from the humidity. Glues, caulks expire quickly. How’s your storage area?


It was a mix.  The pens were mostly made in my shop in Alliance, OH.  They were then packaged up when I moved back to Columbus, MS.  They were not unboxed.  About a year and a half later they made the move to east Texas and remained untouched.  Two years later they were moved to Cincinnati, OH, and remained untouched.  Following that they were moved to the Chicago area for 3 years, and then back to Columbus, MS where I unboxed them about 2 - 3 months ago.
And, as an aside to John T, the kit manufacturer is already aware of this issue, as I mentioned it to him directly.


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 6, 2019)

Boy you have an edge I see and your students must love you. For those of us who have not followed your career could you give us the name of the kits or manufacture so that just in case someone else has those kits they now have a small chance of reading this and an idea what the problem is. So in your case you are saying it was the ink that leaked out and not some clear glue like substance. ???  This maybe where the topic is getting confused. As a simple minded non college attendee I am trying to see the correlation of the two subject matters. By the way in the future if you are going to reference an older post maybe you can put a link to it in the thread it helps us that do not read all threads posted here. I use to tell all my teachers this.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

How could you possible know the feelings of my past students since obviously you were not numbered among them?  I doubt you have ever had contact with any of them.  The facts are as stated.  Go back, read, and digest; accept it if you wish, reject it if you wish.  I am weary of discussing this with you.


----------



## WriteON (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> It was a mix.


I’m rendering the kit refills as junk. I got a email from a friend that had a leaking refill. First thoughts were I hope nothing got damaged (clothes,etc) and personal embarrassment. I have a lot of kits on hand and about 10 spare refills. Getting trashed. Not worth the aggravation. Sorry you’re having problems but we can learn from
It.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

WriteON said:


> I’m rendering the kit refills as junk. I got a email from a friend that had a leaking refill. First thoughts were I hope nothing got damaged (clothes,etc) and personal embarrassment. I have a lot of kits on hand and about 10 spare refills. Getting trashed. Not worth the aggravation. Sorry you’re having problems but we can learn from
> It.


I hope that my sharing information will be found useful by participants on this forum.  I just don't cotton well to those who choose to be belligerent and condescending.  And I do apologize if you or other readers thought my comments were directed to them, they were not.  I did as your are doing, and am only buying enough Schmidt, Parker or Mont Blanc refills to meet current orders.


----------



## WriteON (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> I hope that my sharing information will be found useful by participants on this forum.  I just don't cotton well to those who choose to be belligerent and condescending.  And I do apologize if you or other readers thought my comments were directed to them, they were not.  I did as your are doing, and am only buying enough Schmidt, Parker or Mont Blanc refills to meet current orders.


I’m good here. Never considered your posts to be offending or whatever.  We’re still buddies. Im here strictly to have fun and enjoy the fun of pen turning and what the  forum has to offer.
As for refills I’m a rookie.... what makes Montblanc that much better. I think to provide a Montb or Schmidt is classy and safer.


----------



## pshrynk (Sep 6, 2019)

WriteON said:


> As for refills I’m a rookie.... what makes Montblanc that much better. I think to provide a Montb or Schmidt is classy and safer.


The obvious answer is "price."  In addition to being somewhat smart alec as an answer, it also points to the quality control, materials, manufacturing process, etc. of these components.  Cheap knock offs from low rank manufacturers are cheaper because they don't put the effort into making high quality items in order to make lower priced ones.  You get what you pay for is generally a good measure.  Plus Mont Blanc is not going to let a product out the door that might deteriorate like the ones described.  Of course, some of the history of the components points to long, rough life, as well.


----------



## WriteON (Sep 6, 2019)

For the sake of conversation.......Montv vs $2 Schmidt......Could I tell the difference in the dark. Honestly I'm not a writer (writing stinks)...doubt I would know the difference. Would like other hear feedback from other Montblanc users.


----------



## pshrynk (Sep 6, 2019)

I have some Montblanc pens and use their refills exclusively.  Mostly because if you have a snobby pen you use a snobby refill.      But the differenc between the Mb and Schmidt refills is pretty narrow as far as flow and friction.  Cheap knock offs will flow goopily and have a friction on the paper that is not as pleasant.


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> How could you possible know the feelings of my past students since obviously you were not numbered among them?  I doubt you have ever had contact with any of them.  The facts are as stated.  Go back, read, and digest; accept it if you wish, reject it if you wish.  I am weary of discussing this with you.


I will tell you this you are a piece of work. Ask you a question and the feedback is not warranted. I hope the OP got something of an answer because I did not follow it. 

Could you imagine we gave this answer to everyone that asked a question here. Wow. 

And I will tell you just as I told my graduate students in times past "I will not do your research for you again."


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

WriteON said:


> For the sake of conversation.......Montv vs $2 Schmidt......Could I tell the difference in the dark. Honestly I'm not a writer (writing stinks)...doubt I would know the difference. Would like other hear feedback from other Montblanc users.


I mention Mont Blanc because I am also a pen collector, plus have some experience in buying and selling mid to large size companies.  Most usually when it comes time to sign the contract, out comes the Mont Blanc #149s from everyones' suit coat inner pocket.  Is that snobby?  Yes.  Is that a fact of corporate life? Yes!  
Now when it comes to selling a pen, it has been my experience most buyers will want to try writing with one before they purchase it.  I give a brief demo, taking the pen apart, showing how to change refills, SHOWING and MAKING mention of the Mont Blanc refills, just like the MB pens in my pen portfolio which I have with me.  I provide some nice writing paper - not copier paper.  As they write, I comment on the feel and fluidity - the craftsmanship and the QUALITY components, including the refill.  Most buyers will not recognize the name Schmidt - although we as crafters do; many will not recognize the name Parker.  But most will recognize the name Mont Blanc or the white 6 point star inlayed on the top of the cap.  Usually I will pull out a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck Gold Coated Legrand and let them compare a $460.00 pen to what I'm offering at 1/4 that or less, and they see the refill again.  I also do this when selling fountain pens, allowing the buyer to compare the feel and writing quality of my pens to a Mont Blanc Gold Coated 149.  Snobby?  Yes!  Does it work?  Yes!  $1000.00 for the MB or $150 - $200 for mine.
Is there any noticeable difference among the Schmidt, Parker or MB refills?  Probably not.  BUT you know the MB is QUALITY as pshrynk said above.  And selling Quality has always worked for me. - sorry for being long-winded.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

jttheclockman said:


> I will tell you this you are a piece of work. Ask you a question and the feedback is not warranted. I hope the OP got something of an answer because I did not follow it.
> 
> Could you imagine we gave this answer to everyone that asked a question here. Wow.
> 
> And I will tell you just as I told my graduate students in times past "I will not do your research for you again."


JT, I have no doubt you could not follow what was in the thread, no doubt.


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> JT, I have no doubt you could not follow what was in the thread, no doubt.


No sir Professor. me no follow.


----------



## WriteON (Sep 6, 2019)

Snob factor. It's what makes anything a cut above or a standard to live by. The word is obnoxious but I absolutely love it.  I'm a 4star certified tool snob. I'm guilty ...hang me.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

Festools here.


----------



## DrD (Sep 6, 2019)

jttheclockman said:


> No sir Professor. me no follow.


Who, what ethnic group are you disparaging?


----------



## WriteON (Sep 6, 2019)

DrD said:


> Festools here.


Got my new Blue Tooth Midi today...and it is made for snobs(and suckers like me). Would you believe the remote is optional. If they made an air conditioner the coolant agent would probable be extra. Or sold cars would sell with out tires.


----------



## JonathanF1968 (Sep 6, 2019)

Hey, stop sniping at each other on my thread. 

The kit is a cigar from Woodturningz. The cartridge is a Parker refill. I thought I was getting a good quality one, but maybe not.... (Maybe, it was the original that came with the kit, I'm not positive.)

It happened on two pens. One was a pen I stored in my car, so it could have gotten hot in there. I forget where the other pen was that had this issue, but I will try to locate it.

It wasn't ink, it was a clear liquid. Transmission oil from the pen kit?


----------



## jttheclockman (Sep 6, 2019)

JonathanF1968 said:


> Hey, stop sniping at each other on my thread.
> 
> The kit is a cigar from Woodturningz. The cartridge is a Parker refill. I thought I was getting a good quality one, but maybe not.... (Maybe, it was the original that came with the kit, I'm not positive.)
> 
> ...



See this is what I was trying to get at. The cigar kit is copied by many and sold by many vendors. I have made quite a few of them myself and have many in stock. I have never bought from that vendor that I know of through the years. Now I have bought kits from members here that were cigars and have no idea where they bought them from. It will be something to keep an eye out for for sure. The problem today is we really do not know who makes what kits any more. Being a clear fluid means it is not ink. I wish you could find the source and maybe if you do report back to us. Good luck. Maybe someone who actually seen this could shed some light.


----------



## pshrynk (Sep 9, 2019)

I was cleaning and organizing this weekend and saw that I have some gel refills that are labeled "not for sale outside of Pakistan."  Still in their packages.  I guess I'll have to watch these and see if something develops.


----------



## JonathanF1968 (Sep 9, 2019)

Had a nice conversation with Ed from Exotic Blanks, and he thinks that it happened because my car got hot and the transmission oil leaked from the transmission, rather than it being a cheap cartridge problem. Makes sense. So, I guess I shouldn't have a car pen....


----------



## ed4copies (Sep 9, 2019)

JonathanF1968 said:


> Had a nice conversation with Ed from Exotic Blanks, and he thinks that it happened because my car got hot and the transmission oil leaked from the transmission, rather than it being a cheap cartridge problem. Makes sense. So, I guess I shouldn't have a car pen....



Transmission of the pen, not the car


----------



## leehljp (Sep 9, 2019)

And I thought Japanese was difficult . . .

Folks, when posts are made to find out what the problem might be, it sure helps to give specifics and links instead of generalities. Reading between the lines is for Asian languages!


----------



## JonathanF1968 (Sep 10, 2019)

Ha ha ha! 

My writing gets worse every day....


----------



## pshrynk (Sep 10, 2019)

I was thinking that that must be some powerful transmission fluid int that car...


----------

