# Disapearing ink??



## MatthewZS (Mar 9, 2011)

Does ink slowly evaporate or something?  On 3 separate occasions now, in 3 different locations I've had fountain pens that I finished, put ink in, tested, then set aside/stored/whatever to await sale.  Now just like the other 2 in the past, I pull out this pen to try writing and the ink is gone.  There is no ink pooled in the cap or where the pen was displayed, no puddles, no trails, nothing....   just a few smudgy remnants inside the converter.  One of these pens was stored nib down because it was on display, the other two where mostly horizontal laying down in a leather portfolio.

Thanks.


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## Russianwolf (Mar 9, 2011)

most likely the water carrier in the ink evaporated.


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## IPD_Mrs (Mar 9, 2011)

MatthewZS said:


> I've had fountain pens that I finished, put ink in, tested, then set aside/stored/whatever to await sale.


 
You should never ink a fountain pen you are going to sell.  Bad etiquette.


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## alphageek (Mar 9, 2011)

Moisten a q-tip and wipe the inside of the cap... I'll bet there is indeed ink there that you just dont see and it has dried.

Ink sitting in a unused FP is a bad thing in general, and I would agree with Mike that putting ink into a FP will make it much more difficult to sell to a person that like FPs for several reasons.


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## MatthewZS (Mar 10, 2011)

I don't have a qtip handy but I think you may be right.  Have I harmed the "innards" of the pen in anyway or just exhibited bad form?

What should be the procedure then?  Simply have some ink on hand in case they want to try it out?

Thanks


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## Conard (Mar 10, 2011)

There shouldn't be any damage. I would pull the nib and feed out and wash everything with room temperature water. That will remove the dried ink quickly. Reassemble in reverse order.  
Most serious FP buyers will want to test your pen by dipping the nib into a bottle of ink and writing a bit.  Afterwards, you can just rinse the nib and feed to clean things up since they shouldn't have gotten the feed saturated with ink. 
Conard


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## wood-of-1kind (Mar 10, 2011)

MatthewZS said:


> IWhat should be the procedure then?  Simply have some ink on hand in case they want to try it out?
> 
> Thanks




Allow any potential FP customer to "dip" with the pen in an inkwell (bottle). If it's not to their liking then simply wipe the niba towel. This is what I do when selling at pen shows.


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