Idle fountain pens

[gpjoe]

I know some (many?) members here have large collections of fountain pens. I have just four, with another in transit. All have ink in them, but not all are used daily.

So, my question (yet another):

How long can a pen sit idle when filled with ink?...other than drying out, can it become detrimental to the pen?

Lastly, I'm assuming it is best to empty and flush a pen that will be stored long-term.

Edit to add: I have little experience, but I do have a throw-away Zebra fountain pen that sat in a desk drawer for 15 years with an ink cart installed. I took it out last week to try it, and it seemed to write fine (considering that is is a $3 pen).

 

[silverlifter]

It all depends on how well the cap seals. I left my Lamy 2K at work during the lockdown here, and it sat for three months filled with Diamine Registrars. Started writing the moment I picked it up. Other pens will dry out over a weekend.

Ink drying out in a pen is not a big deal unless it is a pigment or iron gall. Then you will have more of a job trying to clean them out. Remember, a well made fountain pen is designed, primarily, as an ink holder as well as a dispenser.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Mine will dry put if left long enough, but it depends which pen, and which ink.

I try to limit myself to three inked fountain pens, which minimises such problems. One with blue or black ink, one with another dark colour, and one with something else lighter/brighter for contrast. I always know which is which by the body colour.

For each of those three colour groups, I have a few different pens with the same body colour, so I instantly know which is my primary, secondary, or contrast pen. When any pen is empty, if I am not refilling with exactly the same ink, I'll flush it, and fill a different pen from that group instead.

 

[Doc4]

How long can a pen sit idle when filled with ink?...other than drying out, can it become detrimental to the pen?

Lastly, I'm assuming it is best to empty and flush a pen that will be stored long-term.

"Depends on the pen and on the ink." You will find some pens are better at getting going again after sitting idle for "a while" than others, and some inks are better at helping them than others. Heck, it even depends on the temperature and humidity of wherever the pen is stored.

And quite frankly I think it'd be better for a pen to be used for an hour of constant writing once a week than to be used to write your name once, daily.

Depending on all the vagaries of your particular choices of pens, inks, frequencies and durations of use, and so forth, you will potentially come up against increasing "pen resistance" and figure out that you have too many pens inked (or need to write more haha).

***

best not to have a pen sit for months or years, unused, with a full load of ink. It can dry out all the way through (not just the nib) and clog the filling mechanism and feed. Sometimes that can be undone by a lengthy soak in water and/or pen cleaning fluid but ... why risk it?

The days of inks being acidic enough to eat away the pen are long gone, though.

 

[gpjoe]

Well, I have five pens now:

Lamy Al-Star (M)
Lamy Safari (F)
Pilot Metropolitan (M)
TWSBI Eco (F)
TWSBI Eco (M)

Since finding that I prefer a wetter pen with less feedback, I have flushed and dried the two fine points and put them away. Currently rotating the other three for journaling and other general writing.

So far, so good.

 

[Doc4]

Lamy Safari (F)

I have flushed and dried the two fine points and put them away.

I hear the nibs on the Safari are easy to change out, so you could get a replacement nib and try a "B" or even a stub nib.

 

[gpjoe]

I hear the nibs on the Safari are easy to change out, so you could get a replacement nib and try a "B" or even a stub nib.

I looked at that and found that the nibs were almost the same cost as an entire new pen, so I spent even more and got the aluminum version.

Rationalizing a new pen.

 

[Doc4]

I looked at that and found that the nibs were almost the same cost as an entire new pen, so I spent even more and got the aluminum version.

Rationalizing a new pen.

Well, there IS that.

 

[jagwire64]

Most TWISBI have a insert in the cap that helps maintain a seal and keep the ink from drying out. I had a Vac 700r sit for a year or more and write as soon as it touches paper. Many Platinums have a similar feature. I usually have 5 or more inked at a time. I regularly clean and change ink or pen. @Doc4 is right. It depends. A neutral ink in a plastic pen should be fine.

 

[dojpros]

I have about 15 -20 pens inked up on my desk. Now that we are back in the office daily, I simply start from the left and work my way to the right over the course of the day writing with multiple pens. This is an effort to un indle all my pens.

I have about 10 Lamy Al Stars mated to their respective ink colors. If they have been idle for weeks in times past, I usually just primed them by making sure the ink was “pushed” up to the nib and they fire right up.

I have a vintage Esterbrook and a couple of Schaefer “school pens” that hold up well. In contrast, my Parker 45 flighters seem to dry our rather quickly when idle relative to the pens I have mentioned. When I had Pilot Metropolitans, they dried out when idle, not as quickly as the Parkers but far more quickly than the Lamy Al-Stars.

All are stored in the same way (essentially horizontal) in the same light, on the same desk.

 

[Rhody]

I have about 15 -20 pens inked up on my desk. Now that we are back in the office daily, I simply start from the left and work my way to the right over the course of the day writing with multiple pens. This is an effort to un indle all my pens.

I have about 10 Lamy Al Stars mated to their respective ink colors. If they have been idle for weeks in times past, I usually just primed them by making sure the ink was “pushed” up to the nib and they fire right up.

I have a vintage Esterbrook and a couple of Schaefer “school pens” that hold up well. In contrast, my Parker 45 flighters seem to dry our rather quickly when idle relative to the pens I have mentioned. When I had Pilot Metropolitans, they dried out when idle, not as quickly as the Parkers but far more quickly than the Lamy Al-Stars.

All are stored in the same way (essentially horizontal) in the same light, on the same desk.

Sounds like a fabulous setup!

 

[Marco63]

I filled a TWSBI Eco T as my wife's Christmas present in 2021. it is still full of ink and it still writes. She doesn't like the stub nib. What can I say? I use here and there just to use it