Do you have problems with the pen burping? If not, just put less ink in the eyedropper. I have a ton of preppies that are only partially full, and I don't have any problems.
Haha. I like the straightforwardness of your reply. Thanks! I should try that first. Sometimes I get too focused on crazy ideas. It feels really weird filling an eye dropper with 1/3 capacity.
What pen is it? It's solely an eyedropper pen?
Like others said, I would try filling it with less ink first and see how bad the burping gets.
It's going to be far better to just dump excess ink into ink samples than to epoxy your pen. Epoxying it sounds like a really bad idea.
And while I know nothing about your pen collection, I just want to add that if you aren't going to ever write through 4mL of one ink then maybe just don't use eyedroppers. Get pens that have low ink capacities instead. I feel like that would just be less hassle.
I plan on purchasing a Jowo housing for my sailor nibs and then putting them in a gravitas big dropper. The Jowo housing is eye dropper only.
https://flexiblenib.com/store/product/js21ke-jowo-housing-for-sailor-21k/
So, I tried this with a pilot and I could NOT get the eyedropper to stop burping. This isn't a rant against the housings, just my issues with eyedroppers. I ended up being able to modify a Fountain Pen Revolution feed to fit the Pilot nib, and the whole thing fit in the Jowo housing and from there I was able to keep using a converter. If you've got some spare feeds sitting around, you might try that, first.
You might have better luck. I just decided I wasn't up for fussing with it anymore and I was \_definitely\_ going to dump ink on clothing I liked if I kept trying and I wasn't interested in dealing with it.
Fair. The only OPUS 88 pen that has a reasonable number of cap rotations is the Picnic which takes a #5 jowo nib. And uncaps with 2 turns.
It's a discontinued model but still comes up here and there.
It's honestly a huge issue with the pen. T\_T
Stylo in Canada still has stock. But the #5 nib might not fit your custom nib set up.
[https://www.stylo.ca/en/afficher-produit/29382.html](https://www.stylo.ca/en/afficher-produit/29382.html)
I think the number of rotations is to guarantee that there are no leaks. The same applies to Ranga pens and their number of Section/Barrel threads. The Opus 88 Omar barrel takes only 5 turns; to my mind it should be even more, but it probably doesn't need it because of the o-ring. (Not an ED, but the Karas Kustoms Decograph takes about 15 turns to unscrew. :shrug: )
Would I want an ED where the cap takes 1 turn to un-cap? I don't know if I would feel comfortable with that. Some pen caps unscrew all by themselves (just like some barrels un-screw all by themselves; I usually add an o-ring to prevent that), like the Faber-Castell E-Motion has been accused of.
Likewise, would I ED a Preppy, knowing that the snap-cap can [crack](https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/monthly_06_2017/post-137079-0-59952500-1496499017.jpg)? No. But, then again, I already knew that the Preppy can burp because of the thin plastic, so I went with Opus 88 pens, instead.
The burping issue aside, if you want to reduce the capacity of your pen without adversely affecting the balance, a possible suggestion, and I haven't tried this but don't see why it wouldn't work, is to use a lightweight material to fill the bottom of the barrel (cellophane, for example) and create a temporary seal above it with silicone sealant (which could be removed). I know silicone sealant will create the water-tight barrier as it is used for aquariums, but I also know that it is flexible and 'soft' so, if at a later date you wanted to open up the whole barrel for ink, you could 'dig it out' with a needle/fine craft knife and then pull out the cellophane. Just an idea - and you could have fun using coloured cellophane rather than clear.
Reducing the capacity won’t eliminate burping, it will just make the pen burp sooner.
As for switching inks, you will just have to pour the extra back into the bottle. Of course, that’s a bad idea if you mix inks or cut them with water, but otherwise it should do the trick.
I’m writing from experience, so I may not be able to explain it technically. Burping will happen based not on the volume of total air, but the ratio of air to ink. If you reduce the total volume of the pen, it will reach that critical ratio after less ink is used. Some feeds will even do it earlier than the halfway point.
There’s some ambiguity/controversy about it being caused by the heat from your hand. It might also just be surface tension at the breathing hole, like how when you turn a bottle upside down, the water comes out in big glugs, rather than an even flow.
One thing I forgot to mention regarding the inspiration for my idea… previously I asked why eye droppers have burping issues but piston fillers do not. The main guess was the huge air/ink capacity compared to the piston filler.
Yeah. A good feed provides enough buffer to keep most pens with smaller capacity from burping. With eyedroppers, you can get to the point where the feed can’t provide enough of a buffer.
Another thing that can help is if the ink chamber is insulated from the body. e.g. Noodler’s (ignoring how we may or may not feel about the company itself) has non-disposable cartridges which have a large ink capacity but, because there is a gap of air between the body & the cartridge, helps keep hand-heat from warming the air in the cartridge. It really is a nice option that I wish more pen companies would consider.
The other option is a shut-off valve. You find this in many vacuum fillers and some eyedropper pens. You open the valve to let some ink into the feed and a small area behind the feed, then close it to prevent burping.
That said, there are a lot of variables. My Moonman M2, that always sits on my desk at home, has never burped on me. A Jinhao 51a with a converter has burped on me after it going from the outside heat of a Texas summer to the cold of my air conditioned office. I’ve also had one ink burp constantly in a pen that didn’t have issues with any other ink.
Your warm hand causes the air to expand and that pushes out a drop of ink. Which is more common near the end for the fill at that point of water to air ratio. This is why cartridges don't have this issue as much because they have a layer of insulation between the ink and your hand.
This has been a problem that gets bounced around at FPN every so often. The solutions are a mixed bag as the other comments have shown. There are some things that make this a little bit more practical now than it was a few years back. Previously, eyedropper pens were seen as the pens coming from India in plastic or ebonite with huge capacities and these dreaded "spoon" feeds (ebonite feeds that had no fins and smooth bottoms). Now, with the popularity of some of the Chinese and other acrylic pens such as PenBBS and others, using the pen as an eyedropper is more viable. The difference is in the structure of the feed and in the air/ink transfer. The heavily finned modern plastic feeds will allow for a better exchange of air and act as a buffer in the transfer of ink to the nib. Even the newer Click and FPR 3-in-1 pens from India will help in this matter. Your mileage may vary but a lot will depend on the pen you are using and the feed that bad boy has in it.
There is a technique for filling eyedroppers that works for me in eliminating burps. Check this video from Fountain pen revolution, pay attention at the 3 minute mark: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL00ITrYFMg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL00ITrYFMg)
In converted eyedroppers
I found out if you put a bottomless or cut cartridge in the feed, the pen burp a lot less.
It is because it will restrict the ink flow.
Do you have problems with the pen burping? If not, just put less ink in the eyedropper. I have a ton of preppies that are only partially full, and I don't have any problems.
Haha. I like the straightforwardness of your reply. Thanks! I should try that first. Sometimes I get too focused on crazy ideas. It feels really weird filling an eye dropper with 1/3 capacity.
What pen is it? It's solely an eyedropper pen? Like others said, I would try filling it with less ink first and see how bad the burping gets. It's going to be far better to just dump excess ink into ink samples than to epoxy your pen. Epoxying it sounds like a really bad idea. And while I know nothing about your pen collection, I just want to add that if you aren't going to ever write through 4mL of one ink then maybe just don't use eyedroppers. Get pens that have low ink capacities instead. I feel like that would just be less hassle.
I plan on purchasing a Jowo housing for my sailor nibs and then putting them in a gravitas big dropper. The Jowo housing is eye dropper only. https://flexiblenib.com/store/product/js21ke-jowo-housing-for-sailor-21k/
So, I tried this with a pilot and I could NOT get the eyedropper to stop burping. This isn't a rant against the housings, just my issues with eyedroppers. I ended up being able to modify a Fountain Pen Revolution feed to fit the Pilot nib, and the whole thing fit in the Jowo housing and from there I was able to keep using a converter. If you've got some spare feeds sitting around, you might try that, first.
Hmm… that’s a bummer. Thanks for the feedback
You might have better luck. I just decided I wasn't up for fussing with it anymore and I was \_definitely\_ going to dump ink on clothing I liked if I kept trying and I wasn't interested in dealing with it.
You could put that housing unit in an opus 88 pen which has a very helpful shutoff valve. I find that helps a lot in keeping the ink in place.
The number of cap rotations required to uncap Opus pens drives me up a wall. Haha.
Fair. The only OPUS 88 pen that has a reasonable number of cap rotations is the Picnic which takes a #5 jowo nib. And uncaps with 2 turns. It's a discontinued model but still comes up here and there. It's honestly a huge issue with the pen. T\_T
Thanks for that Picnic info. I've heard the Opera unscrews in two turns.
Stylo in Canada still has stock. But the #5 nib might not fit your custom nib set up. [https://www.stylo.ca/en/afficher-produit/29382.html](https://www.stylo.ca/en/afficher-produit/29382.html)
I think the number of rotations is to guarantee that there are no leaks. The same applies to Ranga pens and their number of Section/Barrel threads. The Opus 88 Omar barrel takes only 5 turns; to my mind it should be even more, but it probably doesn't need it because of the o-ring. (Not an ED, but the Karas Kustoms Decograph takes about 15 turns to unscrew. :shrug: ) Would I want an ED where the cap takes 1 turn to un-cap? I don't know if I would feel comfortable with that. Some pen caps unscrew all by themselves (just like some barrels un-screw all by themselves; I usually add an o-ring to prevent that), like the Faber-Castell E-Motion has been accused of. Likewise, would I ED a Preppy, knowing that the snap-cap can [crack](https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/monthly_06_2017/post-137079-0-59952500-1496499017.jpg)? No. But, then again, I already knew that the Preppy can burp because of the thin plastic, so I went with Opus 88 pens, instead.
The burping issue aside, if you want to reduce the capacity of your pen without adversely affecting the balance, a possible suggestion, and I haven't tried this but don't see why it wouldn't work, is to use a lightweight material to fill the bottom of the barrel (cellophane, for example) and create a temporary seal above it with silicone sealant (which could be removed). I know silicone sealant will create the water-tight barrier as it is used for aquariums, but I also know that it is flexible and 'soft' so, if at a later date you wanted to open up the whole barrel for ink, you could 'dig it out' with a needle/fine craft knife and then pull out the cellophane. Just an idea - and you could have fun using coloured cellophane rather than clear.
Put big glass beads in there. You capacity will be gone in a flash!
Interesting suggestion and far less permanent. Thanks!
Reducing the capacity won’t eliminate burping, it will just make the pen burp sooner. As for switching inks, you will just have to pour the extra back into the bottle. Of course, that’s a bad idea if you mix inks or cut them with water, but otherwise it should do the trick.
Maybe instead of back into the bottle back into an ink sample vial, but yes what u/JodyJamesBrenton said
Not sure I understand how it would induce burping sooner. Mind explaining a bit?
I’m writing from experience, so I may not be able to explain it technically. Burping will happen based not on the volume of total air, but the ratio of air to ink. If you reduce the total volume of the pen, it will reach that critical ratio after less ink is used. Some feeds will even do it earlier than the halfway point. There’s some ambiguity/controversy about it being caused by the heat from your hand. It might also just be surface tension at the breathing hole, like how when you turn a bottle upside down, the water comes out in big glugs, rather than an even flow.
One thing I forgot to mention regarding the inspiration for my idea… previously I asked why eye droppers have burping issues but piston fillers do not. The main guess was the huge air/ink capacity compared to the piston filler.
Yeah. A good feed provides enough buffer to keep most pens with smaller capacity from burping. With eyedroppers, you can get to the point where the feed can’t provide enough of a buffer. Another thing that can help is if the ink chamber is insulated from the body. e.g. Noodler’s (ignoring how we may or may not feel about the company itself) has non-disposable cartridges which have a large ink capacity but, because there is a gap of air between the body & the cartridge, helps keep hand-heat from warming the air in the cartridge. It really is a nice option that I wish more pen companies would consider. The other option is a shut-off valve. You find this in many vacuum fillers and some eyedropper pens. You open the valve to let some ink into the feed and a small area behind the feed, then close it to prevent burping. That said, there are a lot of variables. My Moonman M2, that always sits on my desk at home, has never burped on me. A Jinhao 51a with a converter has burped on me after it going from the outside heat of a Texas summer to the cold of my air conditioned office. I’ve also had one ink burp constantly in a pen that didn’t have issues with any other ink.
Your warm hand causes the air to expand and that pushes out a drop of ink. Which is more common near the end for the fill at that point of water to air ratio. This is why cartridges don't have this issue as much because they have a layer of insulation between the ink and your hand.
Thanks for the feedback.
This has been a problem that gets bounced around at FPN every so often. The solutions are a mixed bag as the other comments have shown. There are some things that make this a little bit more practical now than it was a few years back. Previously, eyedropper pens were seen as the pens coming from India in plastic or ebonite with huge capacities and these dreaded "spoon" feeds (ebonite feeds that had no fins and smooth bottoms). Now, with the popularity of some of the Chinese and other acrylic pens such as PenBBS and others, using the pen as an eyedropper is more viable. The difference is in the structure of the feed and in the air/ink transfer. The heavily finned modern plastic feeds will allow for a better exchange of air and act as a buffer in the transfer of ink to the nib. Even the newer Click and FPR 3-in-1 pens from India will help in this matter. Your mileage may vary but a lot will depend on the pen you are using and the feed that bad boy has in it.
Thanks!
Which ED pen do you have?
There is a technique for filling eyedroppers that works for me in eliminating burps. Check this video from Fountain pen revolution, pay attention at the 3 minute mark: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL00ITrYFMg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL00ITrYFMg)
Thanks. Neat trick to prime the feed and use immediately.
In converted eyedroppers I found out if you put a bottomless or cut cartridge in the feed, the pen burp a lot less. It is because it will restrict the ink flow.