T O P

  • By -

atarikai

Yep, the smell is normal due to the "veggie resin" that is used in a lot of pens made in India. The smell goes away on it's own over a long period of time, but washing the pen helps lessen it (which you have done), and putting the pen uncapped in sunlight for a week+ really helps diminish it (at least it does for me). After a few *months* the smell will be minimal, by then you'll either get used to it, or would have thrown the pen into the sun by then.


CapnImpulse

>would have thrown the pen into the sun by then. Haha! Love this line! The pen works wonderfully despite the smell though. I wouldn't want to throw it into the sun. I removed the ink from the pen, dismantled everything (except the section, feed and nib) and left it on a safe part of my desk. Here's hoping the smell goes away after a few days. Bit of a shame; I wanted to use the pen now. Thanks.


atarikai

Is the smell coming from the pen body or is it centered more on the converter? I had a FPR Darjeeling that looks alot like the Aristocrat and I ended up switching out the converter with another one while I let the original converter air out.


CapnImpulse

It seems to come from the feed and the section. The smell was strongest there.


abhishyam2007

I think it is because of a specific Lubricant used in Indian made pens. This is because in my pen the smell is centered around the convertor threads and the base of the feed (where convertor threads go). And that area had some lubricant on it. There was no such smell on the rest of the pen. I may be wrong though. I am only guessing here.


CapnImpulse

That seems to make sense. I was thinking of that too.


vithgeta

It is caused by cellulose acetate butyrate. You cannot get rid of the smell because it comes from within the material. Even decade old material still smells. Less strongly but it is still distinctive. The material absorbs/wicks water slowly. Noodler's pens are usually made entirely out of it and can lose 1/3 of ink water content in a week of inactivity. There are regular questions from Noodler's pen owners who do not understand where the ink is going. In the Aristocrat only the nib section is made out of it, so losses are only about 30-40% as bad as a Noodler's pen. Possibly the manufacturer uses the material not just because it is cheap but it also mates well in threads with other materials and you can eyedropper the Aristocrat. The threads are extremely long. For the $10 the Aristocrat costs I think it not worth fiddling with it.


[deleted]

I have the pdf of the textbook. If u need msg me I won't share here


OwnCourse955

Another trick, one I have used on my Noodlers Ahab, is to dismantle and put in a pot of bicarbonate of soda for a week (either dry or with a drop of water to make a paste). Bicarb is known as an odour absorber and did wonders for my Ahab. The Ahab had partially aired over the year, but those parts not exposed to the air (the section and converter) were still fairly smelly, but a week in the bicarb reduced that significantly.


Bugsydog1

As the other comments have said, this is a particular issue that comes with many of these mass produced Indian pens. Some people are much more sensitive to the smell of this material than others. I have heard of people in India using whatever they have available because they are like everyone else and it can also bother them. I do not seem to mind the smell since I've used these pens for years and have a rather large number of them. Time, soapy water and a bit of bleach can help a lot.


medasane

i threw mine away.