Ink Slime

[Bill M.]

Has anybody here had ink slime? I was on another board reading about it and started worrying. Is there anything to prevent it? I have just gotten alot of new ink and don't want to catch it!

[Chthulhu]

The two ways of acquiring SITB (slime in the bottle) are from an already-contaminated bottle of ink (check it BEFORE you fill a pen with it), or by putting an already-contaminated pen into an otherwise clean bottle.

From the pictures I've seen, if you dip a toothpick or other probe into a bottle and it comes out with gooey matter (think egg white for consistency) hanging from it, you have SITB in that bottle. Trash it.

Edit: Here's a post with a photo: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/132772-the-dreaded-s-i-t-b/page__view__findpost__p__1313697

[Bill M.]

Oh s**t one of the colors I got was PR plum. I'll keep an eye on it. Wonder what causes it?
So far we LOVE the PR inks we got. We got plum, Tropical blue, cosmic cobalt, and grey flannel.

[Chthulhu]

Richard Binder's site has an article about SITB and other nasties:

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/ick.htm

[sph33r]

I've never seen this personally.. I only fill clean pens and I always flush a half full pen down the drain. Supposedly those are good steps to prevent this.

[Chthulhu]

I empty pens into a common container and use the resultant nightmare only with dip pens. :-)

[Bill M.]

I empty pens into a common container and use the resultant nightmare only with dip pens. :-)

That sounds like a good idea.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I got slime in my JH Vert Olive! I was trying to suck some up with a pipette and it wouldn't draw. tried a syringe, ditto. Pipette again. When I removed the pipette, there was a long worm of ink clinging to it. O____O

[Bill M.]

Wonder where it comes from?
(I want to try vert olive sometime soon.)

[Sailor Kenshin]

I don't want to ditch the whole bottle! The slime came out on the tip of the syringe or pipette and now it seems clear.

[Chthulhu]

Richard Binder says this:

“Slime In The Bottle” (SITB) is a gel-like sludge that on rare occasions forms due to unexpected chemical reactions between the substances from which ink is made. Ink makers test new inks carefully while they’re under development, and they usually find SITB before an ink hits the streets. If you see SITB (usually hanging from the nib after you fill your pen), dispose of the bottle and its entire contents. Some ink manufacturers will replace bottles containing SITB, however, so it’s worthwhile to ask before you dump anything down the oubliette. If you discover SITB as a result of pen malfunction, you’ll need to clean out the pen as described earlier. If it’s bad enough, the pen may need a trip to a repairer.

More about stuff that can happen to inks at http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/ick.htm

[Sailor Kenshin]

But but but

It's such a NICE color! Not olive at all, but more a spring green.

Well............ maybe if it slimes again.

[Chthulhu]

Even if it does, you can still use it with dip pens.

[HBlaine]

You know, the only ink I've ever had trouble with over SITB is PR. Had it in Sherwood Green ages ago, and then it quite recently cost me a brand new bottle of Black Magic Blue (which might have been an older bottle, as I don't know how long it's been sitting about before I got it.)

I've never had the problem with any other type of ink. (And, to be honest, never with any newer bottle of PR.)

[Sailor Kenshin]

The JH import company replaced my ancient bottle of JH Vert Olive AND included another color ink and a Rhodia pad. Now that's customer service.