Getting a Sharpie Pen to Flow Again?

re: "Anyone got a tried and true method?"

Buy a new one.

Are Sharpies water-based now? I thought they were like magic markers, which you can sometimes bring back to life with an eyedropper full of alcohol. (The real stuff, not the watered-down 'rubbing alcohol'.)

Did you try WD-40?

Not that I think it will work, it's just closer to working than duct tape or vice grips.

I have used alcohol with success. Someone suggested an eyedropper, but I wouldn't put the whole thing in at once. A couple drops, then cap the pen and store it point down, maybe tap the cap a few times against a hard surface. If that doesn't do it, a few more drops.

I agree with the comment to buy a new one, but I have been in a situation where I needed a marker right away, and this was the only option.

A drop or two of lacquer thinner will get it going if there is any ink left (like if you just left the top off and the tip dried up). Once they are dead, chuck it.

You should have bought 2 the last time you went shopping.

I'd just pull out a new one from the box of ten in the office.

TFF

I knew I overlooked something.

"W. eWatson" wrote in news:ig0lad$14r$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

Set it in a glass point down (keep the cap on). Gravity will do the trick. You should be able to write with it. I'm nursing along one right now that I can write a few words after the treatment.

Rubbing alcohol works fine. I put about a teaspoonful in a small paper cup, and left the put the fine point pen in it for an hour.

We used to dip the exposed tip in acetone (nail polish remover) for a couple of minutes. If there's any ink left and the tip had just dried out, that will usually get a bit more usage out of the marker.

Metspitzer wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

the problem is that the ink's solvent has dried up. You can drill a hole in the far end,inject some solvent in there,give it a short time to work,then the pen will write again.

from Google; The principle solvents are alcohols, but they also contain ethylene glycol monobutyl ether.

Are you talking about the Sharpie or something else?

Interesting.

His finger? :-)

Caution with the rubbing alcohol. If left in the fluid too long, the ink will start draining out very slowly. Over done and it could suck it all out.