Some pen users are convinced that it is best to store a pen with water in its reservoir, especially if the pen is a piston-filler (like a Pelikan or Montblanc). Although with most modern pens this is unlikely to cause harm, it is also hard to see how it offers any benefits. After all, if underwater storage was preferable, you can be sure that museums would be keeping their objects that way. In fact, water is a rather powerful solvent; dry storage is much the better, whether for woods or plastics.
Incidentally, many vintage repairmen also believe that keeping a piston-filler full of water prevents cork seals from drying out and shrinking. This too is based upon a misapprehension. Cork seals are normally saturated with wax before installation. As long as the wax is present, the cork will not absorb water. Years of exposure to cleaning solutions and detergent inks may eventually wash away the wax, in which case the cork will become water-soaked. At this point the seal will indeed shrink if allowed to dry, but a seal in such a state should really be replaced (or reimpregnated with wax, if practicable). Fresh cork seals gain nothing from exposure to water.
Copyright © 1997-2008 David Nishimura. All rights reserved