WhyNot?

repair ballpoint pens

Category: Other
Responses: 6 (5 in support, 0 neutral, 1 in opposition)
Number of views: 1866
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If you have a ballpoint pen which has stopped working although there is still a quantity of ink remaining. Heat the ball point for a few seconds over a small flame (eg. cig. lighter) and this should restore their functionality.

heidi66, Dec 13 2003

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Comments from other members:

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What a great tip! Thank you very much.

Mulder, Dec 13 2003

Benn there, done that, in high school.

classicsat, Jan 28 2004

I had two old boxes of 50 Biro's I thought I would have to throw away, your tip worked well (so far) putting tip in spout of kettle and brought to boil.Thanks

ferris, Apr 17 2006

Heating the ink certainly works in the short term. Unfortunately it also evaporates some more of the alcohol that allows the ink to flow. What I do is put a couple of drops of methyl alcohol in the ink tube, stand it tip down for a couple of weeks, and your set for more years of good writing.

Gary Adams1, Dec 14 2006

It's a great way to ruin a pen alltogether.

howitworks17, Jan 24 2007

I tried but it didn't.

Naresh Ahuja, Jan 25 2007