Paint Pens Dry Out Too Fast... Any Solutions?

[kablooey]

Like a lot of divers, I use paint pens to mark my gear.
Usually to display my contact info in case something is lost.
(I also use stickers, and tags, but sometimes a paint pen works best)

Paint pens are expensive.
My infrequent use of them means they're usually dried-out and useless after just two or three uses.

Does anyone have a tip on how to make paint pens last longer between uses?
How to stop them from drying-out?
How to store them, etc?

Thanks,
K

 

[АлександрД]

read this topic Marking Gear - Dykem Brite Mark Paint Pens Review
I bought this pen edding 8750 industry paint marker - Product - edding.com over five years ago, and it still alive!
edding 950 Industrie Pastenmarker - Produkt - edding.com - this I bought same time, and it still good, but near finished

 

[Jane Hunt]

I hope it's appropriate to butt in. I am from Diving Labels. We make personalised identity labels for diving gear and have very good reviews from our customers (16,000 customers in total now), just in case you did decide to consider stickers over paint pens. They last very well and will work out a lot cheaper. The website is www.divinglabels.com

 

[guruboy]

Maybe you need to clean the old paint off the tip? Use paint thinner or whatever cleans paint off.

 

[seeker242]

Sharpie oil based pen is still perfectly good after a +1 year of several uses. They do dry out in between uses, you just have to prime it a lot, by depressing the tip, to get the paint running again.

 

[happy-diver]

Uni Paint Markers

I've got half a dozen of these up to 10yrs old rarely use them haven't used
them much and with a shake and a push of the tip they never let me down

 

[Miguel Bilbao]

Try the Sakura Solid Marker - a non-liquid solidified stick of paint encased in a hard plastic barrel with a twist-up knob to advance the material. Nothing beats it for the durability of its marks and resistance to drying out (being solid there isn't much to evaporate). www.sakuraofamericaindustrial.com. Trident now carries it.

 

[Rred]

They (all) dry out as solvent evaporates. You can deal with this the same way we used to deal with drafting pens, which are a true b|itch to try cleaning out once they dry out and clog.

Find out what the solvent in the particular pen is. Could be naphtha, xylene, alcohol...find out. One call to the maker, or a look online for the MSDS for the product, should tell you.

Now pour about 1/2" of that same solvent in the bottom of an empty jar from olives, or any similar glass jar with a good sealing metal cap that is tall and thin. Add the paint pens, close up tight, and they should have not problem. If you can see or smell the solvent in the jar is going away--you need a better jar.

But that will balance any tendency for the solvent in the pen to dry out.

 

[JamesBon92007]

Like a lot of divers, I use paint pens to mark my gear.
Usually to display my contact info in case something is lost.
(I also use stickers, and tags, but sometimes a paint pen works best)

Paint pens are expensive.
My infrequent use of them means they're usually dried-out and useless after just two or three uses.

Does anyone have a tip on how to make paint pens last longer between uses?
How to stop them from drying-out?
How to store them, etc?

Thanks,
K

I used to get some white pens from Home Depot and they lasted much longer than what you seem to be experiencing. I always made sure the cap was on really tight (tap it on something a few times) and stored them upside-down (paint tip down).

 

[Rob9876]

I've had good luck using these metallic Sharpie pens: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009RAX...d44666a5efb909226750ef63120488&language=en_US

They are currently $3 for a 2-pack. The silver shows up on white or black, and pops nicely when you shine a light -- helpful if your buddy uses one to put his initials on the bottom of his fins, so it's easy to be sure you are following the right set of fins on a group night dive.