keeping ink in vacuum would prolong it's life?

[Smile]

Hmm, perhaps somebody know the answer.

If one would keep the ink in a glass bottle (like wine bottle) with special cap that allows air to be sucked out until 0.9bar vacuum.
Would that prolong the shelf life of the ink?

I'm asking this because the ink is obviously wet substance and there is a great deal of articles regarding
http://readynutrition.com/resources/vacuum-sealing-can-be-hazardous-to-your-health_12022013/

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

No. You still have 90% of the air in there. (Actually, those things don't even work, so you would 100%, but that's beside the point.)

You might consider storing it in smaller, sealed bottles, so any bottle is open for at most a few months. And store it in the dark.

 

[Smile]

No. You still have 90% of the air in there. (Actually, those things don't even work, so you would 100%, but that's beside the point.)

You might consider storing it in smaller, sealed bottles, so any bottle is open for at most a few months. And store it in the dark.

Those things does work 100% if they are not made in china. The maximum suction you can get from an ideal pump is 1 bar, so 0.9bar is 10% left.
Since on small containers pump goes all the way to 0.95bar, thats 5% air left.

Pump is from lava-europe.com, air removed is shown on real manometer so I have no doubts about that being true. And yes they do make the bottle caps I speak about.

 

[ghwellsjr]

If you have a liquid partially filling a container and you pull a vacuum on the air in the container and seal it off, after a while, the liquid will evaporate (boil) and you will no longer have a vacuum. If you continue to pull a vacuum you will end up evaporating all the liquid in the container. Does that seem like the right direction to be going in? You'd be better off just sealing it in a flexible container (plastic, not glass) so that the daily fluctuations in air pressure do not deplete the humidity of the air inside the container.

 

[PeterBJ]

This sounds a bit like freeze drying / vacuum drying. The process might be suitable for creating "Instant Ink", just add water......

Food in glass jars with a twist lock lid hold a partial vacuum that help keep the lid properly sealed and also serves as a proof that the seal is still intact. I don't think the vacuum in itself adds to the best before date.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Those things does work 100% if they are not made in china. The maximum suction you can get from an ideal pump is 1 bar, so 0.9bar is 10% left.

Well, you can actually get a good vacuum if you spend enough money.

Why you would want to do that, I have no idea. If you go to 0.03 bar, you can boil water at 25 deg. C. Presumably the organic solvent(s) will boil out of ink at quite a bit higher pressure.

What kind of container are you going to use? A plastic container will collapse. You might as well just squeeze it by hand and save yourself a few hundred Euros. A glass bottle, well, that's another matter. Did you know that a vacuum dessicator has to be held in a cage for safety in case it implodes?

Again, for what purpose? There are much simpler ways to exclude oxygen. For long-term storage just keep it in full bottles, for a start. Or replace the air with nitrogen. A nitrogen cylinder with regulator would be much cheaper than the cheapest vacuum pump on that Web site, and I'll be it would be a lot easier to use. It would still be ridiculous overkill.

 

[Smile]

You can also pull vacuum that is not so high.

@ThrillaMozilla

"Why you would want to do that, I have no idea."
To make ink last longer. To exclude germs that could get inside. Since we do not live in vacuum most of the germs do not live without air.

"What kind of container are you going to use?"
Thick glass wine bottles, if lava makes plugs for them they should know better that unless cracked they do not implode.

"nitrogen. A nitrogen cylinder" - this sound like I need more complicated setup, despite the price, nitrogen is not available for everyone in my area.

Overkill or not I got 50Eur coupon and I need to spend it on something from that site, so the plugs are only because I don't want anything else from them.

@ghwellsjr

"If you have a liquid partially filling a container and you pull a vacuum on the air in the container and seal it off, after a while, the liquid will evaporate (boil) and you will no longer have a vacuum."

And the material (ink) will just vanish

"If you continue to pull a vacuum you will end up evaporating all the liquid in the container. "
Nobody will use a double vacuum high tech pump etc. That will never happen.

"Does that seem like the right direction to be going in? You'd be better off just sealing it in a flexible container (plastic, not glass) so that the daily fluctuations in air pressure do not deplete the humidity of the air inside the container."

Glass does hold humidity inside, the bottle is so rigid that you can't make any fluctuations to the inside of the container from just air pressure.

 

[Smile]

I would like to get information from someone who actually tried this (storing ink in vacuum) and has some data to share.

 

[BradC]

I dont think it's oxidation that degrades the ink. Most people talking about longevity are talking of UV, ozone or other stray chemicals in the air.

You'll never pull a vacuum sufficient to boil water with one of those things, so I guess it falls into the category of "won't hurt". I'd be surprised if you get any bites from people who store their ink that way.

You can buy cans of compressed argon here for "capping" partial bottles of wine. I have a tig, so I tend to argon purge all sorts of stuff for storage, but the only ink I've had degrade was because I left it on an open shelf, in a transparent container under a fluorescent light for about a year. Not an ideal place to store it as it happens.

 

[websnail]

Frankly I'd be more inclined to locate a cold store, dry basement or fridge to store the ink... or if really pushed, an inert gas to replace any air in the bottle so you don't have to worry about algae... but I hear the callings of a curious mind so I'll bow out and let you tinker..