Cleaning An Elysee Pen

[cordell]

Hi everyone,

I am new to your fine forum and in need of help. I have two Elysee pens that I obtained 25++++ years ago, and both have stopped writting. Can someone give me a few hints on cleaning these rascals, any help or direction would certainly be appreciated. cordell

[CaptainGroovy]

Hi everyone,

I am new to your fine forum and in need of help. I have two Elysee pens that I obtained 25++++ years ago, and both have stopped writting. Can someone give me a few hints on cleaning these rascals, any help or direction would certainly be appreciated. cordell

 

What have done to try and get them writing again? By quite writing please explain did you stop using them for a while and ink dried in them or is their more to it? How do you fill your pens, ink cartridge, or cartridge converter? I have an Elysee I bought used, the nib is not near as ornate as your's but I also think mine is near as old either. Have you tried giving the Nib and Section a soak in room temperature water or rinsing them under cool water running water in the sink? With out more details I not sure what else say.

[kestrel]

Welcome to FPN.

Those are two very nice pens. Try the soaking in water overnight trick. You can also go to any good pharmacy and buy an ear syringe. They are inexpensive and absolutely invaluable for cleaning a cartridge/converter pen. Fill the syringe with water at room temperature and insert the end of the bulb into the hole where the cartridge goes just behind the nib. Flush the section with water until the water coming out is clear. Let it sit for half an hour and flush again. Repeat until the water coming out is clear. Dry the nib by resting it point down on a folded paper towel in a small jar.

Elysees were my entry drug into this little passion/addiction. They are remarkably tolerant of a lot of abuse and write a very smooth line. Unless you have a non-fountain pen ink gumming up the works the syringe procedure should work. Then start looking for the perfect ink for those beauties.

[cordell]

Hello CaptainGroovy and kestrel,

The only thing I have ever done to my pens when they quite writing, was to fill them with water repeatedly and when the water came out clear fill them and write. Let me try kestrels method and see where we can go from there! I will keep you both posted and hopefully these rascals can once again serve to "pen the word".. Thank you both for the instant reply to my question you may be instrumental in leading me back down the path of pen collecting!!! Would either of you care to recommend your favorite ink????? Thanks again and God bless you and yours..cordell

Edited May 10, 2012 by cordell

[cordell]

Hello CaptainGroovy and kestrel,

As the note in the picture states "THANK YOU!!!" I soaked them overnight along with the nibs and then took them out this morning and put 80lbs of air through them. I had a new bottle of Parker Blue and filled these two rascals up and they work perfectly!! Thank you again for all the help and the quick response to my request, I am looking forward to chatting with both of you in the future. Take care and God bless... cordell

[Chi Town]

Good deal! Glad to see that your pens are now up and working. Hope to see more of you around FPN now that you have a smile on your face.

[cordell]

Good deal! Glad to see that your pens are now up and working. Hope to see more of you around FPN now that you have a smile on your face.

 

 

Hi Mike,

Thank you, I do indeed have a smile on my face ;-)...... While I have you do you remember what the great big Mont Blanc pens were called? They were old 25 years ago and twice the size of a standard pen. I have always wanted one and now that "I may" ;-)..be getting back into pens again that is one I would like, so any help would be appreciated. Take care, thanks again and God bless you and yours. ...cordell

[kestrel]

I'm glad your pens are up and functioning. The nib, feed, and section on the Elysees I own seem unusually robust and tolerant of abuse.

 

Hello CaptainGroovy and kestrel,

Would either of you care to recommend your favorite ink????? Thanks again and God bless you and yours..cordell

 

J. Herbin Eclat de Sapphire and Visconti Blue are both stunning blues.

J. Herbin Perle Noire (black), Violette Pensee (purple) and Lierre Sauvage (green) are high on my list of favorites.

Noodler's Ottoman Rose (rose) and Nikita (red) make a big impression on paper.

Goulet pens has an ink comparison "swab shop" that helps you to make your own comparisons located here:

Goulet Swab Shop

The Ink Reviews section here at FPN is full of reviews of an incredible variety of inks to help you make choices. Several vendors now offer sample programs that allow you to buy several milliters of an ink to try it in your pen and on your paper before buying an entire bottle. Finally, FPN has an ink exchange set up so people can exchange samples. Happy browsing and sampling.

[Chi Town]

Good deal! Glad to see that your pens are now up and working. Hope to see more of you around FPN now that you have a smile on your face.

 

 

Hi Mike,

Thank you, I do indeed have a smile on my face ;-)...... While I have you do you remember what the great big Mont Blanc pens were called? They were old 25 years ago and twice the size of a standard pen. I have always wanted one and now that "I may" ;-)..be getting back into pens again that is one I would like, so any help would be appreciated. Take care, thanks again and God bless you and yours. ...cordell

 

 

 

Hey Buddy,

 

I do believe that is the Mont Blanc 149, as I have one from that time period myself, and yes they are huge.. They are also a piston filler.

 

All the Best,

Mike

[CaptainGroovy]

Hello CaptainGroovy and kestrel,

As the note in the picture states "THANK YOU!!!" I soaked them overnight along with the nibs and then took them out this morning and put 80lbs of air through them. I had a new bottle of Parker Blue and filled these two rascals up and they work perfectly!! Thank you again for all the help and the quick response to my request, I am looking forward to chatting with both of you in the future. Take care and God bless... cordell

 

I am glad to hear that your pens are again writing well for you. I just inked mine up the other day and it is writing smooth as ever. Just a FYI I might back the air pressure on your blow gun way down the next time you give your pens an airing out. Since your pens have cartridge converters most times just sucking water in and out with them until it runs clear will cure most of your problems

 

With regards to some of my favorite inks and colors are:

Black: Aurora Black, Pelikan Brilliant Black 4001 are both good dark black that most all pens like, Private Reserve Invincible Black Noodler's Dark Matter (interesting color)

Blue-Black: Waterman Mysterious Blue (old name Blue Black),Diamine Registrars Blue-Black (Note it is an Iron-Gall)

Blue: Waterman Serenity Blue (old name Florida Blue), Private Reserve DC Super Show Blue, Diamine Presidential Blue, Diamine Aqua Blue, Private Reserve American Blue, Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise

Brown: Waterman Absolute Brown, Noodlers #41 Brown, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi - Horsetail

Red: Sheaffer Skrip Red, Private Reserve DC Dakota Red, Noodler's Black Widow

Green: Private Reserve DC Supershow Green, Pelikan Edelstein Jade,

Purple: Noodler's North African Violet, Noodler's Pasternak, Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-budo - Crimson Glory Vine

 

Note: That Noodler's and Private Reserve are both inks with a heavily dye saturated inks and as a result you need to be vigilant about keeping your pens clean. Also Diamine Registrars Blue-Black is a Iron-Gall ink which is slightly corrosive so again keep your pen clean and don't let it sit in the pen for months at a time.

 

If you have questions what inks look like you can check ink reviews in the forum and or Goulet Pen has The Swab Shop and they have inexpensive ink samples

[cordell]

CaptainGroovy and Chi Town,

Capt not to worry about the air pressure I just used it to clean the nib, not the tube ;-).. What is your favorite Blue????? Thanks again for all your help, and God bless you and yours........... Chi Town/ Mike...Thank you for your help, I am now looking for a reasonably priced 149.......please keep your eyes open. What do you primarily collect???? Rick (aka cordell)

[Chi Town]

CaptainGroovy and Chi Town,

Capt not to worry about the air pressure I just used it to clean the nib, not the tube ;-).. What is your favorite Blue????? Thanks again for all your help, and God bless you and yours........... Chi Town/ Mike...Thank you for your help, I am now looking for a reasonably priced 149.......please keep your eyes open. What do you primarily collect???? Rick (aka cordell)

 

I collect vintage and modern fountain pens but really like the Italian ones!

[ccvinylman]

When I was a newbie FP enthusiast, one of "grail" pens was an Elysee cloisonné fountain pen (see the attached pix). I think it's a beautiful pen. Anybody agree with me. I tried searching on eBay for a used one but have had no luck yet.

I've also included some stylized pictures of the cloisonné manufacturing process, FYI.

[rigmor13]

I have the same pen. I use a fountain pen cleaner that I purchased from jetpen.com. Worked great. My pen had the same problem yours did. Are these expensive pens ? Trying to get a value . I was told this is a Elysse Parthenon but cant find any info on the web. Take care