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Easiest/hardest Pen In Your Collection To Clean For Ink Changing?


johntdavis

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This isn't really something I cared about at all when I first got into Fountain Pens and was still using cartridges, and it didn't really occur to me even after I started using bottled ink, as I had one ink color for each pen, but ...

 

As I have gotten more inks, more and more the ability to easily and thoroughly and quickly clean a pen is becoming the third most important thing when I consider buying a new one, right after nib performance/build quality and ergonomics (length/girth/grip section material).

 

My best writer is probably my Pilot Custom 823, but it takes no less than 2 days to change the ink color because of how hard the plunger filler is to flush.

 

My 1948 Parker 51 is an amazing pen, but like the 823 it's locked into a single ink color for the foreseeable future because I literally cannot fully clean out the collector without disassembling the pen, which is something I do not want to do.

 

I would still buy both these pens knowing what I do now, but only because they're unique in a way that overrides the cleaning difficulties that would otherwise be a deal killer: the 823's nib is amazing and its ink capacity is huge, but I'll probably never buy another plunger filler that I can't easily disassemble to clean. The Parker 51 is an iconic pen with historical value.

 

Now, the two easiest pens to clean in my collection are my 1930s Esterbrook Dollar Pen, and my modern Wahl-Eversharp Skyliner 50. Both were designed to be easily user serviceable and I can clean out either, completely, in 30 minutes or less. The W-E technically takes a day, but that's just to make sure the inside of the barrel is fully dry before I put it back together after I flush it out.

 

So, my question:

 

In your collections, what is the easiest/hardest pen to flush for a new color?

 

Do you regret buying the most difficult one?

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Easiest: either my Vac 700 or my Ahab. Both are extremely easy to clean.

 

Hardest: probably my Parker 51 vac. I definitely don't regret buying it, but I do tend not to change inks in it very often.

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Hardest, bulb filler, followed by button filler followed by piston fillers.

 

I never imagined a button filler would be hard. I actually thought the button action would make it easier than, say, a squeeze mechanism.

 

Of course, I was thinking of a CON-70, which can be removed from the feed for cleaning.

 

Now that you mention it, a bulb filler would be a pain. I doubt they're easy to disassemble. Does anyone even make a modern bulb filler? I'd imagine you'd get the benefits of the mechanism without most of the hassle with an eyedropper.

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The easiest : The pelikan M, piston filler with a screw nib.

The hardest of my pens : the Waterman Man 100, a looooong time to clean it.

Waterman Man 100, Pelikan M605, Montblanc 146 & 149, Parker Duofolds and 51s, Sheaffer Triumph and Intrigue, Lamy Safari, Pilot 78G and Pluminix...

PR Electric DC Blue, Herbin 1670 inks, Waterman Havana and purple, Montblanc Petrol Blue ...

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Easiest is a vintage no name eyedropper with a friction fit over/under feed; Unscrew the section and flush the barrel, remove the nib and feed and clean them (an o/u feed doesn't hold ink like a modern feed), swab out the cap.

 

The hardest are vintage safety pens. Ugh.

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Horrible:

1) Parker Vacumatic,

2) Vintages Safety Eyedroppers

 

Lovely:

1) Any cartridge pen, no matter if expensive or cheap.

2) normal eyedroppers

Greetings,

Michael

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Easiest - Lamy Safari and TWSBI Mini. I've been using these two to try out all the Noodler's ink samples I got from Goulet's.

Hardest - Hero 100 with the squeeze filler. It always seems clean when I change inks then I get mixes of colors coming out.

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Now that you mention it, a bulb filler would be a pain. I doubt they're easy to disassemble. Does anyone even make a modern bulb filler? I'd imagine you'd get the benefits of the mechanism without most of the hassle with an eyedropper.

I have three Edison bulb-fillers; they're not really that hard to clean. On each one, the section unscrews from the barrel, so you can easily take it off and give the insides a quick rinse if you need to. The nib unit also unscrews from the section, and the nib and feed are just friction fit into the housing. The benefit over an eyedropper is that you can fill it directly from the bottle without having to keep an extra tool handy and without the risk of overfilling.

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Of course, I was thinking of a CON-70, which can be removed from the feed for cleaning.

 

The CON-70 is still a PITA, because stuff can get behind the seal under the button. Or maybe I just need to replace my converter. :mellow:

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On the hard side of flushing, there are the capilary filler ones:

 

- Parker 61 - not so hard if you use a bulb, so you can force water from the capilary cartridge side, into the nib side. with a couple of flushes, the pen is running clear water

 

- Platignum 100 - that is really the most difficult pen to flush. It is a capilary fill, but, contrary to the P61, with no access from the back of the cartridge. The only way is to unscrew the section (watch out, left-hand tread!) and flush both the section and the body - it takes a lot of time!

 

On the other hand, the best way to avoid the need of quick clean a pen is to have many pens :thumbup: so you just take the next one :puddle:

Edited by fernobre
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All pens are easy to fill if you understand and enjoys the mechanism to fill it.

 

Filling is not the problem, but emptying and cleaning...

Greetings,

Michael

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Easiest: Vanishing Point/Decimo or Safari

Hardest: TWSBI mini

 

A needle and bulb syringe will help immensely in cleaning. In c/c pens (like the Safari and VP/Decimo), I use the bulb syringe to flush the feed/nib, and use the needle syringe to flush out the converter. 95% of the work is done in about a minute.

 

The TWSBI isn't particularly hard to clean or anything, but the smaller ink volume does make flushing tougher, because it means less water in each flush. The section can be unscrewed for easier flushing (w/the syringes) but that takes a little longer. Like I said, still not "bad" by any means.

 

Now the snorkel that I used to have, that was one tough pen to get completely clean/flushed.

Edited by drwright
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Easiest: Fountainbel bulk filler, takes 5 seconds to clean.

Hardest: Visconti Wall street with power filler - I'm not sure it is even possible at all to completely clean it.

Help? Why am I buying so many fountain pens?

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My MB piston pens, a 234 1/2 and the Woolf, are my easiest piston pens to clean out.

Pelikan is next because you can screw out the nibs something you can not do with the MB.

Esterbrook is dead easy to clean...with all the screw out nibbed pens, I use either a rubber ear syringe or a blunt needle syringe to speed things up.

 

 

Even though you can screw out the nib like on a Pelikan, the Geha because of the reserve tank is harder to clean.

 

I never had any trouble with my P-51 or my lever fillers.

Of course C/C are fastest to clean...until you factor in cleaning the cartridge and converter...then it's as slow as an Esterbrook.

 

So, in the end, I'd say the Esterbrook is the easiest and fastest to clean.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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OH DEAR GOD THE VISCONTI PULL AND TURN SYSTEM IS HORRIBLE!!!

 

It's such a nightmare trying to clean my visconti divina. The pull section has a bit too umch friction so i actually need a towel or some sort of grip to turn it properly. I find converter fills the easiest to clean out.

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Easiest: any cartridge/converter pen I own, mostly Parkers.

Hardest: Sheaffer Touchdown system, in this case an Imperial TD.

http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q731/AlexRS6/Pen%20Div/sheafftargasig_zpsb1ab9031.jpg

Writing with Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman and Aurora.

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My MB piston pens, a 234 1/2 and the Woolf, are my easiest piston pens to clean out.

Pelikan is next because you can screw out the nibs something you can not do with the MB.

Esterbrook is dead easy to clean...with all the screw out nibbed pens, I use either a rubber ear syringe or a blunt needle syringe to speed things up.

 

 

Even though you can screw out the nib like on a Pelikan, the Geha because of the reserve tank is harder to clean.

 

I never had any trouble with my P-51 or my lever fillers.

Of course C/C are fastest to clean...until you factor in cleaning the cartridge and converter...then it's as slow as an Esterbrook.

 

So, in the end, I'd say the Esterbrook is the easiest and fastest to clean.

 

I find the Pelikans can be thoroughly cleaned in a couple of minutes because one can flush the barrel while the nib unit is soaking. The nib unit is also quick to dry that way. The MBs do flush out quickly and easily as well, but not quite so fast for me, because it's more hassle to disassemble them so I don't do it.

 

Everyone in this thread says that CC pens are the easiest, but that depends on how long the feed takes to soak out, some take ages to give up their ink. I have a Cross that almost never gets used because it takes a few days to clear out the section, even going straight from use to cleaning.

[size="4"]"[i][b][color="#000000"]Qui plume a, guerre a.[/color][/b][/i]" - Voltaire[/size]

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