Holding The Squeeze Bar Down When Pulling A 51 From The Ink

[pajaro]

I have read the explanations by Richard Binder and others here about holding the squeeze bar down when pressing it the final time before withdrawing the Parker 51 aerometric pen from the ink bottle. They sound good and sensible. However, what I ended up with when doing this was a near-empty pen. Tried with several 51 aeros in Diamine black green and Sheaffer Skrip blue black inks.

 

Usually I just squeeze a few times, until the bubbles stop coming out of the pen and release, letting the sac fill, and pull the pen out. Wipe it with tissue. Works perfectly. But, of course, just because it works doesn't mean it's right, theoretically.

[ShallowJam]

How much are you usually getting in a fill? If the hold-down-pullout-release method leaves you with a near empty pen, I wonder if your breather tube is intact and operational. Is it possible you are pressing the bar too aggressively?

[PAKMAN]

To me holding down the bar when pulling out of the ink seems like all it would ever do is give you a near empty pen. Releasing the bar is what allow the sac to expand and fill the pen, holding down is how you squirt out the ink.

[Charles Rice]

You sure you got that right from Mr. Binder? With my 51 I squeeze and let go four or five times and on the last let-go keep it in the ink for a few extra seconds to make sure the bladder expands all the way. When I take the pen out of the ink, I'll press the bar just enough to expel maybe two or three drops.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Yes Charles, he has it correct from Richard.

 

I don't have the full answer but the breather tube is involved.

 

It's the same reason why when you depress the plunger Once on a Vac, you don't get anywhere Near all the ink out.

 

I will put an APB out for Farmboy. He can hanle this.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[gweimer1]

I'm really new to all of this, and still learning. What I can say is that the prescribed method worked for me this week when I thought I had a leaky pen. I just take it nice and slow, and release that last time after I've pulled the pen out of the bottle.

[pajaro]

They can't all have bad breather tubes. I thought I was missing somethig in that instruction, but a near empty pen is a near empty pen. I think I'll just go on the way I always have and not worry about trying to hold down the bar on the last squeeze.

Edited July 13, 2014 by pajaro

[Charles Rice]

Yes Charles, he has it correct from Richard.

 

I don't have the full answer but the breather tube is involved.

 

It's the same reason why when you depress the plunger Once on a Vac, you don't get anywhere Near all the ink out.

 

I will put an APB out for Farmboy. He can hanle this.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

What, he says to hold the bar down while withdrawing the pen from the ink?

[OcalaFlGuy]

I should have been more clear.

 

Paul I wasn't saying that all your tubes have issues. I was speaking galactically to the question of why holding the last squeeze until out of the ink Shouldn't empty the pen.

 

That being said, I Have read older posts from Pros here where they are pretty clear that They Think Every Aero should come apart as there is at least Some minor issue, clogging or corrosion, with the Majority of breather tubes. (There Are some Mindbending photos of corroded beyond belief breather tubes on David Nishiumura's site.) The Most tubes deal Has Not been my personal experience but then again, I've only had 8 or 9 Aeros apart too. Not so many. Also All the tubes in the pens I open up get roto-rooted out with guitar string so all I can really testify to is that I haven't noticed any obstructions when doing so. (Yes, I also roto-root out the side vent.)

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[OcalaFlGuy]

What, he says to hold the bar down while withdrawing the pen from the ink?

 

Yes, as described in the original Parker 51 fill instructions.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Charles Rice]

 

Yes, as described in the original Parker 51 fill instructions.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

OK, I think I get it. Mine has to be a Mark III with an ordinary squeeze tube.

[FarmBoy]

The problem is a flooded collector from the filling operation. If there is a weakness in the design this would be it. It happens on all the 51s except possibly the X-105 stuff and the cartridge version but using a converter doesn't help matters. (X-105 is a story for another time.) Parker spent a lot of time in the model shop trying to solve this issue. Seems the best solution they came up with was to pull the front out of the ink and let the filler suck out some of the excess ink in the collector.

Edited July 14, 2014 by FarmBoy

[OcalaFlGuy]

FB- Why for some people[1] does squeezing and lifting Appear to empty the pen?

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl[1] Those some people not being me

[pajaro]

The problem is a flooded collector from the filling operation. If there is a weakness in the design this would be it. It happens on all the 51s except possibly the X-105 stuff and the cartridge version but using a converter doesn't help matters. (X-105 is a story for another time.) Parker spent a lot of time in the model shop trying to solve this issue. Seems the best solution they came up with was to pull the front out of the ink and let the filler suck out some of the excess ink in the collector.

 

It seems to me then that you could accomplish sucking in enough air to suck excess ink from the collector by partially depressing the squeeze bar, and not holding it all the way down as you withdraw the pen from the ink.

[Komitadjie]

FB- Why for some people[1] does squeezing and lifting Appear to empty the pen?

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl[1] Those some people not being me

 

I'm curious about this one as well, because when I squeeze the bar on my MkII after filling per the standard directions (holding the bar down after the last squeeze, then removing from the ink and releasing) I seem to have fairly little ink remaining in the pen. At least, additional squeezing of the bar releases only a couple drops after that, far less than, say, my Lamy converters hold. As far as I'm aware, it should hold ~2ml or so when filled? Or am I just expecting it to hold too much ink?

Edited July 14, 2014 by Komitadjie

[OcalaFlGuy]

There is a lot of ink in the collector that isn't coming out with one squeeze bar push.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[Komitadjie]

I'd believe that, the thing is friggin' HUGE! I was amazed when I pulled that open, that's an incredible number of fins. How the heck did they manufacture that thing?

[Florida Blue]

I'd believe that, the thing is friggin' HUGE! I was amazed when I pulled that open, that's an incredible number of fins. How the heck did they manufacture that thing?

 

Originally the collectors were made on a lathe and then the fins created using a compound saw. Later on they were injection molded. What is amazing is that the early collectors were made to incredibly fine tolerances of about 1/1000 of an inch.

[ac12]

I just did a test on a P51 Special with water, so it would not be messy.

I did the 5 or 6 presses, until no more air was being pushed out the front of the hood.

On the last press, I held it down, and lifted the pen out of the water.

Then I pressed the lever, to see what comes out....very little. hmmmm

 

Maybe my 51 Special has a bad breather tube.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Specials have plastic tubes in them instead of the Sterling tubes in the Regular. I may be wrong (thinking of Vac tubes?) but I think the Special tube is also shorter. Obviously, the plastic one can't corrode, but it can still clog.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl