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Cleaning Parker 51


Lee

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I purchased a very nice Parker 51 on eBay (along with a cosmetically challenged 21) for $13. Both needed the sacks cleaned and I did the distilled water soak. I still have to work the 51 to get ink flow going (dip in water). As a newbie is there anything I can soak it in to clean it better. I don't know if the hood presents a problem or not. Many thanks!

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Hi Lee,

 

Soaking should be just fine, and rinsing and flushing too, of course. I have heard people say, though, that it is rather hard with the Parker 51s. No experience myself with that, unfortunately.

 

Other than water, you could add a drop or two of dishwashing liquid, preferably non-perfumed, to the glass of water you use for soaking.

 

Alternatively, you could use some diluted ammonia, 1:10 or so. But don't let that soak for more than let's say, 10 or 15 minutes.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

the Mad Dutchman
laugh a little, love a little, live a lot; laugh a lot, love a lot, live forever

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Wow, my first chance to answer a question!!

 

If, like me, you're lucky enough to have the section unscrew easily, you can pull the breather, feed and nib out. The feed holds a tremendous amount of ink and is so fine-finned (not a real word, I know) that it is easily clogged. It will clean more easily if removed from the section.

 

If you have Frank Dubiel's book (highly recommended) he diagrams it with great clarity.

 

AS with any pen, if it feels like you have to used too much force to unscrew the section, DON'T!!! and just continue to soak it.

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little impact on society." Mark Twain

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Thanks so much. I really appreciate the help. When the ink is flowing it is like silk on skin. It's a nice pen to write with and good looking too - burgandy with chrome top.

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  • 5 years later...

Sounds like you got the pen working. I have to assume it is an aerometric or squeeze filler versus an older vacumatic or plunger type filler. Those have to have the rubber diaphragm replaced in them and are a lot more work, not something a newbie may want to tackle. Congratulations on the sumgai find on the Parker 51. I have disassembled many hoods or shells on Parker 51 pen and they almost always needed a thorough cleaning of the collector feed and breather tube due to ages old caked on ink and such. An ultrasonic cleaner is not a bad investment for cleaning nibs and feeds if you plan on acquiring a few more pens.

 

Have fun and enjoy the Parker 51, they are great pens.

"If A equals success, then the formula is: A = X + Y + Z, X is work. Y is play. Z is keep your mouth shut."

- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

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Out of curiosity, how long did you let the pen soak in water? I often find that it takes a good overnight soak and a couple of flushes (and once in a while, repeating the soak/flush) to get the pen back into reasonably good shape. Assuming the original owner followed the advice on the filler to use ONLY Superchrome ink, and depending on how much ink was left in the pen when it got "retired", it might need a bit more work.

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