How often to clean out pen?

[sonnenblume]

How long is too long to not flush out a pen?

Does having ink in it matter?

 

What if you filled it with ink, removed the ink, but just never flushed it with cold water?

[Ink Stained Wretch]

How long is too long to not flush out a pen?

I don't know that there's a hard and fast rule about this, but it's a good idea to flush a pen if you're going to put in a different ink from what it had had in it before. Other than that, some say a few months between flushings is all right, some say don't flush unless you have a problem. I know that I had been using Noodler's Black in a pen for almost two years there when I finally flushed it out. The pen has been writing better since that flushing.

 

Does having ink in it matter?

Well, the old ink is what you're flushing out. I'm not sure I understand this part of the question.

 

What if you filled it with ink, removed the ink, but just never flushed it with cold water?

Then the ink residue that's still in the pen would dry out in the nib and feed and also in the reservoir, whether that would be a rubber sac, a cartridge or the barrel itself.

 

If you're going to take the ink out of a fountain pen and not refill it again right away it's really best to clean and flush the pen. Otherwise you'll face problems from dried out ink when you go to use it again.

[chainwhip]

There was this recent thread about cleaning *too* much:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=10065

 

Either way, I do flush my pens out very thoroughly when changing inks.

Edited April 22, 2006 by chainwhip

[sonnenblume]

Ok, the reason I asked is a seller of a pen I want to buy has told me he had the pen since 2004 but hasn't flushed the pen out. Now I'm not sure if I should buy this pen, even though I really want it. :blink:

[ipse dixit]

My personal test would be if the pen writes ok now then it is probably alright and a good flushing would be all that is required. On the other hand, if the ink flow is blocked then you are looking at a problem that might require professional help.

 

Jim

[stypen]

For me it completely depends on the pen. I have some pens with feeds so dependable they basically never need flushing, even if I forget to wash them out when I'm not using them for a while.

 

Other pens are temperamental, and seem to need cleaning all the time.

 

I always soak the nib and feed of a pen overnight when changing ink color or in case of a real blockage...

[DrPJM1]

Everytime a pen is taken out of rotation I thoroughly flush it with cool water, flush the nib and feed, and let it dry overnight before storing it. Same drill if Iam changing inks.

[hatherton_wood]

I can honestly say that my 1972 Parker 45 has only been flushed with water two or three times at the most since I bought it. Otherwise it has been refilled with Quink Washable ink for all that time - never been empty, never had a different ink. I've changed the ink type in other pens but never that one. Its still on the orginal rubber convertor and works fine.

 

John

[Blade Runner]

I don't use heavily saturated inks, and in those that i maintain the same ink, i hardly ever flush and have kept pens inked for years without probs. I do use them frequently and that must prevent clogs. I also use good quality stationery almost exclusively with fps, and that must help too.

 

In pens that i switch inks, i do flush a couple times to get most of the old ink out, but i don't go on and on.

[*david*]

The problem (if there is one) comes from dried ink that won't wash out properly. People who constantly use the same pen with the same ink have few problems, because the ink is always flowing and doesn't dry up.

 

If that pen is still running properly, I guess it has a better chance of cleaning up well for you.

[TheNobleSavage]

Everytime a pen is taken out of rotation I thoroughly flush it with cool water, flush the nib and feed, and let it dry overnight before storing it. Same drill if Iam changing inks.

This is the same thing I do!!! This tends to keep my pens flowing very nice,

 

TNS

[FLZapped]

Between every filling. Especially hooded nibs and pens with ink sacs.

 

-Bruce

[vhild]

Bumping up an old thread: What if using "waterproof" inks, how long can you keep a pen loaded with that without using the pen before the whole thing dries up? And are they more difficult to rinse out?

[maclink]

5 hours ago, vhild said:

Bumping up an old thread: What if using "waterproof" inks, how long can you keep a pen loaded with that without using the pen before the whole thing dries up? And are they more difficult to rinse out?

 

In my experience, it depends on the pen as well as the ink, but I think the pen is more important.  The pens ability to create an airtight seal is very important.  This varies a lot between pens.  I would avoid using a waterproof ink in a pen that has a tendency to dry start after periods without use, especially when using a water-based ink.  I say, especially with water-based inks because in my experience, pens with a tendency to dry out and hard start will have less symptoms of this tendency when using a waterbased  ink vs an iron-gall, pigmented or other permanent ink formulation.  I've only discovered that some of my pens do not seal as well as I initially thought, when I decided to fill them with a permanent ink and ended up with dry-starting.  OTOH, a pen that never dry starts and writes immediately, even after weeks or even better, months without use, would be ideal for use with a permanent ink without fuss.

 

I had a TWSBI Eco inked with Rohrer & Klingner documentus ink for 3+ months with hardly any use.  It wrote every time I tried it and it washed out no less easily than water-based inks I use.   I had a Cross Century II filled with a Sailor Pigmented Dark Blue ink for several months.  Again, it wrote every time I tried it and eventually rinsed it out without difficulty.  I didn't see any residue in the converter although one of my TWSBI's ended up with residue in the ink reservoir after having it inked for a couple months with that same Sailor pigmented ink (wonderful colour). I had to wipe off the residue with a cotton bud which was easy since the TWSBI pens are easily disassembled.

 

OTOH, things didn't go so well with my Lamy cp-1 that I had inked with R&K Documentus black ink.  After about 6 weeks of only occasional use as a backup pen at work, it hard started and then was skipping a lot.  I soaked the nib for about an hour and flushed the converter fine without any residue being see.  This pen doesn't seal as well as the previously mentioned pens but it's now fine after the flush.

 

I currently have a Pelikan M200 filled with R&K Documentus black... again it's been inked for a long time and immediately wrote when I just gave it try.

 

I find the R&K Documentus inks to be fountain pen friendly in that they clean out easily.  Same for MontBlanc permanent black.  Pigmented inks may leave a bit of residue behind especially if the pen has been inked for a while.  I filled my Pilot Custom 823 with Platinum Carbon Black and used it over a couple weeks until in emptied.  On flushing, I could see a bit of residue on the surface of that wider part of the reservoir that the vac mechanism's plunger rests when it's fully inserted.

 

So, in summary, I'd follow the usual advice of not leaving pens inked with permanent ink without use for long periods unless you know your pen to seal very well when capped.  If you plan to regularly use a pen with a permanent ink for fountain pens, then by all means, use it without fear.  You will get far better, trouble free, results with a pen that seal's well.  Keep the pan capped when not in use.  If the nib does dry out, a good soaking in water is typically all that's needed.  It's probably a good idea to flush between fills.  I do so if the fill lasts several weeks and I can easily see a build up of dried ink around the feed and undersurface of the nib.  I had used several fills of MB Permanent black with one of my MB's without flushing.  However, I held the nib under the tap for a while after filling and then wicked out fresh ink with a bit of tissue.  

 

Pens that I've so far used with permanent inks that seal well are:

- TWSBI - fantastic...especially the Eco

- Platinum Prefonte, Plaisir, Procyon, 3776

- Pelikan M200/400/600/800 (don't have the 1000 but would assume that it seals well too)

- Cross Century II

- Montblanc 14x

- Pilot Custom 823/912

 

 

[vhild]

^ Wow, thanks! I have two Auroras and one Leonardo, and as they have screw-in caps, one would think they seal well. But I will avoid permanents as I’ve really got no need for them.

[Lachryma]

I feel vaguely as though I should feel ashamed but . . . Im not.

 

I don't make any habit at all of cleaning my pens.  

 

My first pen was a vintage and gift and prior to that pen had absolutely no experience or knowledge of same.  I didn't know I was actually supposed to take care of it!  One day it stopped writing well and I took it to a guy.  He did something to it and gave it back.  A looooong time later it did the same thing.  I took it back to the same guy and he asked, "Do you ever clean this pen?"

 

And I ask, "I'm supposed to clean it???"

 

He showed me how to clean it and now, even though I no longer have that pen, my mo is to write till I notice something isn't perfect and then my first step in problem solving is to give it  good cleaning.  

 

I know.  But it takes all kinds, right?

[sansenri]

the point is how many pens you have and use. If you have a couple of pens and use only those and you always use the same ink you can avoid cleaning for very long periods.
Quite a number of years ago when I had only one pen and always used the same ink in it, I NEVER cleaned it (perhaps once a year) but the pen was always inked and used every day.

The problems start when you have a number of pens inked at the same time and you tend not to use all of them regularly. Ink will start drying out in some, concentrating, clogging the pen. Some inks if left at length can affect your nib plating.

This is my Kaweco steel nib after forgetting I had ink in the pen for a number of months (almost a year perhaps). I cannot trace back to the ink in it, although I'm sure it was a blue ink.

 

 

my current routine, to avoid any issue, is clean each pen at every ink change.

[inkstainedruth]

I do that (I change inks fairly often).  And I also clean pens if I'm taking them out of rotation (which I also do fairly often).

Sometimes when I get lazy I will refill a pen with distilled water and continue to use it -- which gets some extra usage out of the pen, and also makes for an easier time flushing out more problematic inks very saturated inks or ones that are pigmented, for instance).

I do tend to flush IG inks more often, so as to not get build up (generally after a single fill, two at the most).  But other inks?  I refill until I get bored with the pen or the color, or both.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth