I have an old style (if that phrase can apply to something that was new less than one year ago) OMAS Bologna, the one with the plastic section. Yesterday, I emptied it, flushed it until the water was clear, and soaked the nib with the converter still attached for several hours. During that time, I occasionally flushed fresh water through the feed with the converter, rinsed the assembly off, and refreshed the water in which the nib was soaking. It seemed to be done. So I removed the converter from the section in order to dry them out better before putting them away. There was some ink. So I rinsed the converter, which is now clean. But the water I streamed into the open part of the section continued to come out black (the color of the ink I had in the pen). I kept rinsing the section under running water. Still black. I put the section in a glass of water to soak, being sure that there was water, not air, in the cavity where the converter goes. Black ink swirled mostly from the open part of the section but slightly from where the nib pushes in to the section housing. After several hours of soaking through several changes of water, there was still ink in the glass and coming from the section when I rinsed it. By this time, it was late and time for sleep, so I let it soak overnight. This morning, the glass was opaque with inky water. I rinsed the section, put it in a fresh glass of water, and there is still ink oozing from both the cavity and the nib housing. Is my Bologna section the portal to a darker world, or does this pen have weird crevices where ink hides?

If this pen is any guide, then simply flushing with water through a converter is not enough to rinse a pen.

Don't have the same version of the Bologna (both of mine are the smaller versions but w/ metal sections). Mine flush/clean relatively easily. What ink were you using and how long was the pen filled? Are you using plain water or a 1:10 ammonia:water soln?

I purchased a Stipula and the previous owner emptied the pen of ink. However, whatever black ink the pen once contained was determined to hang around. Even with an ultrasonic cleaner, the ink kept oozing out of the pen for about a week. The procedure I followed is generally the same that you've already described -- but I began to use an ammonia:water solution for the flushing (not soaking). Here is what I did to finally get the pen to run clear:

1) Insert converter back in, flush pen several times with ammonia:water soln;
2) Fill pen with ammonia:water soln;
3) Soak pen mid-section, nib down, into a glass filled with plain water (not ammonia:water soln) overnight.
4) Flush pen w/ plain water several times & repeat steps #1-#3 as need (i.e., until the water in the glass and the pen flushes with no trace of ink.)
5) Optional: If you have an ultrasonic, fill pen with ammonia:water soln, and run it through the ultrasonic for 180-seconds for good measure.

For stubborn inks (like Omas Blue, for instance), I dry pens nib down (in a glass), with the nib resting against a paper towel. This way, as the pen is drying, I can see if it's still oozing ink residue on the paper towel. If any ink residue appears on the paper towel, I'll continue to flush the pen, especially if I'm going to store it and not use it right away. Once there's no more residue, I'll dry the pen upright for another day or two, then it's stored.


Edit: Time-out errors.

If I need to put away a pen for a long time I will remove the nib and feed from the section, and give all the components a thorough wash and dry. If the pen comes with a converter then the converter too will get taken apart to its constituent parts and treated in the same way as what the nib, feed and section had been through.

Works every time for me

I also do the same for used pens that I acquired from eBay or FPN Marketplace, before I start using 'em



Shahrin

I have noticed two things over the years:

-- Omas pens tend to be harder to clean thoroughly than other pens -- not just the Bologna, but also the Paragon -- so I'm thinking it must be their feed design.

-- Omas inks tend to be harder to clean thoroughly from a pen than many other inks -- but not as hard as Noodlers and Private Reserve.

S.T. Dupont black. The pen had been filled for a couple of weeks, IIRC. However, given the facts that the ink did not flush out with the converter but came from elsewhere in the nib and section and that the ink just kept dissolving and dissolving and dissolving, I've come 'round to the conclusion that the ink deposit must have been accumulating over time and/or contained some very dried gunk. An ultrasonic cleaner may be in my future.

I have the same model Bologna and the same cleaning issues. I use one of those rubber bulbs (don't really know what they're called) to "power" flush the nib, feed and section. Just using the converter to flush water through the feed just doesn't work.

I have the same experience with my Bologna. I've simply accepted it as a quirk of the pen. It' find myself rotating through my pens enough that it does not sit idle for long. Although it is the only pen that I've taken to cleaning before storing and before using again (otherwise I get poor ink flow).