just got my first 51...

[sonnenblume]

Yet again, another one...

 

I just got a Parker 51, Demi, I believe. I think it's a aeromatic? I'm not sure...

 

After opening the package, the pen was not that pretty to look at. I tried to write with it to see if there was ink in it, nothing.

 

I filled some cold water in the sink, dipped the tip into it and depressed the lever, ink came out! Wow, it must've really been in there for awhile and dried up... But after about almost 50 depresses, I still see a few drops of ink... Still cant get the water to come out pure...

 

I then felt I should just soak it all in water, I did, and all dirt from the pen, even inside the barrel! and cap came out. Looks a bit better now.

 

I still am not sure how to remove the middle part of the barrel to reveal the silverish part inside...

Am I suppose to twist it? I tried, but it wouldnt budge at all so i didnt want to put too much force incase I was doing it wrong...

 

And should I just keep depressing the lever with the tip in cold water until the water starts coming out clear? It's taking quite awhile and the water drops still look a bit dark.

 

EDIT:

Ok the water is coming out pretty clear now after a couple of more tries... And the cap seems to have dried ink in it too.

Edited May 1, 2006 by sonnenblume

[Ray]

I'm assuming by 'lever' you mean the button at the end of the barrel, which is revealed when the end of the barrel (the 'blind cap') is removed, in which case what you have there is a vacumatic, not an aerometric. Unless you need to repair it (and you know what you're doing) you should not remove the barrel casing.

 

To fill it. dip the nib in ink, and press in and let out the button 10 or so times. The last time, hold the button down before removing the pen from the ink, then let go.

 

Ray

[RonB]

Congratulations on your new Parker "51." If it has the plunger mechanism on the end of the barrel, it is a vacumatic, not an aeromatic. An aeromatic unscrews at the Clutch ring (near the nib) instead of the blind cap.

 

You can get more details on Richard Binder's site under Reference, The Anatomy of a Fountain Pen II: The Parker Vacumatic.

[sonnenblume]

Yea, well I am going to soak the cap for a few hours... I'm wondering if I should do the same for the pen?

 

I filled it with some ink, at first the pen was writing very thin with poor ink flow... But after writing with it for awhile, it's coming out good now. However there are instances where it'll stop writing but start up quickly again.

[JimStrutton]

It sounds like it is a Vac Demi, so if you are having some flow problems try leaving the tip standing in about 1/2" of water overnight in a plastic cup. If you find gunge in the bottom of the cup in the morning, you know you are getting somewhere.

 

I know I say it frequently, but a fill of good old Parker Quink Washable Blue often does the trick in cleaning these pens out. You may find however that the breather is blocked and it won't fill properly, if so it is a trip for a service.

 

Jim

[HesNot]

Jim - I'm fascinated by the Quink Washable Blue technique - do you use this in other pens as well or solely "51"s? Any thoughts on why/how this works? It certainly has to be better more gentle than anything other than water and you get the bonus of being able to write with it at the same time!

[JimStrutton]

Jim - I'm fascinated by the Quink Washable Blue technique - do you use this in other pens as well or solely "51"s?  Any thoughts on why/how this works?  It certainly has to be better more gentle than anything other than water and you get the bonus of being able to write with it at the same time!

I have found that this works with any pen I have tried it in. The colour may not be to your exact liking, especially if mixed with whatever is in there, and the flow can be a bit wet in some pens, but it just works.

 

If you can get the old stuff with Solv-X then that may work better, I have found a secret stash of the stuff, but I am keeping very quiet about it, so I would appreciate you not sharing this little nugget However, the current washable blue does seem to work as well.

 

I came across this by accident when I got a "51" for my nephew, I flushed it as I thought clean and then filled it with washable blue as his mother would not look kindly on ink all over white shirts I then kept the pen on my desk for a day or so writing the odd note with it as I had felt the flow was a bit dry for a "51". I noticed two things, the flow got better and the ink colour darkened to almost a Blue/Black. After a week I flushed the pen out and a load more gunge came out. After that the flow was perfect and the colour remained blue. From this I concluded that the Washable Blue was in fact cleaning the pen. I can't prove this objectively as to do that I would need to strip a pen, see the gunge, reassemble, fill with QWB, write for a week, flush and then re-strip to observe any improvement.

 

However, subjectively I have filled a number of pens, normally found in the wild and before stripping I have fushed then filled with QWB and after a few days or a week or so, have seen a definite improvement. I figure if this saves a strip down or fixes a problem then it can't be bad and trying won't do any harm even if it does not do any good

 

Jim

[Michael Wright]

I also use washable blue to help degunk a pen. My thoughts are that basically the ink is soaking out all the old gunk. The advantages over just filling the pen with water and leaving it for a week are:

 

1. you can write with it;

 

2. by writing, you may be getting the ink into parts that just wouldn't be reached if the pen were lying idle.

 

I assume any ink will do the same job, but I choose washable blue with the idea that a washable ink will be easiest to wash out of the pen when it comes to time to choose another colour, and also with the thought that if a new old pen has an accident, as one might call it, washable ink will be easier to get out of one's clothes.

 

Best

 

Michael

[JimStrutton]

Michael,

 

This again might be a product of my imagination, but the old Quink with Solv-X may work better?

 

I have not done any tests to validate this statement, but just get the impression that after a couple of fills with the old Quink Washable Blue, that the pen comes up cleaner.

 

Any thoughts from your end? Or are you just using the new stuff?

 

Jim

[hatherton_wood]

Yes, I agree with this - the old formulation of washable Blue (UK make) just seems better at clenaing pens out - plus I like the smellI Rather miss that!

 

John

[Video11]

I had a similar experience with an old bottle of Skrip Blue that I found at my workplace tucked away in the back of the office supply cupboard. It is an almost full, red labelled older cylindrical bottle with the little inkwell inside. It had probably been in the back of that cupboard for at least 10 years. The first thing I noticed and recognized is the smell, whatever that chemically odour is sure brought back memories.

 

Then I filled a "51" I had with the old Skrip. This pen had always been a bit of a finicky starter, it would always take a couple of shakes at least to get started. That was despite repeated flushings and fillings with different inks, Noodlers, Quink Black, Skrip (Slovenia) Blue Black, Waterman were all tried. I don't have a bottle of Quink Washable Blue, so must admit that I didn't try that particular ink. After the old stock Skrip Blue was run through the pen starts every time with every ink I put into it. I can't guarantee that it was the old Skrip Blue that cleaned things out, but I'm keeping that bottle just in case.