Basic Maintenance Parker 51?

[Jaywalker]

I bought a very nice P51 (aerometric, I believe) from someone on this forum a couple of years ago and have used it since then. It seems to me, however, that the ink doesn't flow as well as it did when I first bought it. It flows nicely when filled but sooner than it should, I think, it starts to miss as if it's getting close to empty and the line of script begins to skip and blotch.

 

I had a Cross twist-to-fill years ago that I periodically filled with water then expel the water a few times. (I never cared for the pen but that process didn't seem to hurt it.) I don't think I can do that with the P51, as I believe the "press to fill" does not work as a "press to unfill." I think.

 

I do not wish to disassemble this P51 further than it requires for refill - my hands have too many thumbs. Is there something I can do to maintain the pen or must I ship it off to have repaired, or, possibly, am I imagining things?

 

Thanks.

[Charles Skinner]

Not sure I understand. If there is ink in the pen, pressing "fill," as you call it, will certainly remove 98% of the ink that is in the pen. When I change inks in my 51, I always empty the ink that may be left, and then "fill" and "unfill" many times into a glass of water. After doing this for eight times, or so, 99% of the ink has been removed from the pen. Fill and unfill works exactly the same. If your pen will not remove ink by pressing the "bar or bars" something is wrong with you pen. Just my opinion.

 

C. S.

[Romagno]

P "51" Aeros need almost no maintenance.

 

What I would do is flush the pen with cool water - if available first use a 10% solution of non-sudsy househould ammonia solution (1 part ammonia + 9 parts water) to flush out all the ink, and then flush with cool water to remove any ammonia residue.

 

If that does not restore the pen to writing reliably, you might have a problem with the collector or breather tube - if you are handy you can disassemble the pen and clean it further; if not, any good pen repairer can get it working for not too much money.

 

I flush all my pens with water until clear after I take them out of rotation for awhile - don't want the ink to dry and get caked in those little passages.

[Brianm_14]

This is a common-sense approach based on what I have learned here and through cleaning dozens of different brands and models of fountain pens.

 

You might clean first with a few drops of Dawn detergent in 6 ounces cool water. Fill and empty the pen several times, then let it sit upright with the solution in it and just the tip of the nib immersed in a tiny amount of detergent and water. After a couple of minutes, flush the pen again with the detergent solution to help remove any remaining residue. Then rinse thoroughly by filling and emptying with clean water. Repeat the process with diluted ammonia and water as suggested above, if needed or desired.

 

If I clean with detergent or ammonia, I like to finally rinse the pen about 15 times with clean water to be sure all chemicals including surfactants are fully removed. Fill the pen, invert several times, empty and refill. After emptying the pen the last time, rest it, nib down, on some soft paper towels. Try ejecting any remaining water several times over a period of about 20 minutes. That seems to remove the small amount of residual water.

 

This process has cleared out several "51" pens for me, and they write well now.

[Jaywalker]

Thank you all. I completely misunderstood the ink-loading mechanism, believing that pressing the mechanism would not expel ink. I'm glad I was mistaken, and I appreciate the cleaning tips. Thanks again.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

It seems to me that the 51 likes to be used, rather than set aside with an inky load. So the first part of maintenance would be to use the pen on a routine basis and not let it dry-out.

 

The 51 is recognised as one of the pens that is a pain to clean-up, due to the hooded nib+feed and a very tenacious feed+collector which does not like to release all of the ink or other liquids. Taking a look at the innards of the pen shows just how unique it is. Courtesy of Richard Binder http://www.richardspens.com/?refp=anatomy/51

 

As such I suggest simple aniline dye inks that are readily flushed with plain/distilled water; and if a whisper of ink is left in the pen it is unlikely to dry into a persistent mass. That last iota of ink might taint follow-on inks - switching from Black to Yellow would be a right nuisance! That's not to say that other sorts of inks are incompatible, just that they require more time and effort to clean-up, and some require chemistry other than water to be removed.

 

__ Edit to add:

> Use of 'Cleaning Inks' https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/266313-inky-t-o-d-cleaning-between-inking-whats-your-process/

> The esteemed Mr Zorn Salad Spinner Centrifuge: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/12704-drum-roll-the-salad-spinner-centrifuge/

 

Enjoy!

 

Bye,

S1

Edited November 21, 2015 by Sandy1

[pajaro]

You do need to occasionally flush out a pen if you are leaving ink in it and leaving it idle. On the other hand, I have a 51 I have used since 1970 and I have never had a flow problem, even though it has been almost perpetually inked. I have flushed it a few times. Never an ink flow problem. Forty five years.

 

When you press the bar in the filler, whatever is in the sac is expelled. When you release the bar it takes in ink or air if out of the ink. Press the bar again at the end to expel three or four drops of ink. Should work fine. You have one of the most trouble free pens.

[Jaywalker]

Thank you. I have need for a pen only a few times a week these days, but I use it each time, with those restrictions. (I keep note of swimming pool chemical results and additions.) Possibly I'll need to flush it more often during the winter.

Edited November 22, 2015 by Jaywalker

[pajaro]

I don't use a fountain pen much any more either. Every couple of days I take the few 51s I have inked, an aero fine, an aero stub and a vac fine, and I jot a bit with them to see if they are still writing. They are, and when the ink is used up or dries up I fill them. The vac fine came from ebay, has not been resacked, and has written for years. The 51 is the most trouble free pen I have used, along with Montblanc 144 and 146, and also Pelikan M200/M400. All stay writing ad nauseam. Other pens not so much.

[Jaywalker]

Mine's a fine point. Funny thing is I was perfectly happy with it until I tried a Montblanc Cheapo (whatever model it was - ~$600) at Paradise Pen. I believed I knew it was simply an expensive branding campaign, but, my, oh, my, I really liked the springy medium point. If I could keep two pens employed I'd have one.

[Nanor]

Bruce has an excellent write up on how to clean up a 51

There is an internal breather tube can become blocked with ink deposits. It will take a considerable amount of soaking to clean, if you don't disassemble the pen.

[Jaywalker]

Thanks. It's working fine now, just from running water through it.

[Sandy1]