Parker 51 Frustration...

[moomaloo]

Hi all. I'm sure this will have been done to death so I'll apologise and keep things brief...

 

I finally broke down and bought an 'in the wild' aerometric 51. It's an ordinary burgundy Mk1 with lustaloy cap but I already love it to bits... Except for one thing:

 

Whilst it writes really well - nice and 'wet' with a good, even line I find that if I leave the cap off - even for literally just a few seconds - then it dries up and I have to set the nib against a piece of blotting paper/paper towel to get it flowing again. If I cap it between every use then it 'starts up' with no problems the next time I come to use it.

 

I assumed it was simply clogged with old ink but I've flushed it thoroughly with Ammonia/water solution as recommended here and until it ran clean. But I've re-inked it and it's doing the same thing (if anything, it's now worse!)

 

I really don't want to break the pen down (I don't feel competent to do that...) but would it be fair to assume that the problem is something to do with the breather tube? Or could it be something else..?

 

Finally, any recommendations for someone in The UK who could have a look at this for me and carry out any necessary work?

 

It's an odd one because the pen is in very nice external condition and it writes like a beauty - until it stalls on me...

 

Many thanks.

 

[kirchh]

I wonder if the tines of the nib are too widely spaced. In such a condition, when ink is available in the nib slit, the pen will tend to be a wet writer due to that wide channel, but the too-wide spacing can cause the ink to recede from the end of the slit almost immediately. Sometimes, the act of uncapping the pen will produce a transient partial vacuum that can supply enough ink to the tip to enable the pen to write immediately, masking the problem.

 

I would closely examine the spacing of the nib tines.

 

--Daniel

[moomaloo]

Thanks Daniel. That might be it but the nib looks fine to me with no discernible gap between the tines. It's a mystery...

 

Who are the recommended UK service/repair people? Maybe it's time I sent this off to get it working properly (though I guess it could be expensive...)

[ac12]

Did you soak the pen overnight? Sometimes there is dried ink that won't wash out immediately but will dissolve when soaked. When I get a used 51, it will take me DAYS to clean the pen, most of that is repeated soaking and emptying.

 

It can sometimes be hard to tell the size of the slit in the nib when the pen is inked.

Edited May 5, 2016 by ac12

[FarmBoy]

We should clarify 'soak' in this thread. We do not mean submerge the entire pen in water. We mean put the hood in water to a level below that of the clutch ring. We also mean fill (or attempt to fill) the pen with water. We do not mean submerge the entire pen in water.

[Flounder]

If it's clean, could be a feed issue - bent, slight kink in the channel, from another 51 etc. May want resetting.