How Long Do You Guys Spend Flushing Your Pens?

[Water Ouzel]

I just got a Parker 17 Lady and filled it up with ink but I forgotten to flush it before putting my own ink in! So now I have to flush it. How long does it take you guys usually to flush your pens well?

Until it's done.

[Sandy1]

 

Hi,

 

Congratulations on the Parker Newhaven Lady 17! In addition to the Parker Slimfold and early button-fill ringtops and Sheaffer Tuckies it remains one of my favourite petite [garter] pens.*

 

As other Members have indicated there is a fair bit of nuance to pen cleaning : from the type of ink, usage over time, etc. Other than my daily writers, I do not let ink linger in a pen. The common practice of having many pens inked-up 'in rotation' is beyond my ken - I want fresh ink!

 

I pair my PL17s with simple aniline dye inks, so the clean-up is for the most part accomplished in short order with plain water. If I've used an ink with a high dye-load, such as Private Reserve, I may well treat the pen with a course of my DIY pen cleaning solution of 0.5% ammonia + a whisper of the benign surfactant Kodak Photo-Flo to keep the clean-up time low and not breach my Tedium Tolerance.

 

For regular maintenance, and when switching inks (wet-to-wet), I avoid the long static soak, and prefer to add mechanical energy (much squeezing of the filler bar) as described in the Topic Limit to Soaking? https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/229245-limit-to-soaking/?p=2453755

 

Bye,

S1

 

__ _

* https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/192768-how-do-you-wear-a-clipless-pen/?p=1949666

Edited July 17, 2016 by Sandy1

[Sasha Royale]

 

 

In small increments, I trimmed the ear bulb to fit tightly over the pen section. I fill the bulb and give a slow, gentle push of room-temp water through the section, twice. Then, I backflush from the nib side. I finish by pushing air through the section and nib to expel excess water. Two minutes.

[FOUR X FOUR]

Now that isn't something I'd ever heard. You can get limescale build up in pens as well as kettles?

The water in Florida is very hard. You can pour alittle water on a black plate. When it evaporates you can see a white haze. Rub your finger across it and it feels rough. That same water, Inside your pen, isn't good

[CivilServant]

 

Hi,

 

Congratulations on the Parker Newhaven Lady 17! In addition to the Parker Slimfold and early button-fill ringtops and Sheaffer Tuckies it remains one of my favourite petite [garter] pens.*

 

As other Members have indicated there is a fair bit of nuance to pen cleaning : from the type of ink, usage over time, etc. Other than my daily writers, I do not let ink linger in a pen. The common practice of having many pens inked-up 'in rotation' is beyond my ken - I want fresh ink!

 

I pair my PL17s with simple aniline dye inks, so the clean-up is for the most part accomplished in short order with plain water. If I've used an ink with a high dye-load, such as Private Reserve, I may well treat the pen with a course of my DIY pen cleaning solution of 0.5% ammonia + a whisper of the benign surfactant Kodak Photo-Flo to keep the clean-up time low and not breach my Tedium Tolerance.

 

For regular maintenance, and when switching inks (wet-to-wet), I avoid the static soak, and prefer to add mechanical energy (much squeezing of the filler bar) as described in the Topic Limit to Soaking? https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/229245-limit-to-soaking/?p=2453755

 

Bye,

S1

 

__ _

* https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/192768-how-do-you-wear-a-clipless-pen/?p=1949666

 

Thanks for the welcome Sandy! It is actually a Parker 17 Insignia too!

[inkstainedruth]

Now that isn't something I'd ever heard. You can get limescale build up in pens as well as kettles?

 

That would be my guess. Which is why I only use distilled water for flushing, except maybe for the inside of caps. I know what the build up around my faucets looks like -- I do NOT want that gunking up my feed....

As for the OP's question, it depends on a lot of factors -- the fill system, the type of ink, the ink color (reds and purples seem to take longer, on the whole -- but I spent several days flushing Iroshihzuku Ama-Iro out of one of my 51s last week) how long dried ink has been sitting in a pen in a desk drawer before the previous owner's heirs found it and put it up on eBay....

I gather having an ultrasonic cleaner helps, but I just soak mine, nib down and up to the section, in either distilled water, ammonia solution with a little Dawn dish detergent, or (if it's had an iron gall ink in it previously) vinegar solution with a little Dawn). And by "a little" I mean "a drop"). Flush well with distilled water after the ammonia or the vinegar, soaking if necessary. Then let drain after the final water flushing (I put pens, nib down, into paper towel wadded up in a small glass jar that's fairly tall). If I see a lot of color leaching out of the pen, I know I need to flush it some more....

The advantage to the slower method is that I can have the pen soaking while going off and doing something else.

Time? It can range from a few hours to nearly a week.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dogpoet]

Thanks folks.

I'm in a soft(ish) water area, but I'd probably better get myself some amonia anyway. I'm now wondering if the mannerisms a few of my cartridge pens have developed despite being flushed might be down to limescale. Still, if so, I know what the problem is and how to fix it...

[Arkanabar]

It depends.

A standard international c/c is really easy to flush. You unscrew the nib/section, put on a bulb syringe in place of the c/c, and squeeze water through until clear. If you're paranoid, soak it for an hour and do it again.

Pelikans M200/M400 -- unscrew the nib, rinse under water, soak an hour, rinse, dry, reinsert. Flush the barrel with the bulb syringe.

Pilots: More soaking the nib/section units. I don't like using a converter for cleaning. I need to cut down one of my bulb syringes so I can fit it over the feed nipple.

Platinum plaisir/preppy: WAY more soaking the nib/feed unit, the feed looks like it came from a Pilot Precise V5 rollerball. Again, need to cut down a bulb syringe to fit the feed nipple. Plaisirs do NOT get a lot of color changes.

Parker "51": This only ever gets black ink, preferably with phenol. Once I run out of Montblanc-Simplo with SuperCleaner SC21 and Permanent Black Quink with Solv-X, I'll probably switch it over to Pilot blue-black. I do not ever really attempt to rinse it till it comes clear. I just add water every so often, and sometimes rinse between fills.

Sheaffer PFM: I have stopped using this pen. I can't get it to hold more than a few pages' worth of ink, and it has an XF nib. It takes a week or more to get it to rinse clear.

My water is pretty soft, so I don't worry about it much.

[welch]

Not long. Several pumps on a P-51 or cartridge/converter P61 does fine. Under a tap in the sink. When I get bored, and when the water runs almost clear, I'm done. I doubt that it matters to flush perfectly. I'll flush and let a pen soak if I'me about to store it, but, in general, if most of the ink is gone, I refill with whatever I want next.

 

Keep in mind that people hardly ever flushed a pen the way pen hobbyists do today. Around 1950, they just refilled with their ink and went on writing. I think Parker recommended a rinse-out once a month. Few inks will boil and blow up when mixed with another ink. (Baystate Blue might be an exception, but I've never used it.)

[senzen]

It takes about two minutes with a bulb syringe, three or four jets of clean water is usually enough.

[Cordovian]

Flush or clean? Those are two different things.

 

I have some pens that I simply flush, which typically takes about 10 minutes, but some pens I take the time to disassemble and clean each component. A full breakdown and cleaning can take up to an hour depending on the pen so I don't do this unless the pen is coming out of rotation.

[pajaro]

The water in southeast Michigan is hard and stinks, unless you have a water softener. Why flush with it? Oh, yes, some will use distilled water. Limescale buildup occurs here by the minute. I am better off flushing them with ink.

[Sasha Royale]

 

 

In small increments, I trimmed the ear bulb to fit tightly over the pen section. I fill the bulb and give a slow, gentle push of room-temp water through the section, twice. Then, I backflush from the nib side. I finish by pushing air through the section and nib to expel excess water. Two minutes.

I was thinking of you, when I flushed my old lever-fill pen, this morning. Started the clock. Expelled the ink. Filled the pen sac from a mug of water. I tipped the pen back and forth, to rinse the entire sac. Expelled the water. The sixth time that I expelled water, the water was clear. I shook the

pen , then stood it nib-down on a wad of dry paper to "wick dry". Two minutes & forty seconds !

 

Lunch was cream of broccoli soup and a fish sandwich (30 minutes). When I returned, I capped the pen, and put it into storage.