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Bad Cleaning Experiences


Morphling27

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Hello fellow FPNers!

 

I'm wondering what your worst or funniest or whatnot cleaning experience has been? Did you put it together backwards? Did you omit something? Did something get in that shouldn't? Did you catastrophically break a pen? (eek)

 

I'll start with mine. This weekend (and some of last) was pen cleaning bonanza! I hadn't cleaned many pens in a while, I want to send a couple of them off to get professional tuned, and I had a few Pilot Varsity models that needed cleaning and refilling for a friend.

 

So, I did the harder ones first and last weekend, cleaned the rest over the course of this weekend. The five year old was running rampant bothering the dog or the dog was bothering him - hard to tell. I got to cleaning my Lamy 2000 (someday I'll put the story about it up in the review section but let's say I'm versed in how it is). It seemed off at some point in cleaning it, especially after reassembling it made squeaking noises and the piston was stiff.

 

So, I let it sit and when everything was dry and came time to fill up a few new pens, I pulled out the Lamy again. I filled from a gently used bottle of Sailor Blue Black I was gifted from my recent stop to the local pen store that is closing. The owner was nice to gift it to me as I mentioned seeing it behind the counter and he's never sold anything sailor that I knew about. He said you want it - it's half full and so I got more ink! I fill the pen with the couple others I plan to use for the next couple weeks. I sit down as the kid continues to run about the house - The Legend of Zelda has now crossed with dinosaurs of some sort. I get to the Lamy and the first strokes are fine. Then it skips. It's being SUPER picky about the writing angles with my Lamy 2000 has never had, especially being an F nib.

 

I go to dump the ink back in the bottle (I know I shouldn't but it's used anyway and I had JUST filled from it). Well, after two small turns of the piston I feel and see ink coming out at a high velocity - your foot is very good at soaking up ink that would have ended up on the floor. Thankfully I was barefoot and my floor is some fake/real/cheap wood that easily wipes up. I finish draining the pen SLOWLY and deliberately now. I get it taken apart all the way. I find, somehow from my cleaning, a huge wad of paper towel. At first it looked like ink gunk, but the bottle had none and it was A LOT. I realized it's paper towel when I plucked it off the nib/feed. Anyway, refilled, pen works great. I like the blue black. The Lamy 2000 is perfect again.

 

So what are your stories?

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No such stories here. :)

Good that you got your L2k going again at its best.

Edited by mitto

Khan M. Ilyas

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While cleaning my Pelikan m805 I set the cap down on a paper towel. After working the piston a few times sucking in water and shooting it into the sink, I decided to use the paper towel to get the water out of the feed. When I picked it up my cap landed, Pelikan and chicks side down, on the concrete floor and bounced several times. It slightly scuffed momma bird, but no other damage.

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While cleaning my Pelikan m805 I set the cap down on a paper towel. After working the piston a few times sucking in water and shooting it into the sink, I decided to use the paper towel to get the water out of the feed. When I picked it up my cap landed, Pelikan and chicks side down, on the concrete floor and bounced several times. It slightly scuffed momma bird, but no other damage.

Oh my, well at least mom took the hit for the babies.

 

You say multiple - is it an older 805?

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A Wingsung 698, washed the metal O ring (?) down the basin. Luckily the vendor sent me one FOC. Nibs, o-rings, gasket seal rings, small little parts require more attention :)

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I have become quite attached to Indian ebonite pens, not the super exquisite and ultra beautiful pens that some have but the good old every day type of pen. Love the feel and they are such a joy to use. Anyway, I had a Kim ACR olive brown ebonite that I had thoroughly cleaned out-you have to make sure that there are no shavings or dust left over from the turning process. Filled the pen and had a wonderful experience for its first fill. Having other pens to ink up, I went to clean the pen and washed out about a quarter of an inch of packed, ink soaked ebonite dust. There was no adverse effect while writing with the pen. All I can guess is that while I supposedly cleaned it out I had inadvertently packed the machining residue into the barrel. The moral of the story, when you think its clean-double check your work.

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Even though I know better, I’ve still lost a few MB nibs in the dark hole, known as the kitchen sink.

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Before I knew better, I was trying to clean up a new purchase and decided to give it a good soak to get the ink out. Little did I know that black hard rubber pens would turn brown so quickly when exposed to water! Thankfully it was a fairly cheap small ringtop!

PAKMAN

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I soaked what I thought was a celluloid pen only to find out it was casein. Whoops!

 

Luckily there were other issues with that pen so it wasnt a big loss. It was a big lesson, though!

 

First runner up goes to chasing a Parker 45 nib down the bathroom sink drain. I got it out but it wasnt easy.

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Oh my, well at least mom took the hit for the babies.

 

You say multiple - is it an older 805?

 

 

Just one chick. I apologize for getting carried away there.

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