Hero pens with inky barrels

[spattznatt]

Hello everyone,

 

I am wondering what I am doing wrong with my hero pens. I have a hero 329 and 330 and both have inky barrels. When I uncap the pen there is almost always a small amount of ink circling the barrel where I think the cap ends. It is not like I am running or doing jumping jacks with the pens. I have them in my front pocket of my shirt every day. Now I do fill the pens a couple times by pressing the aerovac bar sucking up the ink then turning the pen so the nib is up and pressing the aerovac bar again to allow me to fill the pen with more ink. However I learned this technique from reading a different thread. Do hero's (and therefore the Parker 51s they are a copy of) do this and therefore this is a quirk of the pen? If not, what am I doing wrong/how do I stop this from happening? I do not mind a little ink on my fingers but these pens get ink on my fingers every time I use them.

 

Thank you in advance,

S

[Tommy]

I had a 329 that leaked when new. Easily fixed by unscrewing the hood, applying shellac on the threads, and putting the hood back on.

[rwilsonedn]

Hello, S:

One thought: do both of these have hooded nibs? If so, you might check how the feed fits in the opening in that hooded section. On a couple of Hero 100s I have, the feed doesn't come all the way out to the end of the section, so there is a little cave in there under the nib. And ink collects in there when you fill the pen. If that happens, you have to clean the ink out of the cave with a cotton swab, a twisted-up tissue, or some other piece of sophisticated laboratory equipment, or the ink will run back out and get all over the section as you describe. And thence all over your hands, usually right in front of the person to whom you've just explained the joys of modern fountain pens.

ron

[someonesdad]

I had a 329 that leaked when new. Easily fixed by unscrewing the hood, applying shellac on the threads, and putting the hood back on.

I have a few Heros that do this: a 332 and a couple of 616s (they're copies of the P51). Since I've got 20 or so of them, I just toss one asside and get another. When I get time, I'll put some silicone grease on the threads for the hood, as I'm pretty sure this is where the ink leaks from. Tommy's right, but I think the silicone would be better, as it would let you get the hood off more easily later when/if you want to clean things.

[psfred]

Shellac is best, since the hood will come off with some heat if you want it to, but will stay put otherwise.

 

I've found about 20% of Hero pens of the 616/329 sort to have loose hoods. Occasionally, you will get one with the barrel shellaced in place, too!

 

I find that ten or so squeezes of the press bar fills a Hero 329 completely. I do not recommend inverting and expelling all the air, and then totally filling the pen, as this will also cause ink to flood the collector and leak out of the nib.

 

Press ten or so times with the nib immersed (until there are no more air bubbles when you squeeze) and then pull the pen up out of the ink and press down on the press bar until a drop or two of ink drips out, then release the press bar with the nib in the air. This will do two things -- it will suck some of the ink out of the collector, and it will also give you a bit of air space in the sac. That way, when the pen warms up in you pocket, the ink that expands will stay inside the hood rather than flooding out the nib.

 

You will also need to rinse out the cap now to get rid of the ink in it. Roll up the corner of a paper towel and stick the point down into the cap the get it completely dry, and with the pen filled correctly, you should be OK.

 

I get 15 or more pages of small handwriting on college ruled paper from an completely filled 329 after dripping two drops of ink back into the bottle after filling, and I don't think you can get much more ink into one.

 

Peter

[spattznatt]

The next question is how does one remove the hood? I am going to try the above suggestions but if they do not work then how can I remove the hood to put some shellac on the threads? All the feedback has been great. New to these pens but very helpful as a work pen as I do not have to worry about them getting damaged. If they do, then no major expense and I have not damaged a beautiful pen. Thanks again.

[Jimmy James]

I should monitor this because it sounds similar to an issue I'm having with an otherwise excellent Hero 336 (hooded nib). I chalked it up to me accidentally getting a bit of water in the cap I apparently didn't shake out well enough, but perhaps it was something else.

[Tommy]

If I recall correctly, mine came off with very little twisting effort. There was little or no shellac on the threads. Yours might have more shellac, which means you will need to apply heat to soften the shellac. When working on 51s, I swirl the hood in hot water (about 150 F.) for a few minutes. The hood should then unscrew. You can use a hair dryer or heat gun, but be careful. too much heat could soften the hood. When resealing, coat the threads all the way around with shellac and screw the hood back on. Let it dry for a few hours. Any excess shellac that squeezes out can be wiped off before it drys or scraped off with your thumb nail after it drys.