Removing Dried Ink From A Section & Nib

[Sinistral1]

Hello All:

 

I just purchased a Waterman Gentleman, Godron, in gold. My guess is that the pen was inked when it was purchased in the 70s/80s and then left uncleaned until I got it in my hot little hands a couple of days ago.

 

It's been enjoying a very long soak now (two days) in alternating water, water + 10% amonia and water with some Kohl-i-noor technical pen cleaner in it. Still no flow from where the cartridge/converter connects through the feed & nib.

 

What I have noticed is using water heated in the microwave seems to get the dried ink moving. Does that mean that I can hurry this process along by putting the section/nib in boiling water? Like, in a pot on the stove boiling water?

 

Can a Gentleman nib be removed by hand, or does it require a block for removal? I have the patience of an immature flea, so this is sort of starting to get on my nerves, but could someone tell me if I'm going in the right direction and maybe provide some suggestions on what else to try?

 

Thanks!

[Kathleen48]

Don't ever use boiling water in a pen or its parts. Plastic is known to warp at higher temps. I use warm tap water (with a bit of ammonia) in an ultrasonic cleaner. Sometimes I have to change the water a few times and run the ultrasonic more than once but that has taken care of ink left from the seventies LOL. Unless someone used permanent type india ink in your fountain pen that should work.

 

All my contemporary Waterman pen nibs and feeds either knock out or can be pulled out (carefully) by hand. If you don't have to do this though, it would be better not to. Try more cleaning but if the ultrasonic doesn't work then I would probably pull the nib and feed too.

[ac12]

NO !!!!

NOT boiling or hot water, unless you want to destroy the pen.

 

The ink has hardened over the past 30 years. That is a 30 year headstart on you, so don't expect a fast cleaning job.

If it is any consolation, I spent 2 weeks to clean the ink out of an old Parker 51 that I got off eBay.

 

Go to a department or drug store and get a bulb syringe, once you get a path cleared in the old dry ink that will hurry the cleaning along

 

In my experience, what you need is an ultrasonic cleaner (USC), to blast away the old dry ink.

A really blocked up pen may require MANY cycles thru the USC, but that will get thru the old ink in a couple hours, vs days of soaking. But a USC heats the water as it works, so you need to periodically replace the water to keep it below lukewarm. Remember hot water could damage the pen.

 

But without a USC, all you can do is to soak the section, tip down, overnight (or 10 hours), then rinse/flush then blot the nib with a tissue.

As long as you see ink drifting out of the nib, you need to keep going.

And if ink comes on the tissue repeat the cycle over and over again until the tissue is clean.

At a certain point, the ink will disolve enough for you to be able to use the bulb syringe to push water thru the section, and that will speed things up. But note that you want to push water thru gently, not FORCE it, so don't squeeze the bulb HARD. In the beginning, all that will do is force the softened ink forward, blocking the ink channel.

Like the tortoise and the hare, slow and gentle will get you there.

 

You cannot knock out the feed from a cartridge pen, the cartridge nipple is in the way. All you will do is destroy the nipple. You have to pull out the nib and feed from the front. Having said that, I would not pull the nib and feed unless it is REALLY necessary, cuz you can damage the nib and/or the feed trying to get it out.

Edited December 4, 2013 by ac12

[Sinistral1]

_{Aw, you guys are no fun! I was all set to put a pot with some water in it on the stove and get serious about this when I got home tonight! However, I will yield to your collective wisdom and be patient. The ink wafts out from underneath the ring that sits just beyond where the feed/nib connect to the section as well as from where the converter/cartridge seats. I do have a bulb syringe, but not the ultrasonic cleaner. Warm water and time will have to do the trick. Thanks!}

Edited December 4, 2013 by Sinistral1

[hbquikcomjamesl]

When cleaning the ink out from under the aluminum overlay of my Wearever Pennant's cap, I improvised, holding the shank of my Sonicare toothbrush against a small container, with the cap sitting in warm water. It seemed to do the job, although it would be awfully inconvenient to do that for more than a few minutes!

[Sinistral1]

Okay, no vibrating toothbrush is at hand, either. Hmmmm, what else could I use? This will require some consideration.....

[ac12]

Just soak it, and be patient.

As I mentioned, it took me 2 weeks of soaking and rinsing to clean a Parker 51. 2 changes of water per day.

 

A consumer USC is not very expensive, about $35 - 40.

But it would not be worth it for only ONE pen.

If you envision getting more used pens, then it would be worth it.

[Kathleen48]

A consumer USC is not very expensive, about $35 - 40.

But it would not be worth it for only ONE pen.

If you envision getting more used pens, then it would be worth it.

 

That is exactly what I was going to say. I bought my Ultrasonic on Amazon quite inexpensively - $30 - 35 I think. If you are planning on more pens or even cleaning this one down the road it is a time saver. Works great on jewelry too

[Sinistral1]

On day 4. Oh, the agony! Tried to create "vibration" last night with a dremmel - dismal failure.

[ac12]

On day 4. Oh, the agony! Tried to create "vibration" last night with a dremmel - dismal failure.

 

You are still 10 days short of how long it took me to clean a P51.

 

Nothing that I can think of will duplicate a USC.

[upchucked]

OK, jumping in with my first message...... right on topic! I found this site by doing a google search for pen repairs, so guess I am in the right place.

 

My dilemma, about 15 years ago, while in New York City for the weekend, my wife bought me a Parker fountain pen as a surprise. Beautiful pen, but in the ensuing months I lost it and was unable to locate it. 7 years ago, we moved to South Carolina and settled in for a peaceful retirement.... well, retirement from our work a day world anyway, and after those 7 years, we find that we need more room, so have started to process of selling out house and buying a larger one. To make our home attractive to a potential buyer, we started de-cluttering and about a week ago, while getting a box of old investment papers ready for the shredder, I found the pen. Yep, dry as Death Valley. I have tried soaking it in warm water, warm water with ammonia, warm water with alcohol, warm water with simple green and was about to try "Goof-Off". Then, I came upon this site. Very enlightening. I will start over with the 12 hour soaks in water and ammonia. I don't have a USC, but I do have an ultrasonic toothbrush so will start using that after several soakings.

 

Now, If I lose patience, can anyone recommend a good place to send it for repairs?

 

BTW, the pen is a cartridge pen and the nib says it is 18k and is marked as 750 on the metal side and 94 on the plastic side if that is any help.

Edited December 8, 2013 by upchucked

[ac12]

@upchucked

Ammonia should be the plain CLEAR one, not the scented or sudsy ammonia.

Mix the ammonia at 1 part ammonia to 10 parts water.

 

When you soak remove the barrel, so only the section and nib are in the cleaning solution.

I use a tall shot glass (with a small wad of tissue on the bottom to protect the tip of the nib). This keeps the pen section pretty much vertical. The vertical position is important because, the liquified ink is heavier than water and will flow down and out of the feed. Or put a stick over the glass and wire the pen section to hang from the stick, in that vertical position.

 

Go to a department store (Target, infant dept) or drug store and get a bulb syringe.

Use that to push the cleaning solution thru the pen. The bulb holds a LOT more water/cleaning solution, and that makes it a lot more efficient than using an ink converter to flush the pen.

 

BTW, soaking is just as important as flushing. The reason is, flushing will not clean the ink reservoir in the section/feed. You have to soak the ink out of the ink reservoir.

 

gud luk

[upchucked]

Hmmmmm, ok, just took the section and nib and put it up to my mouth and blew through it........very easily ..... seems to be no restriction......

[lynxcat]

if air flows through it, ink should too. provided you're OK with using the same ink color as is dried up in there for however long it takes for any new ink to dissolve and flush out the dried remnants... mixing ink into new shades like this can be fun, or can be frustrating, depending on what you want out of your pen.

[Sinistral1]

Upchucked:

 

If you can't see me or hear me, I'm crying "Not Fair"! and stamping my foot! I'm on Day Six of this process - soaking, soaking, soaking. Just bought some Speedball pen cleaner last night to throw another element into the ammonia, water, kohl-I-noor pen cleaner, water, swear words, water mix. Sighs in resignation and annoyance. My only consolation is the prize money for beating ac12's 10 day record. Only five days to go!

 

As a Minnesota Vikings fan, if I could survive the last two minutes of today's game, I know I can do what it takes to make this pen work!

[ac12]

@Sinistral1

No you need to soak for 14 days, to beat my time. So you have 8 days more to go.

And I only used water with a few drops of detergent, no pen cleaner.

 

Were you able to get to the point that you could use a bulb syringe or converter to push/pull water thru the feed?

Once you do that, things progress faster, as you are using flow rather than soaking to clean the ink channel.

 

But the ink reservoir will still take soaking to clean, for both of you guys.

Edited December 8, 2013 by ac12

[Sinistral1]

Nope, nothing coming through the feed/nib yet. Yippee, 8 more days! More PT, Drill Sergeant, more PT!

 

I have started putting the pen cleaners in with the section propped up so it only goes where the cartridge/converter seats, so the whole section is not being exposed to them, just the dry ink. Or, as I now call it, the dried ink from Hades!!

Edited December 9, 2013 by Sinistral1

[OcalaFlGuy]

Sinistral,

 

I have two options for you, one quicker than the other.

 

The late 80's early 90's upper shelf Watermans had some extensive feed channeling that can get very clogged. I have read reports here of Man sections taking soaking for a Month to clear all the way. [EDIT] My Man 200

section took 2 weeks.

 

Go enjoy a large Wendy's Frosty. Save the cup and cut the top half off. Fill the bottom half way up with Ammonia water. Chonk the nib section in there and head to a local, preferably non-chain jewelry store. Ask them to put your whole cup in their ultrasonic clear for 5-10 min. I doubt they would even charge you. The sound waves will go right through the cup and it'll keep your Ammonia water out of their solution.

 

Or you can soak and ear bulb flush the section for 2 or 3 MORE weeks.

 

Be patient and don't do anything drastic.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Edited December 9, 2013 by OcalaFlGuy

[ac12]

Nope, nothing coming through the feed/nib yet. Yippee, 8 more days! More PT, Drill Sergeant, more PT!

 

I have started putting the pen cleaners in with the section propped up so it only goes where the cartridge/converter seats, so the whole section is not being exposed to them, just the dry ink. Or, as I now call it, the dried ink from Hades!!

 

You need to attack the dried ink from both ends; cartridge side and nib side.

You also need to position the section standing vertical, nib end down, so the liquified ink drains out of the section/feed.

Most of the blockage will be in the feed rather than the converter nipple.

I don't know about the pen cleaners, but you can soak most any section that I know of in the 10% ammonia solution, or water + detergent if you want to be safer.

 

If you do not want to get the pen cleaner on the outside of the section, I suggest, using an eye dropper to drip it onto the feed of the pen, and let it wick into the feed and let it do its thing. But you have to attack the ink blockage from the nib side.

[Sinistral1]

Happy news! I managed to get the nib out because I figured out that the section comes apart (unscrews)! I couldn't get the feed out from the (I don't know what the part is called) plastic piece that goes inside the section. But, this further breakdown is a good thing - AND - when I blew on the non-nib end, air went through the feed!! Thanks for all your advice and support. Relax, ac12, your record looks to stay intact!