cleaning a Parker Vacumatic

[eytim]

Help Vacmeisters!!

I love my vacs. I have about 12 of them. Al in nice shape. I love writing with them but I seem to have a problem in getting them to flush out clean. I use a lot of Private Reserve ink especially plum. It takes me 30-40 plunges to flush it and I still have a light residue in the pen. This is cutting down on my fun because I like to switch pens a lot and to switch between inks. I am concerned that all of the depressions of the plunger will damage the pen. Will it damage the sack etc if there is still a trace of ink in the pen?

 

Any advice from some experienced Vacmeisters would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

[OldGriz]

Help Vacmeisters!!

I love my vacs. I have about 12 of them. Al in nice shape. I love writing with them but I seem to have a problem in getting them to flush out clean. I use a lot of Private Reserve ink especially plum. It takes me 30-40 plunges to flush it and I still have a light residue in the pen. This is cutting down on my fun because I like to switch pens a lot and to switch between inks. I am concerned that all of the depressions of the plunger will damage the pen. Will it damage the sack etc if there is still a trace of ink in the pen?

 

Any advice from some experienced Vacmeisters would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Build yourself a salad spinner pen cleaner... just do a search on salad spinner and you will find more information than you need.

[sheafferkid]

This comes from Richard Binder's site. It tells how to correctly empty one:

 

A question that comes up frequently enough to be in a FAQ is “How do I empty my pen?” For most pens, you simply cycle the filling mechanism. The key to emptying a Parker Vacumatic is patience. Press the plunger very slowly, slowly enough to take several seconds for a full stroke, until a drop of ink — not bubbles — appears. You can now finish the stroke a little less slowly but still not quickly. Release the plunger, wait a couple of seconds for the ink to settle, and repeat the process until you cannot get a real drop to appear. The Vacumatic-filling “51” is particularly reluctant to yield up its ink, and it will usually disgorge only a few drops per plunger cycle. Most “51”s require a significant number of plunger cycles. When you cannot extract a drop regardless of how slowly you press the plunger, shake the pen down as described earlier.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Evan

[eytim]

This comes from Richard Binder's site. It tells how to correctly empty one:

 

A question that comes up frequently enough to be in a FAQ is “How do I empty my pen?” For most pens, you simply cycle the filling mechanism. The key to emptying a Parker Vacumatic is patience. Press the plunger very slowly, slowly enough to take several seconds for a full stroke, until a drop of ink — not bubbles — appears. You can now finish the stroke a little less slowly but still not quickly. Release the plunger, wait a couple of seconds for the ink to settle, and repeat the process until you cannot get a real drop to appear. The Vacumatic-filling “51” is particularly reluctant to yield up its ink, and it will usually disgorge only a few drops per plunger cycle. Most “51”s require a significant number of plunger cycles. When you cannot extract a drop regardless of how slowly you press the plunger, shake the pen down as described earlier.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Evan

Thank you.

 

[eytim]

Help Vacmeisters!!

I love my vacs. I have about 12 of them. Al in nice shape. I love writing with them but I seem to have a problem in getting them to flush out clean. I use a lot of Private Reserve ink especially plum. It takes me 30-40 plunges to flush it and I still have a light residue in the pen. This is cutting down on my fun because I like to switch pens a lot and to switch between inks. I am concerned that all of the depressions of the plunger will damage the pen. Will it damage the sack etc if there is still a trace of ink in the pen?

 

Any advice from some experienced Vacmeisters would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Build yourself a salad spinner pen cleaner... just do a search on salad spinner and you will find more information than you need.

 

Thank you.

 

[rsilver000]

If you really want to empty the pen fast and quickly. Unscrew the section and flush. Maybe 2 minutes to do this. Be gentle and use silicone on the threads so it will unscrew easily. I don't know if I would want to do this hundreds or even dozens of times, but it will give less wear and tear on the pump and diaphragm. At the risk of breaking the threads if you are not gentle or you torque things too much or it just gets old and brittle.

[eytim]

If you really want to empty the pen fast and quickly. Unscrew the section and flush. Maybe 2 minutes to do this. Be gentle and use silicone on the threads so it will unscrew easily. I don't know if I would want to do this hundreds or even dozens of times, but it will give less wear and tear on the pump and diaphragm. At the risk of breaking the threads if you are not gentle or you torque things too much or it just gets old and brittle.

 

Thanks

[SMG]

Tsk Tsk Tsk. Silicone grease on the section. <_< I would personally use the salad spinner and the correct section sealant on the threads. I think that I spent a sum total of $7.00 CDN to make my salad spinner. Works darn well too.

 

I would also invest in a cartridge pen if you need to change inks that much. Vacs were not made to change ink frequently. They were made to write a long time on one fill up. That was the advertising "gimmick" if you would, about the Vacs. The whole barrel was the ink resevoir in a time when most pens held ink in a sac.

 

The silicone grease will enable you to remove the section, but it may also fail on you when you lease expect it. I have not had a single section leak in the 2 years that I have been doing repairs on these pens. I have used Section sealant on each and every one of them (about 80 Vacs at this point). I am also still on the first batch of sealant that I purchased from Tryphon, and have a ton left. The only pen that I did not use section sealant on was the first one that I restored, it leaked immediately. It got sealed a week later when the section sealant arrived and to my knowledge has not leaked since.

 

If the diaphragms were talc'd correctly when installed, I cannot see the use of the plunger wearing out the rubber. The correct way to replace these, does not put any real tension on the rubber when the plunger is fully depressed. I would think rather that not using the filler would be detrimental to the rubber as it may take a set or stick to itself if not used enough.

 

Cheers,

SG

[rsilver000]

I have repaired about 20 of my own vacs over the last 5 years and use silicone instead of sealant on most of the sections. I write with these pens everyday and have not had a single leak at the section-barrel interface to-date. As a person who wears dress shirts and a tie every day, a leak would be very apparent. If the section doesn't fit correctly, ie. not snug, then I would consider using sealant. It makes it easier to get them apart if necessary with the silicone and it does keep the capillary action of ink getting up through the section.

 

I have to agree with you SG, that using a vac as a frequently-changed ink fountain pen is probably not a great idea. However the nice thing about owning a pen is that you get to do whatever you want to it. After all......it is your pen!! The worst thing you would do is need a new diaphragm ( or if you were very rought a spring) every now and then. If nothing else, it is a good excuse to learn how to do it yourself.

Just my 2 cents.

Rob

 

 

 

 

Tsk Tsk Tsk. Silicone grease on the section. <_< I would personally use the salad spinner and the correct section sealant on the threads. I think that I spent a sum total of $7.00 CDN to make my salad spinner. Works darn well too.

 

I would also invest in a cartridge pen if you need to change inks that much. Vacs were not made to change ink frequently. They were made to write a long time on one fill up. That was the advertising "gimmick" if you would, about the Vacs. The whole barrel was the ink resevoir in a time when most pens held ink in a sac.

 

The silicone grease will enable you to remove the section, but it may also fail on you when you lease expect it. I have not had a single section leak in the 2 years that I have been doing repairs on these pens. I have used Section sealant on each and every one of them (about 80 Vacs at this point). I am also still on the first batch of sealant that I purchased from Tryphon, and have a ton left. The only pen that I did not use section sealant on was the first one that I restored, it leaked immediately. It got sealed a week later when the section sealant arrived and to my knowledge has not leaked since.

 

If the diaphragms were talc'd correctly when installed, I cannot see the use of the plunger wearing out the rubber. The correct way to replace these, does not put any real tension on the rubber when the plunger is fully depressed. I would think rather that not using the filler would be detrimental to the rubber as it may take a set or stick to itself if not used enough.

 

Cheers,

SG

 

[ps4ever]

Silicone grease is an excellent section sealant, as is far preferable to using some kind of cement. Evacuation the pen regularly by unscrewing the section is not a good idea however. Silicone grease should be used in place of other thread sealants whenever possible, in my own opinion. It ensures that the pen can be broken down safely in the future while using providing the same seal that shellac or other cement provides.

 

Tsk Tsk Tsk. Silicone grease on the section. /default/dry.gif I would personally use the salad spinner and the correct section sealant on the threads. I think that I spent a sum total of $7.00 CDN to make my salad spinner. Works darn well too.

I would also invest in a cartridge pen if you need to change inks that much. Vacs were not made to change ink frequently. They were made to write a long time on one fill up. That was the advertising "gimmick" if you would, about the Vacs. The whole barrel was the ink resevoir in a time when most pens held ink in a sac.

The silicone grease will enable you to remove the section, but it may also fail on you when you lease expect it. I have not had a single section leak in the 2 years that I have been doing repairs on these pens. I have used Section sealant on each and every one of them (about 80 Vacs at this point). I am also still on the first batch of sealant that I purchased from Tryphon, and have a ton left. The only pen that I did not use section sealant on was the first one that I restored, it leaked immediately. It got sealed a week later when the section sealant arrived and to my knowledge has not leaked since.

If the diaphragms were talc'd correctly when installed, I cannot see the use of the plunger wearing out the rubber. The correct way to replace these, does not put any real tension on the rubber when the plunger is fully depressed. I would think rather that not using the filler would be detrimental to the rubber as it may take a set or stick to itself if not used enough.

Cheers,
SG

[Flounder]

I'll agree to disagree on that one, ps4ever.

[Ron Z]

Silicone grease? No. Silicone grease is a lubricant, and any "sealing" you get is because of its hydrophobic properties. I do not, and never have used it in over 25 years of pen collecting and repair.

 

BTW, Rob - rsilver000 was a member of our pen club in Syracuse, and quit using silicone grease to seal thread and bought some of my thread sealant, and used it too.

[Beechwood]

Very old thread now showing some suspect advice.

 

Would some judicial editing be in order for the assistance of future readers?

[ac12]

OK, I'll bite.

 

Do not use a difficult to clean ink in a Vac, cuz it WILL be difficult to clean out. Some inks are worse than others. Dried Red and Purple inks, in my experience, have been the hardest to to clean out. Two of them took about 3 weeks of 2x daily flushing to clean out. Then I decided to replace the diaphram, and there was still ink coating the inside of the barrel (like cholesterol in your blood veins). If you use a difficult to clean ink, plan on keeping that ink in the pen for a LONG LONG time. Though you will still need to do periodic cleaning or the cholesterol-like coating will just build up.

 

Be careful of the ink used. Some inks may stain the celluloid barrel.

And do NOT use BLEACH to try to clean off the stain.

 

Do not plan to change ink in a Vac often. It is a PAIN to clean out, even with a salad spinner dryer.

 

Do not remove the section just to clean the pen. The pen was NOT designed for that, and doing so would risk damaging the barrel. Maybe not the first time, or the second time, but the tenth time ...

 

I use a rosin thread sealant on the section. It removes with a little bit of heat, so is easier for later repairs than shellac. And it seals and secures the section so it won't leak nor self unscrew, without having to torque the section into the barrel.

 

I use silicon grease as little as possible in a pen, because it seems to migrate to places that I don't want it. And getting it off is VERY difficult. Though there are places where it needs to be used, like lube for a piston pen.

[Freddy]

Silicone grease is an excellent section sealant, as is far preferable to using some kind of cement. Evacuation the pen regularly by unscrewing the section is not a good idea however. Silicone grease should be used in place of other thread sealants whenever possible, in my own opinion. It ensures that the pen can be broken down safely in the future while using providing the same seal that shellac or other cement provides.

 

 

Firstly..Welcome Aboard..PS4ever...

 

NO. Silicone is Not "an excellent section sealant"

 

Sheaffer formula section sealant IS.

 

You wrote

 

"My one and only Vac is 70 years old, and it is robust and has

the feeling of strength and durability."

 

"Silicone grease as a thread sealer when I replace the diaphraghm in my

Vac. Also used it on the pump threads"

 

" I have a 3rd gen Emerald green Vac Major...Be sure to use

no shellac on either end of the pen."

 

"there is little reason ever to disassemble 51's and 61's,

despite what some repair people would lead you to believe."

 

"I don't have a whole collection of 61's, but the one I do have

has never given me an ounce of problems."

 

"I broke a 61 myself trying to get the shell off...."

 

ps4ever....enjoy your time here.....since February 2016.

 

Utterly Fascinatin' ain't it....................................................

 

Still your friend and mine

 

Fred