How Do I Clean A Vacumatic?

[Houston_Brian]

I've uncovered two vacumatics from my father's desk drawer. One's dated 1938!

I'm trying to figure out how to clean them. Since they're vacuum filled, when you

hit the pump, it creates a vacuum which draws the ink into the chamber. How do

you get it to get out of the chamber? If I have old ink in there and want it cleaned,

pumping water into the chamber works, but how do I get the water and old ink

out???

 

Thanks

Brian

 

ps...Why is there only one "u" in vacumatic?

[welch]

Start with a soak in plain water. Given the age, you probably will need to have a repair expert replace the diaphragm, at least. It's rubber and inside the barrel. Consider having it restored, which would mean that the expert takes the pen apart, checks the pieces, replaces anything broken or worn out. They should clean the barrel.

 

There are several fine "fountain pen mechanics". I'm sure people will happen by with suggestions.

[akrohn2010]

+1 to everything welch said above. Congrats on finding some quality heirlooms! Pictures?

 

My guess is that there's one U just because that's how Parker chose to market it - 1930s/40s marketing culture vice corrects spelling.

 

Enjoy your pens!

[tmenyc]

I'll add to Welch's response (Welch, we've missed you at BAPC lately...)

 

First, congratulations on the find!

 

Second, Vacumatics and Vacumatic-filed Parker 51s are among the relatively few pen types that require a specialized tool to disassemble correctly. If you're not planning on fixing a bunch of them, it would not be cost-effective to get the tool just for this. Send 'em out.

 

More important, they only have one "U" to be Vacu-matics, not Vacuum-atics. There are numerous examples of consumer goods that were given names that ended with a consonant and "atic", to add a futuristic feel to the name.

 

Tim

[welch]

I'll add to Welch's response (Welch, we've missed you at BAPC lately...)

 

Tim

 

I'll be at the next one. Conflicts the last few months.

 

****

 

The explanation of "Vacu-" sounds just right, Tim. Of course, Houston_Brian can get the Shepherds' "Vacumatic" book to check, and to read more about the wonders of that wonderful pen!

[pen lady]

Wonderful find. When you do get them restored, they do hold a lot of ink (that was one of Parker's selling points for this pen). When you rinse the pens, the easiest way to empty the barrel is by using the "shaking-down-a-mercury-thermometer-wrist-flick" or make yourself a salad-spinner centrifuge, instructions are courtesy of Ron Zorn and pinned on the Repair forum page. Goes without saying that if you use the "wrist-flick" method, shake over the sink but away from hard objects (taps etc). Good luck and what a treasure to find.

[inkstainedruth]

See if the pens take up liquid (they may or may not if they've been sitting around that long). There are three different versions of the Vacumatic model (don't ask me about narrowing down date codes/sizes/colors -- I have the Parker Vacumatic book that welch mentioned and *still* can't narrow all of mine down conclusively... ; it is however an awesome coffee table book).

1. First Generation pens are "Lockdown filler" models -- they have a metal plunger with a notch cut in the end of the slit in the plunger. They have a very short blind cap on them compared to later models.

2. Second Generation pens are "Speedline fillers" -- they still have the metal plunger but there's no notch in them, and the blind cap is a bit longer.

3. Third Generation pens are like the Speedline fillers, but the metal plunger has been replaced by a plastic one (those were made during and after WWII because metal was needed for the war effort). They're easy to spot because they have very long blind caps which are also rounded and don't have a jewel and tassie (the metal band around the jewel) on the blind caps, only on the caps.

Basically, if the pens were in working condition, you'd stick the un-capped pen nib down into the ink so the the nib and part of the section (the part you hold while writing) are entirely immersed, but not as far as the threading. Press down on the plunger quickly but then let up to let the capillary action work. Repeat this until you don't really see any air bubbles coming through into the ink, then -- holding the plunger down against the barrel -- pull the nib out of the ink before letting the plunger up. With a Lockdown filler, you'd then want to NOT let the plunger up, but have it turn slightly to lock it into place.

You can read a lot about Vacumatics in the relevant article on parker collector.com (although his "field guide" -- as it were -- to ID-ing specific models is still, sadly, a work in progress). There's also a good article about Vacs on richardspens.com (hit the red button at the top to get to the "Glossopedia" and then look under V.

I'm really jealous that you have family heirloom pens -- and even more so that they're Vacs. I have one Lockdown filler Red Shadow Wave (date code of 1937) that has been in constant rotation for the better part of 3 years since acquiring it -- just refilling it with ink as needed without any other sort of maintenance (sadly I can't say that for all my Vacs).

To get ink out of the chamber (assuming it's not completely dried up, or that the diaphragm needs to be replaced -- both of which are distinct possibilities), you would just press the plunger without having the nib submerged.

So, what colors and styles were the pens you found? Everyone has their personal favorites, and Vacs came in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Not sure what the minimum length of time you have to be around here before being able to post photos, but when you can, the "Upload" feature is pretty easy to use IMO (you just have to make sure the images are within the size constraints -- and for me, since I'm generally cropping photos before I put them up, that's not too hard to do).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ac12]

First.

• Unscrew the cap at the back of the pen and the front cap.
• Then put the back of the pen in your mouth.
• Blow
• If you can blow through the pen, the diaphram is ruptured and needs to be replaced.

Do NOT put the nib of a pen in this condition in water. When you turn the pen nib up, the water will go to the back of the pen and into the pump mechanism, possibly starting it to rust or corrode.

 

Slowly pushing down the button will push out some (not all) of the ink.

 

I would NOT use the thermometer shake-down method.

If the pen slips out of your hand, the nib will hit the floor or wall and BEND or break.

Or if you do not cover the nib well, you could be whipping inky water all over the room.

 

Sit the nib onto paper towel or wrap the nib/feed in paper towel, and let the paper towel wick out the inky water.

 

Or make a centrifical pen dryer aka salad spinner dryer.

 

GET THE PEN SERVICED.

 

A pen of unknown service vintage, is suspect. Even if the diaphram "seems" to work, if it is OLD, it could fail tomorrow, next week, next month. And when it fails, it will be messy.

Edited June 27, 2018 by ac12

[DrCodfish]

I've uncovered two vacumatics from my father's desk drawer. One's dated 1938!

That is true treasure, an 80 year old pen linked to your family. If all the stuff advised above seems to be too much cost or bother, remember, .. you have treasure that some of us will never be able to come by. Keep you kids and grandkids in mind.

[Houston_Brian]

One of the first things I did, once I had a clue what I had, was send them off and got the diaphragms replaced.

 

I'll try and figure out how to get pictures uploaded. They're not major beautiful pens, but they are a pretty neat find.

 

On further looking, the older pen is coded 17 which I think translates to 1st Quarter 1937.

My eyes aren't good enough to discern the Desk Pen. I recall it being 1942, or thereabouts.

 

I don't see any way to attach pictures, so when it's possible, I'll send 'em

 

Brian

[Houston_Brian]

Still haven't broken the code as to how to attach images.

[FarmBoy]

Still haven't broken the code as to how to attach images.

I suspect you don't have enough posts to merit being allowed to include pictures. Sort of a crock but it is what it is.

[Methersgate]

To clean a Vacumatic thoroughly, you should really dismantle the pen, get the section off, get the pump off, and then use a suitable sized bottle brush and plenty of warm water on the inside of the barrel. This is a part of proper Vac restoration. The celluloid will still be more or less "ambered" but it will be much clearer. This is a good moment to clean the nib and section and check the breather tube from the feed, too.

[surprise123]

Generally, I disassemble all my pens for cleaning anyways so unscrewing the section and taking a cotton swab to the barrel isn't always such a bad idea. If I used a saturated ink, I disassemble the feed and nib with a knockout block as well.

 

If you want to flush out a tiny bit of easy cleaning ink though, press the plunger down SLOWLY and steadily and hold a tissue paper or cloth to the feed and wick out any drops that come out. As others have said, shake the pen like a mercury thermometer (violently but carefully at the same time) away from hard surfaces and repeat the slow plunger process. Personally, I like the large ink capacity but the smaller size of the more affordable ones makes this pen too uncomfortable to use. The fact that the Maxima goes for above $300 is insane to me.

[FarmBoy]

Generally, I disassemble all my pens for cleaning anyways so unscrewing the section and taking a cotton swab to the barrel isn't always such a bad idea. If I used a saturated ink, I disassemble the feed and nib with a knockout block as well.

 

If you want to flush out a tiny bit of easy cleaning ink though, press the plunger down SLOWLY and steadily and hold a tissue paper or cloth to the feed and wick out any drops that come out. As others have said, shake the pen like a mercury thermometer (violently but carefully at the same time) away from hard surfaces and repeat the slow plunger process. Personally, I like the large ink capacity but the smaller size of the more affordable ones makes this pen too uncomfortable to use. The fact that the Maxima goes for above $300 is insane to me.

There is no need to remove the nib and feed from the section for routine cleaning.

 

For a pen that has not been allowed to dry out, a simple flush with water is typically sufficient.

[mitto]

+1 for what FB said above.