How long can a Parker 51 sit around capped and unused before it will stop writing

[apastuszak]

The Parker 51 is easily my favorite fountain pen. But a problem I face these days is that I don't use a pen that often.  It's not unusual to have a pen that's inked up sit unused for weeks. This has led to a lot of pens having the feed dry out.

 

I know I could force myself to write by keeping a journal, but I don't want to do that.

 

I'm a big fan of the Jinhao 80 fountain pen. I bought 6 of them in different colors. And all of them didn't have a good seal.  After 3-4 days, they would not write. I have a few Platinum Preppies that also stop writing after a week. But they're old and it would not surprise me if they had small cracks somewhere letting air in.

 

I've moved to rollerballs now, since they don't seem to dry out. But I would love to just have one Parker 51 inked up to use.

 

Does age affect the seal on the slip cap? If so, can one repair the slip cap to get a "good as new" seal on it?

 

I'm currently experimenting with different pens and almost all of my Chinese pens will dry the feed out after just a few days, except for the Wing Sung 601. I bought a Flighter model, bought a metal grip section and got a "Bobby" nib for it, and it's been sitting here capped for a few months and wrote immediately. That gives me hope for the Parker 51.

[Paul-in-SF]

From personal experience, the longest I have done this was probably about a month. There was no drying out effect at all after that time, and I have done this more than once on more than one 51. That's the longest I have left a 51 filled and capped, so I have no information about when or if the nib would have dried up. My opinion is that the collector, being better protected from the air than an open nib's feed, will stay wet noticeably longer. 

 

I wonder whether anyone has done any actual research on this point (and it's going to depend a lot on the ink loaded in the pen), and whether you'll get anything more definitive than more anecdotes like mine. 

[Stompie]

About 5 years for me.

But then, as with a number of pens I have, I dip it into a little jar of water I keep on my desk for that reason and presto, off it writes again for a few months with an occasional redip into the water depending on how hot or dry the weather has been.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

2 hours ago, Stompie said:

About 5 years for me.

But then, as with a number of pens I have, I dip it into a little jar of water I keep on my desk for that reason and presto, off it writes again for a few months with an occasional redip into the water depending on how hot or dry the weather has been.

I guess you get more hot dry weather being from down south lol. It’s usually cool and damp up north

[apastuszak]

I guess I need to ink up my 51 and just let it sit. I know a screw cap pen will sit around much longer, but I just HATE screw cap pens. I own ONE right now, and I never use the thing. I've owned a half dozen in the past and have sold them all off because I just don't want to use them.

 

I have a Platinum Procyon that unscrews with one turn, and that is barely tolerable.

[VacNut]

If you are searching for a daily or weekly user pen, you can also try the Parker 21. Cheaper than the 51 with an indestructible filler.

[welch]

My sleeping 51s all wake up as soon as I let them touch water. That is, I will take it to the bathroom sink and dip it into a bit of water.

[Penguincollector]

I bought a 51 Special at a barn sale once, I put the nib on my fingertip just to see what it looked like before I handed over the princely sum of $2, and got Blue-Black on my finger for my troubles. The person who sold it to me said the pen had belonged to their mother and had not been used in decades. The only time I had a hard start with it was when I put modern Parker Quink Black in it.  I have anywhere from 10-18 pens inked at a time, and my 51s (and 45s, for that matter) start right away. 

[VacNut]

Yes. At worst I have to just dip the tip of the 21 or 51 in water. Sometimes a wet paper towel works. Not really sure the hood keeps the nib from drying out or if the surface area that is exposed to air is greatly reduced on a 51 nib. Could also be that there are no breather holes in the cap, like most screw on caps 

[inkstainedruth]

Well, this isn't any sort of official test, but I got curious because I was using the Dove Grey 51 Vac, F(?) nib, today (currently filled with Robert Oster Sydney Lavender).  And flipped back through my morning pages journal for the last time I did an entry with that pen/ink combo.  So, this isn't anything empirical (just anecdotal) but today is October 10th and the last entry using that pen and ink was on October 3.  So, a week.... 

Does that help, at least a little bit, with the discussion at hand?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FarmBoy]

4 hours ago, VacNut said:

Yes. At worst I have to just dip the tip of the 21 or 51 in water. Sometimes a wet paper towel works. Not really sure the hood keeps the nib from drying out or if the surface area that is exposed to air is greatly reduced on a 51 nib. Could also be that there are no breather holes in the cap, like most screw on caps 

Look closely at a 51 inner cap and revise.

[Carguy]

Like others, I just dip and go….sometimes just a swipe of the tongue and I’m off. I have 10 51’s at any given time inked with different inks which is too many. I’ve gone about 2 weeks maximum I think.

[gweimer1]

I just sold a 51 pen today, and discovered that it had ink in it, from a pen show earlier this year.   It's probably been a few months, and while it had dried and crusted ink at the hood, it was still trying to write, so there was good ink still waiting inside.

[Wahl]

Can´t say exactly how long, but certainly longer than any other pen I know.

[thx1138]

My 51 desk pen writes immediately every time. 

The longest break would have been 4-5 weeks.

It is always inked and it always works.

[VacNut]

22 hours ago, FarmBoy said:

Look closely at a 51 inner cap and revise.

Fair enough. The feed almost encloses the entire nib. Great design. I would be curious to test if the breather hole in the cap makes a difference. Does a nib dry out as fast if it was sealed

[apastuszak]

I wonder if I need to give the 51 a good cleaning. Perhaps an overnight soak in some water would do it some good.

[FarmBoy]

3 hours ago, VacNut said:

Fair enough. The feed almost encloses the entire nib. Great design. I would be curious to test if the breather hole in the cap makes a difference. Does a nib dry out as fast if it was sealed

You didn't look at the inner cap did you.

[VacNut]

52 minutes ago, FarmBoy said:

You didn't look at the inner cap did you.

Don’t have any 51s at present. 

[blue in green]

On 10/11/2023 at 2:01 AM, Carguy said:

Like others, I just dip and go….sometimes just a swipe of the tongue and I’m off. I have 10 51’s at any given time inked with different inks which is too many. I’ve gone about 2 weeks maximum I think.

the tongue swiping is a great idea!!! Are there any inks that one should avoid (not for taste reasons, no problem there) for health reasons? Sorry for being OT, but i don't want to open a new thread for this "luxury" problem...