Diaphragm remnants in 51 vacumatic

[CVR]

I've noticed occasionally when I've opened up a Parker 51 that there is a functioning diaphragm, the pen fills, but the barrel is also full of old ossified diaphragm remnants.

 

Incredibly, it seems people don't bother to flush out the barrel when replacing diaphragms. That crud is sure to gum up the pen sooner or later.

 

How common is it to find diaphragm remnants in a pen with a functioning diaphragm?

[Ron Z]

Very common.  Not only does it get in the way of the diaphragm working properly, but any of the old diaphragm left on the ring in the barrel pushes the filler out so the filler doesn't sit below the edge of the barrel.  Then people tighten the filler in even harder, which leads to barrel bulge and cracked barrels.

 

Remove ALL of the old diaphragm.  Use a penlight to inspect inside the barrel to make sure free of debris.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

This hurts my head. I legitimately can’t fathom doing a diaphragm replacement and doing that bad of a job…

 

I don’t understand people. 

[Estycollector]

13 minutes ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

This hurts my head. I legitimately can’t fathom doing a diaphragm replacement and doing that bad of a job…

 

I don’t understand people. 

Maybe to make a quick sale? One of my 51's came unrestored, but listed as restored. I didn't complain because the price was right. I sent it to Parker51 and am actually using it today. 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

1 hour ago, Estycollector said:

Maybe to make a quick sale? One of my 51's came unrestored, but listed as restored. I didn't complain because the price was right. I sent it to Parker51 and am actually using it today. 

I don't see what good a quick sale is, if it results in your reputation being marked as "do not buy from this seller"... if I bought one and it came to me not working, then I would immediately comment "not restored properly" and their rep would take a hit. I'm TOLD, that has a significant impact on eBay sales...

 

[Estycollector]

23 minutes ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

I don't see what good a quick sale is, if it results in your reputation being marked as "do not buy from this seller"... if I bought one and it came to me not working, then I would immediately comment "not restored properly" and their rep would take a hit. I'm TOLD, that has a significant impact on eBay sales...

 

I thought about it, but I was more thrilled to get a '42 51 for $40. With the restoration I still spent less than $90. 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

2 hours ago, Estycollector said:

I thought about it, but I was more thrilled to get a '42 51 for $40. With the restoration I still spent less than $90. 

that's acceptable.

what colour and which cap? (inquiring minds want to know...)

[CVR]

5 hours ago, Ron Z said:

Very common.  Not only does it get in the way of the diaphragm working properly, but any of the old diaphragm left on the ring in the barrel pushes the filler out so the filler doesn't sit below the edge of the barrel.  Then people tighten the filler in even harder, which leads to barrel bulge and cracked barrels.

 

Remove ALL of the old diaphragm.  Use a penlight to inspect inside the barrel to make sure free of debris.

 

I can imagine a sloppy restorer not scraping off the diaphragm remnants from the ring, which can be a bit of work. But leaving the old ossified diaphragm fragments floating around inside the barrel!? All they had to do was run it under the faucet and brush it clean!

 

This was an especially bad job. Shellac had seeped in between the barrel and collector, so the collector was glued to the barrel. In places, the collector has shellac over it and between the fins. Cleaning all that off was a bit of work.

 

I was tempted to use alcohol to get the shellac off, but I presume alcohol is not safe on Lucite either?

 

 

 

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

1 minute ago, CVR said:

 

I can imagine a sloppy restorer not scraping off the diaphragm remnants from the ring, which can be a bit of work. But leaving the old ossified diaphragm fragments floating around inside the barrel!? All they had to do was run it under the faucet and brush it clean!

 

This was an especially bad job. Shellac had seeped in between the barrel and collector, so the collector was glued to the barrel. In places, the collector has shellac over it and between the fins. Cleaning all that off was a bit of work.

 

I was tempted to use alcohol to get the shellac off, but I presume alcohol is not safe on Lucite either?

 

 

 

 

… why was shellack there at all!?  
shouldn’t hoods be sealed/secured with rosin?… (I’ve also seen shellack, I’ve done something like a dozen or so and frankly since they’ve all been FOR ME, I Haven't secured the hoods at all and things are just fine)

AFAIK lucite just about bulletproof. Maybe someone else will chime in here. 
 

[Estycollector]

58 minutes ago, IThinkIHaveAProblem said:

that's acceptable.

what colour and which cap? (inquiring minds want to know...)

 

You've probably seen it before. 

 

[Ron Z]

I use shellac to discourage the casual owner from opening the hood and screwing up the alignment.  A dab is sufficient, and just snug, not tight...  but yes, I've seen evidence that Parker used thread sealant.  I've also seen them leak when not sealed.   It's different when it's your own pen VS when it's for a client.

[CVR]

28 minutes ago, Ron Z said:

I use shellac to discourage the casual owner from opening the hood and screwing up the alignment.  A dab is sufficient, and just snug, not tight...  but yes, I've seen evidence that Parker used thread sealant.  I've also seen them leak when not sealed.   It's different when it's your own pen VS when it's for a client.

 

Ron, is alcohol okay to use on Lucite? (Especially when it's quite literally under the hood, so discoloration is invisible?)

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

1 hour ago, Estycollector said:

 

You've probably seen it before. 

 

that's a great looking pen

 

1 hour ago, Ron Z said:

I use shellac to discourage the casual owner from opening the hood and screwing up the alignment.  A dab is sufficient, and just snug, not tight...  but yes, I've seen evidence that Parker used thread sealant.  I've also seen them leak when not sealed.   It's different when it's your own pen VS when it's for a client.

yeah, if/when I sell them, I'll likely seal the hood, but I was leaning towards a little of the rosin based stuff.

But a small dab of shellac I suppose would do the same thing, probably a little more securely. Just not the slathering job that I think we've all seen at some point...

I've been lucky, no hood leaks so far. *fingers crossed it stays that way...*

 

[Ron Z]

6 hours ago, CVR said:

 

Ron, is alcohol okay to use on Lucite? (Especially when it's quite literally under the hood, so discoloration is invisible?)

 

Yes.   Lucite isn't effected like celluloid and some other plastics are. 

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

$40 is a solid deal for an unrestored Parker 51 vac with a gold-fill cap, I'd be pretty happy with that. I always seal the Parker 51 hoods with shellac, I have had some leak on me. I think for the aerometrics with the groove for the o-ring it's less necessary, I usually spread on a minimal amount with a tooth pick. For the vacs, I will be a little more generous.

 

I've had to reopen one or two Parker 51 hoods a week or two after doing the initial restoration (tinkering with nib and feed alignment) and I never had any issues unscrewing them with the amount of shellac I used. I imagine it might settle more after a decade or two though.

[Ron Z]

Hint for the 51s with an 0-ring.  The 0-ring used for Sheaffer TD and snorkels is a suitable replacement, especially the after market gray ones that are a bit thinner than the OEM 0-rings.  I put a very thin layer of silicone grease around the inside edge of the hood using a Q-tip with a very small amount of the silicone grease on it.  Just tap the Q-tip on the silicone grease.  This keeps the hood from sticking and binding, allowing it to slide smoothly over the 0-ring as you screw the hood on.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

Alas, if I knew where to get o-rings after Anderson Pens closed. They were my source for snorkel restoring supplies and I have no idea where to buy them elsewhere. David Nishimura sells "kits" with three sets of a sac, a point gasket, and an o-ring but it is overpriced IMO.

[FarmBoy]

Aren’t the orings something like 2-3 for a buck? 

[Armo]

O rings are available on Fleabay. I use 8x1 for P51s and 7x1 for Touchdowns. They usually come in packs of ten and are cheap enough that you can buy a selection if not sure of your desired size. If I remember correctly they are measured by the internal size of the O and thickness.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

On 5/2/2025 at 2:30 AM, FarmBoy said:

Aren’t the orings something like 2-3 for a buck? 

 

I'm seeing 20 for 12 bucks but I don't need that many, it's basically a lifetime supply for me. Same for the gaskets, only in bulk amounts starting at 20. At least the o-rings I can use for non-snorkel touchdown pens.

 

Repairing 20 snorkels sounds like hell to me (I do have a backlog of four of them including a nice Triumph all gold-fill one but I have no plans on getting more at the moment... not my favorite pen to restore).