Vintage Parker 51 vs. Iroshizuku ink

[CidCampeador]

Hi everyone,

I acquired a vintage Parker 51 (Aerometric, from the 50s) a few days ago after trying it out at an antique shop. It worked pretty well; I fell in love with it instantly, and it is undoubtedly the best pen I have ever tried. Before handing it over to me, they cleaned it thoroughly so I could fill it with my own ink.

Once home, I inked it up with Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo (which I’ve been using in other Montblanc and Lamy pens with excellent results). The first day, it was a dream: it wrote wonderfully with a firm line, the ink looked spectacular, and the flow was great.

The second day, however, the pen continued to flow excellently, but the line became much broader with significantly more feathering (as if it went from an F to a B overnight!). I tried various papers (Rhodia, Oxford, Clairefontaine) of different weights, but nothing changed; the pen writes with a completely different, much thicker line. The ink doesn't look nice anymore—it looks watery—and it is no longer a pleasure to write with.

I’ve read that this might be related to the ink, and that vintage Parker 51s and Japanese inks aren't exactly 'good friends.'

What do you think? Should I change inks? I’ve ruled out a problem with the Parker itself because it worked perfectly for 24 hours and stayed at home (it wasn't dropped or even moved from my desk).

Thank you very much, all suggestions are welcome.

[Mr Gutsy]

Welcome to FPN Cid!

 

That's unusual to hear about and frustrating to have to use a pen that's gone off kilter so much. Generally Parker 51s will use just about anything without too much difficulty. The only inks generally not recommended are shimmer inks due to the particulates clogging up the ink collector which controls ink flow from the sac. That being said, they are notorious for holding onto previous inks they've been filled with. This sounds an issue with some residue from the previous ink being hold over in the ink collector reacting with the Iroshizuku ink causing it to flow far freely from the pen.  How did you flush the pen clean?

 

[Mark from Yorkshire]

Although what @Mr Gutsy says is true Japanese inks are highly alkaline. They can cause damage to certain types of ink sac. 
 

i would send the pen to be checked by someone who knows what they are doing with vintage pens and consider getting the ink sac replaced.

[Inky Falcon]

I would certainly clean it out straight away. That is not a normal reaction.

Although alkaline inks are not friendly to latex ink sacs, the Parker 51 was designed to work with Parker's short-lived, highly alkaline lye-based quick drying ink, so I don't think the Tsuki-Yo is to blame. The 51's ink collector can hold up to a quarter of a ml of fluid (4 drops of ink) so it could well have retained some of whatever was used to flush it, and that could have reacted with the ink. 

[InkyProf]

Aerometric “pli-glass” sacs, which are either PVC or a close cousin, I think, are supposed to be much more resistant to alkaline inks than latex sacs or diaphragms like the ones found in 51 Vacumatics, where I would never use Iroshizuku. Apparently the old, extremely alkaline Parker “Superchrome” ink could damage the breather tubes in aerometrics — but it had a pH of 12, whereas Iroshizuku is in the 8-9 range. I think the more likely issue would be with staining, and I stick with less saturated and neutral or mildly acidic inks for aerometrics, too, after staining one sac (from clear to totally opaque) with one fill of a saturated Diamine purple; but I have plenty of other modern cartridge-converter pens to take up the slack.

 

Useful article:

 

https://www.richardspens.com/ref/care/inks.htm

That doesn’t answer the question of what might be happening with your pen. The easiest thing to try would be to see if you can duplicate the problem. If you’re willing to sacrifice some ink: empty and flush the pen thoroughly, dry it completely (put it nib down in a small glass with wadded paper towel at the bottom, both to protect the nib and to wick residual water from the nib, feed, collector, and sac), and leave it at least overnight. Then fill again with Tsuki-Yo and see what happens over the first few days.

 

[CidCampeador]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the helpful insights! I will definitely proceed with the deep cleaning and the paper towel wicking method you suggested.

However, there is one thing I’m still trying to wrap my head around: Why did it work perfectly for the first 24 hours?

If it was a reaction with old residue or a fundamental incompatibility with the ink, wouldn't the issue have appeared immediately upon filling the pen? That’s the part that confuses me—the pen wrote with a crisp, perfect line for a whole day, and then suddenly turned into a wet B overnight. Why the delay?

Thanks again for helping me understand this vintage beauty!

[Mark from Yorkshire]

4 hours ago, CidCampeador said:

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the helpful insights! I will definitely proceed with the deep cleaning and the paper towel wicking method you suggested.

However, there is one thing I’m still trying to wrap my head around: Why did it work perfectly for the first 24 hours?

If it was a reaction with old residue or a fundamental incompatibility with the ink, wouldn't the issue have appeared immediately upon filling the pen? That’s the part that confuses me—the pen wrote with a crisp, perfect line for a whole day, and then suddenly turned into a wet B overnight. Why the delay?

Thanks again for helping me understand this vintage beauty!

Sorry, to ask  what may be a daft question, how old is the sac that is in it? Could it have a small hole somewhere and once the ink level has reduced be letting air in? could it be corroded?

 

Is it sealed properly all things to potentially consider. where are you based UK, Europe US. It might be worth sending it for a thorough service and replacement sac.

[welch]

5 hours ago, Mark from Yorkshire said:

Sorry, to ask  what may be a daft question, how old is the sac that is in it? Could it have a small hole somewhere and once the ink level has reduced be letting air in? could it be corroded?

 

Is it sealed properly all things to potentially consider. where are you based UK, Europe US. It might be worth sending it for a thorough service and replacement sac.

 

This is sound advice. The Pli-glas sacs in the Partker 51 aerometric do not wear out, or have not in the (nearly) eighty years they have been in use. When I got back to using fountain pens, almost twenty years ago, I found the P-51 to be my favorite. At first, I wrote mostly with Diamine Sapphire Blue, and then Pilot released Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. It has been one of my two favoites ink ever since. I've never had a problem. 

 

Before sending the pen off, you might switch to an inexpensive and reliable ink, like Parker Quink Permanent Blue or Blue-Black. They might not necessarily be better for the 51, even though they are descended from the Royal Blue and Blue-Black that Parker made when the P-51 was new. They are just reliable. I have the (Permanent) Blue, as opposed to Parker's Washable Blue, in one of my 51s today.

 

Overall, this is weird behavior for an aerometric 51, so Mark might be right. We are kind of guessing here.

[CS388]

Welcome to FPN and congratulations on your 51. Wonderful pens.

 

I'd go for the pen retaining some of the cleaning fluid (even water?) used by the shop to clean the pen, mixing with the new ink?

It may have worked for the first 24hrs because the new ink you filled it with, filled the collector, but overnight it may have mixed with whatever the shop left in the pen? That's pure guesswork, I can see no other reason for the behaviour you describe.

 

I'd go with InkyProf's suggestion: empty the pen, completely dry it out (paper towel etc), refill and see what happens.

 

For the record, I have often used Iroshizuku ink (mainly ku-jaku) in my 51's without any issue.

 

Good luck