Servicing/filling a Parker 51

I just bought a Parker 51 with a Vacumatic filler. I managed to fill
the pen and it seems to write fine, although it didn't seem to take up
much ink.

I have two questions--

1) Should I do anything to clean the pen, and if so, what? I vaguely
remember some people using a solution of water and something to flush
out the pen. I also have access to an ultrasonic cleaner if that could
be of use.

2) How should I fill the pen most effectively? Right now I'm dipping
the pen, pressing the plastic button, waiting a beat, realeasing it,
waiting a beat, etc, until no bubbles show up in the ink. Am I filling
the pen correctly? If not, what am I doing wrong?

Thanks!!

-Lotofun

Lot-o-fun writes:

I just bought a Parker 51 with a Vacumatic filler. I managed to fill
the pen and it seems to write fine, although it didn't seem to take up
much ink.

I have two questions--

1) Should I do anything to clean the pen, and if so, what? I vaguely
remember some people using a solution of water and something to flush
out the pen. I also have access to an ultrasonic cleaner if that could
be of use.

Start with just plain cool water. That's enough 99% of the time.
Fill the pen, shake the water out (in the case of Vacumatic fillers,
that is), repeat.

2) How should I fill the pen most effectively? Right now I'm dipping
the pen, pressing the plastic button, waiting a beat, realeasing it,
waiting a beat, etc, until no bubbles show up in the ink. Am I filling
the pen correctly? If not, what am I doing wrong?

If the pen hasn't been restored, the diapragm (a rubber structure
underneath the filler button) probably needs to be replaced. It might
be 60 years old, after all.

http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/anatomy-vac.htm

Thanks for the info! I have some followup questions that I hope that
you or some other generous sould will answer.

1) What's a typical fill experience for a Vacumatic Parker 51? With
this one, I get 1 bubble out of the pen on each of about 3 presses of
the plunger, and that's it. Should there be more?

2) I'm cleaning the pen as you suggested, having removed all the ink
and then putting it in water. It's been that way all day. I keep
going back and pressing the plunger every hour or so; each time, a
little bit of ink comes out on the first few presses. I presume I
should keep doing this until no visible ink comes out?

Thanks again!

-Lotofun

In article , L, not
-L wrote:

On 3-Dec-2005, Lot-o-fun wrote:

I just bought a Parker 51 with a Vacumatic filler. I managed to fill
the pen and it seems to write fine, although it didn't seem to take up
much ink.

Sounds like the diaphragm may need to be replaced; follow the fill
instructions given at the link I provide later and if it still doesn't take
on much ink, you will need to have the fill mechanism restored. I just had
two Vac's done by Ron Meloche (rmelo12089 cox.net) and am well pleased with
his work. He charges $25 to restore vacumatic fillers

I have two questions--

1) Should I do anything to clean the pen, and if so, what? I vaguely
remember some people using a solution of water and something to flush
out the pen. I also have access to an ultrasonic cleaner if that could
be of use.

I have cleaned and resac'ed several hundred pens and have yet to find one
that could not be cleaned with just plain water and a little patience (that
doesn't mean there aren't any, only that I haven't encountered them).
Typically, I will soak the pen, as in the filling position, in an old
Sheaffer ink bottle (though a juice glass or similar would do just as well).
I have enough water in it to submerge the nib and half the section and let
the pen sit for several hours, changing the water whenever it becomes so
saturated with ink that it looks more like ink than inky water. Some pens
take only a few hours, others a couple of days. If the fill mechanism
works, I fill the pen with water when soaking it; the whole idea is to
remove the ink residue through the principle of diffusion.

The use of ultrasonic cleaners is controversial; some say it can ruin pens
and swear at them, others swear by them. IMHO, those who swear by them are
either not patient, love gadgets or both. The only time I might be tempted
to try one is with a fountain pen that has been ruined with india ink; what
have I got to lose in that case?


2) How should I fill the pen most effectively? Right now I'm dipping
the pen, pressing the plastic button, waiting a beat, realeasing it,
waiting a beat, etc, until no bubbles show up in the ink. Am I filling
the pen correctly? If not, what am I doing wrong?

Vacumatic filling instructions can be found at
http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_i...acumatic.shtml



Thanks!!

-Lotofun

Lot-o-fun writes:

Thanks for the info! I have some followup questions that I hope
that you or some other generous sould will answer.

1) What's a typical fill experience for a Vacumatic Parker 51? With
this one, I get 1 bubble out of the pen on each of about 3 presses
of the plunger, and that's it. Should there be more?

No, you should get a few bubbles with each plunger press. Your
desription sounds like the existing diaphragm is shot. Again, not a
surprise given the design and age. Replace it and it'll be good for
many years. If you're new to pens and haven't ever done anything like
this before, you might want to farm it out. There are lots of good
pro pen repair people, and you can get many recommendations from
members of the newsgroup.

2) I'm cleaning the pen as you suggested, having removed all the ink
and then putting it in water. It's been that way all day. I keep
going back and pressing the plunger every hour or so; each time, a
little bit of ink comes out on the first few presses. I presume I
should keep doing this until no visible ink comes out?

Or until you get sick and tired of it. ;-)

Thanks again for the info!

Tomorrow morning I'll empty all the water out of the pen fill it again
with water so I can see how many bubbles I get.

How hard is it to replace the diaphragm myself, if I work from one of
the diagrams on the web? Are there instructions out there? I'm not a
complete klutz and I tend to be pretty good about fixing things if I
have good instructions to work from...

In article , Tim McNamara
wrote:

Lot-o-fun writes:

Thanks for the info! I have some followup questions that I hope
that you or some other generous sould will answer.

1) What's a typical fill experience for a Vacumatic Parker 51? With
this one, I get 1 bubble out of the pen on each of about 3 presses
of the plunger, and that's it. Should there be more?

No, you should get a few bubbles with each plunger press. Your
desription sounds like the existing diaphragm is shot. Again, not a
surprise given the design and age. Replace it and it'll be good for
many years. If you're new to pens and haven't ever done anything like
this before, you might want to farm it out. There are lots of good
pro pen repair people, and you can get many recommendations from
members of the newsgroup.

2) I'm cleaning the pen as you suggested, having removed all the ink
and then putting it in water. It's been that way all day. I keep
going back and pressing the plunger every hour or so; each time, a
little bit of ink comes out on the first few presses. I presume I
should keep doing this until no visible ink comes out?

Or until you get sick and tired of it. ;-)

Lot-o-fun wrote:

How hard is it to replace the diaphragm myself, if
I work from one of the diagrams on the web? Are
there instructions out there? I'm not a complete
klutz and I tend to be pretty good about fixing
things if I have good instructions to work from...

Is this a junker pen? If not, have someone w/more experience do the work
for you. If you have never used heat in pen repair or if you do not have
a vacumatic tool... have someone else do the work for you. Cleaning the
collector is no sweat compared to replacing the diaphragm. Someone with
experience and a vacumatic tool can do the job (i.e., clean the
collector and replace the diaphragm) in relatively little time and not
warp the shell or wreck the filler (the plastic socket into which the
the closed end of the diaphragm fits). An experienced repairperson also
knows how to maintain the alignment of the filler relative to the barrel
thus ensuring a smooth seam between blind cap and barrel without having
to sand the heck out of the joint. -- B

Lot-o-fun writes:

Thanks again for the info!

Tomorrow morning I'll empty all the water out of the pen fill it
again with water so I can see how many bubbles I get.

How hard is it to replace the diaphragm myself, if I work from one
of the diagrams on the web? Are there instructions out there? I'm
not a complete klutz and I tend to be pretty good about fixing
things if I have good instructions to work from...

The best instructions are in Da Book:

Fountain Pens: the complete guide to repair and resoration by Frank
Dubiel (RIP what, two years now? Sigh).

Buy it here (in no particular order):

http://www.swisherpens.com/catalog/books/books.htm

http://www.pendemonium.com/penrepair.htm

But not he

http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=16721571&src=frg

Yikes! Over $300 Canadian....