Is There A Black Part Of The Parker 51 Special Collector

[Colourmaker]

Hi, I am cleaning a Parker 51 Special.

On the collector, is the black part pictured below ...a part of the pen? (Or is it dry ink?)

 

In the following thread I found some info, saying it is a part of the collector, but I want to be 100% sure:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/234966-parker-51-collector-problem/

 

[Flounder]

Yes that spacer rod is a part of the collector. I had thought they only used this style of collector in older 51s, but there you go.

Here's where my '48 vac51's collector ought to have been on purchase (photo on the right).

http://i773.photobucket.com/albums/yy19/flounder2009/1948%20Canadian%20Parker%2051%20Vac/Collector.jpg

[TimGirdler]

As Flounder stated, it is a hard rubber rod and it's supposed to be there.

 

In fact, problems will occur if it isn't there. It is an integral part of the "51" collector, no matter the version of the "51". If the collector has the little, bored hole, the rubber plug must be there. I've had to fish several plugs out of the ultrasonic and re-install them, so they're not always in there tightly.

 

In the later Aero's Parker used what appears to be a hot, diamond-shape implement to burr the plastic and hold the back end of the collector open.

 

According to Richard Binder, if the plug is left out, the pen will eventually cease to write due to the ink flow being cutoff, because that channel wasn't held open.

 

Tim