Youth Fountain Pen Problem

[Lanep]

Hi everyone,

 

I have a Chinese copy of the Parker 51 called Youth. It has a sentimental value for me, and I've been using it for a few years, but about a month ago I ran out of ink (which was old and started to smell). I bought new ink today, but unfortunately, the sack (where the vacuum is) is now under pressure. It's like that because the pen is probably clogged (combine not writing for a month or so + old ink), so now when I try to vacuum new ink, it doesn't suck it in.

How do I fix this?

 

The pen is identical to this one in the pictures attached.

 

[Scribblesoften]

I do not have experience with this particular pen however, many of the Chinese pens of this type have a plastic comb feed under a screw on hood. This is probably clogged and not allowing ink to flow from the sac to the nib. You can either soak your pen, nib down, in a cup of water until the ink dissolves or you can disassemble and clean it. The soaking is self explanatory but the disassembly is a bit more involved. If this pen is like other Chinese pens that I have used, the hood should have a small amount of glue locking it in place. With some initial pressure it should unscrew. This will allow you to clean the feed with a tooth brush. When re-assembling, I use a small dab of silicone on the threads. This will not fix the hood in place but it will keep ink from leaking out through the threads. If you have some shellac, this may seal and fix the hood in place. I do not have shellac, so cannot attest to this. Good luck with your pen. I hope it works out well.

[Lanep]

Thanks for the quick answer. I'll try soaking it, but if that doesn't work out, guess I'll have to disassemble it. I just hope it starts writing again!

[Dr.Grace]

My usual practice with clogged pens (unless they're made out of some delicate vintage material) is to soak the front end in Rapido-Eze overnight, longer if necessary.

[Sasha Royale]

My usual practice with clogged pens (unless they're made out of some delicate vintage material) is to soak the front end in Rapido-Eze overnight, longer if necessary.

 

Longer is good. Dried ink forms a cement that clogs the very fine ink pathways.

A few hours of soaking may not undo years of neglect. Soak for a week. Change

the water and rinse the pen everyday.