Vanishing Point Flow Problem

[shekeepsthebees]

Hello!

 

I'm new to the forum and have spent some time looking through the repair Q&A posts that have been pinned relating to this problem.

 

I have had a vanishing point for about three years now, and one summer (I'm a college student) I left my pen unwashed in an apartment without heat, so I believe I had some ink clog up the nib. I have since taken the nib out and let it soak a few times in water--this has not yet seemed to work. I put it in warm water and left it soaking for a week to see if there was some super stuck pigment/dried ink, but today when I went to test it out it did not work. The tines are working just fine and seemed to have a good alignment--some residual water has continued to flow out of the nib, but I can't seem to get new ink (I use cartidges) to flow through the pen. Anyone else have any advice or any other posts that I might find helpful?

 

Thanks,

Rachel

[Ron Z]

Water alone, especially just soaking in water is insufficient. You need to FLUSH the pen with a cleaning solution to get the old, dried ink out. Start with a soak in a small glass of water with ammonia and a few drops of Dawn dish detergent. We say about 10 parts water to 1 part ammonia.

 

Since its been soaking in water already, you may not need to let it soak over night. A converter should have come with the pen. You can use this to flush the solution through the pen. If you want something more aggressive, use a desoldering bulb from Radio Shack (take the nylon plug our), or a baby snot sucker. (Sorry, that's what it is, and you'll find it in the baby department at Target or Wallys World) with a bit of the end cut off so that you have a snug fit over the cartridge end of the nib unit. Flush well. Shake the excess solution out, flush well with clear water. Shake the excess water out. A paper towel over the end helps prevent freckles over everything around you.

 

If this doesn't work, it may need to be run through an ultrasonic cleaner. Don't try to take the nib unit apart.

 

Use the converter and bottled ink. Its a heck of a lot cheaper than cartridges, and you flush the pen every time you fill it, which helps to keep the pen from clogging.