Parker 51 Reminder Questions

[Carguy]

Bear with me, because I sometimes think that I’ve been collecting pens so long I have forgotten all the things I don’t know…..

 

A couple of dumb 51 questions:

 

What causes a 51 to burp ink into the cap? Can this be caused by overfilling?

 

What other things can cause ink to appear around the shell/hood?

 

Related to above, if it says “Press 4 times” and you press 7, will that cause a problem?

 

At this point, I’m working with a pen put together by a certain gentleman down south that keeps burping ink into the cap and I am rethinking everything I thought I knew. Any help from those far wiser than me would be greatly appreciated.

 

MD

[FarmBoy]

No matter how many times you press make sure you clear the collector. 
 

Is it a Vac or Aero?

[Paul-in-SF]

Just now, FarmBoy said:

clear the collector. 

 

I don't think I know what this means (at least not in so many words).

[Carguy]

These are both Aero, so do you mean pull out of the ink and release as I would a Vac filler?

[Beechwood]

5 hours ago, Carguy said:

These are both Aero, so do you mean pull out of the ink and release as I would a Vac filler?

 

 

Yes, I think that was what was meant.

 

I also hold the pen nib uppermost for ten seconds or so and press a Kleenex into the nib/feed, but that might just be me.

 

I have also found that some inks are worse than others for this blobbing, I haven't had problems with Waterman/Parker.

[Estycollector]

I may have read this somewhere. Depress the piston before inserting the pen into ink, pump, then depress and lift out of the ink. I now do this for lever and aerometric fill systems. 

[Mercian]

On 3/26/2024 at 1:47 AM, Carguy said:

Bear with me, because I sometimes think that I’ve been collecting pens so long I have forgotten all the things I don’t know…..

 

A couple of dumb 51 questions:

 

What causes a 51 to burp ink into the cap? Can this be caused by overfilling?

 

What other things can cause ink to appear around the shell/hood?

 

Related to above, if it says “Press 4 times” and you press 7, will that cause a problem?

 

At this point, I’m working with a pen put together by a certain gentleman down south that keeps burping ink into the cap and I am rethinking everything I thought I knew. Any help from those far wiser than me would be greatly appreciated.

 

MD

When I first got my first “51”, I too found that I had occasional ink on the pen’s section when I uncapped it to write.
I assumed that it was leaking ink into the cap/ink-burping because of my body heat.

 

I learned though that this only happened to me when I rapidly-uncapped the pen while holding it nib-downwards, or maybe horizontally.

So I now make sure to uncap my “51” pens fairly gently, and while holding them nib-upwards.
If I am going to be writing anything more than a quick note, I also take a couple of seconds to post the cap on the back of my pen, with the arrow clip aligned with the nib. This serves as a great visual aid for orienting the pen to the optimum angle for writing.

On the issue of pressing the filler bar 7 times instead of 4 (or 8 times instead of 6, etc) in my experience it won’t ‘over-fill’ the pen. When the pen is completely full of ink, more press/release cycles will merely exchange ink between the pen and the bottle, rather than exchanging air from the pen for ink from the bottle.

If one refills one’s pen slowly and methodically - insert nib into ink, press bar firmly but not rapidly, release bar, wait for a few seconds, then repeat the whole sequence - then four-six iterations should be sufficient to fill the sac completely.
Rushing the cycle - by missing out the pause between releasing the bar and pressing it again - runs the risk of not allowing enough time for atmospheric pressure to push the ink up into the pen’s sac.

 

’Best practice’ is, of course, to then lift one’s pen out of the ink, wipe off any excess ink on the inside of the lip of the bottle, then gently squeeze the filler bar until one-four drops have ink have fallen out of the pen and back into the bottle of ink. Releasing the bar then draws a little bit of air back up into the hood/collector, and will minimise the chances of any ink leaks/burps occurring.

Not doing this last step does of course increase the risk of ink getting into the cap of one’s “51”.

After having done that, one can wipe-down the pen to remove any remaining excess ink, and re-cap the ink bottle, etc.

 

Each of these steps takes only a couple of ticks of ‘mindfulness’, and one could consider each of them to be part of one’s ‘ritual’ of ‘correct usage’ of, and/or displaying the ‘proper respect for’ the kami of, one’s “51” (if the idea of applying this concept to a manufactured item such as a pen is not blasphemous. My apologies to the adherents of Shinto if it is).

 

Slàinte,
M.

 

Edit to add:

If your friend lives somewhere that exhibits wide fluctuations in temperature - e.g. between day-time and night-time, or between indoors and outdoors - then the thermal expansion of ink may be a potential issue.
For anyone who lives in such an environment, the practice of expelling a few drops of ink every time one refills one’s pen, and remembering to always and only carry it with its nib-upwards, are both strongly advised.

[Carguy]

6 hours ago, Mercian said:

When I first got my first “51”, I too found that I had occasional ink on the pen’s section when I uncapped it to write.
I assumed that it was leaking ink into the cap/ink-burping because of my body heat.

 

I learned though that this only happened to me when I rapidly-uncapped the pen while holding it nib-downwards, or maybe horizontally.

So I now make sure to uncap my “51” pens fairly gently, and while holding them nib-upwards.
If I am going to be writing anything more than a quick note, I also take a couple of seconds to post the cap on the back of my pen, with the arrow clip aligned with the nib. This serves as a great visual aid for orienting the pen to the optimum angle for writing.

On the issue of pressing the filler bar 7 times instead of 4 (or 8 times instead of 6, etc) in my experience it won’t ‘over-fill’ the pen. When the pen is completely full of ink, more press/release cycles will merely exchange ink between the pen and the bottle, rather than exchanging air from the pen for ink from the bottle.

If one refills one’s pen slowly and methodically - insert nib into ink, press bar firmly but not rapidly, release bar, wait for a few seconds, then repeat the whole sequence - then four-six iterations should be sufficient to fill the sac completely.
Rushing the cycle - by missing out the pause between releasing the bar and pressing it again - runs the risk of not allowing enough time for atmospheric pressure to push the ink up into the pen’s sac.

 

’Best practice’ is, of course, to then lift one’s pen out of the ink, wipe off any excess ink on the inside of the lip of the bottle, then gently squeeze the filler bar until one-four drops have ink have fallen out of the pen and back into the bottle of ink. Releasing the bar then draws a little bit of air back up into the hood/collector, and will minimise the chances of any ink leaks/burps occurring.

Not doing this last step does of course increase the risk of ink getting into the cap of one’s “51”.

After having done that, one can wipe-down the pen to remove any remaining excess ink, and re-cap the ink bottle, etc.

 

Each of these steps takes only a couple of ticks of ‘mindfulness’, and one could consider each of them to be part of one’s ‘ritual’ of ‘correct usage’ of, and/or displaying the ‘proper respect for’ the kami of, one’s “51” (if the idea of applying this concept to a manufactured item such as a pen is not blasphemous. My apologies to the adherents of Shinto if it is).

 

Slàinte,
M.

 

Edit to add:

If your friend lives somewhere that exhibits wide fluctuations in temperature - e.g. between day-time and night-time, or between indoors and outdoors - then the thermal expansion of ink may be a potential issue.
For anyone who lives in such an environment, the practice of expelling a few drops of ink every time one refills one’s pen, and remembering to always and only carry it with its nib-upwards, are both strongly advised.

This was very helpful as was FarmBoy’s suggestion. It appears to be solved.