Parker 51 Vac - awful ink flow

[Mr Gutsy]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking for some help on a particularly troublesome 51 of mine. For whatever reason the ink flow on the pen at times alternates between comfortable ink flow and dry to barely flowing. I've tried several things to attempt to narrow down the possible cause but to no avail these have included:

 

• Changing the diaphragm / filler unit in case there is pressure issues or a completely failed diaphragm / filler unit.
• Checking the breather tube for obstructions (it is clear).
• Cleaning the nib slit with a brass shim of built up dirt or grit.
• Cleaning the feed slit of built up dirt or grit.
• Soak of the collector in dish soap water
• Heat adjusted the feed to reset it to the nib
• Heat adjusted the hood to adjust ink flow with the tip being gently adjusted away from the nib.
• Priming the feed using the ink pump, does not resolve the problem when it presents. However, gently pressing a  brass shim into the nib does seem to provide some temporary relief.

 

Its currently filled with Diamine Registrar as it behaves well on the awful copy paper used at work and I would like to keep using it if possible. I suspect it is likely to do with a poor cap seal and perhaps the nib tines being too close together and truthfully, has always been a bit of a problem with more saturated inks in the past. This is my favourite 51 and its always had a bit of a personality, but this is now approaching borderline levels of inability to write with the pen or some very inconsistent starts is driving me to my wits end.

 

Any advice or suggestions are welcome!

[Mercian]

I suspect - strongly - that your problem is being caused by the ink.

DRI is a 'heavy iron-gall' ink, like the ESS RI that I have.

 

I found that ESSRI did similar things to me when I ran it through my Parker 25, and also (to a lesser extent) through my Pelikan M205.

I now use my ESSRI only in a pen that I bought especially for it - a Parker UK Duofold 'Junior'.
The flow of it is perfect from that pen. Wet and dark, but also reliable and controlled.

A Parker UK Duofold (or Parker 'Victory') would also be the perfect pen to use with your Diamine RI.
They are available with button fill systems (the early models) or, on the post-1953 pens, with the 'aerometric' filler from the Parker "51" Special.
They have 14k gold nibs, and also ebonite feeds that have ink channels that were cut in to the feeds - so their channels are wider than are the ones that are moulded in more-modern feeds, and in e.g. the 'collector' of a "51".
Thus the pens write 'wetter' than does a "51".

 

If you want to run i-g ink through your "51", I recommend Rohrer & Klingner 'Salix'.
It stays far bluer after oxidation than do ESSRI, DRI, or even Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, but it still gives the uniquely-delightfully rippling shading that is one of the USPs of i-g inks, and it works perfectly in my own (aerometric) "51"s. And it, too, being i-g should tolerate the lowest-bidder copier paper at your workplace.

Its only potential downside is that it is far less light-fast than is DRI (or ESSRI), which is a consequence of it containing a far lower concentration of iron salts.

 

Slàinte,
M.

 

Edit to add:

If the collector of your "51" has, over the years, become ink-stained enough that it is now opaque I also advise you (strongly) to attempt to do a 'deep clean' of the pen to try to remove any iron-salts that may possibly have precipitated-out in the feed channels/collector unit.

If any have done so, they will be restricting the flow of ink through your pen.

 

The best solution to use to do this is a solution of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C). I believe that it can be bought as a powder, which one can then (after a bit of googling) make into a solution of the appropriate concentration.
Citric Acid is also good.
White Vinegar is also good, and is the easiest to get hold of.

I have only ever used white vinegar in my pens, mixed with water so that it is roughly 1 part vinegar to 4 or 5 parts water. One can though make it weaker, or stronger, if one prefers.

 

Fill your pen with a solution of that, and leave it in the pen for a while - at least overnight, and preferably until you get back in from work the next day (personally, I clip the pen inside my shirt and allow it to stay there for a couple of hours, so that my body heat speeds up the chemical reaction of dissolving the old iron salts).
Then put a folded piece of kitchen roll in to a mug, uncap the pen, and stand it nib down on the kitchen roll inside the mug.

The vinegar solution will then 'wick' through the nib and into the kitchen roll. It should take two or three hours.
If ANY old ink has come out into the paper, repeat the whole process, with a new piece of kitchen roll, for as many times as are necessary until no more old ink is evident on the paper after the fill of acid solution has 'wicked' out of the pen.
After you have got that far, allow a couple of fills of plain water to 'wick' out of the pen and into kitchen roll, in order to remove all the acid from your pen.

This 'deep clean' process shouldn't be necessary very often. But I definitely recommend it to anyone who has been using iron-gall inks in any pen that has a feed system that is as complex as the collector of a "51".

[Mechanical]

2 hours ago, Mercian said:

I have only ever used white vinegar in my pens, mixed with water so that it is roughly 1 part vinegar to 4 or 5 parts water.

This approach using a vinegar solution saved one of my Rotring ArtPens I used with IG inks.  I had flushed and flushed with water and it still barely wanted to write.  Then I read about using vinegar and did multiple vinegar flushes, an overnight soak, and then dried into paper towels.  The next day, I refilled it with ink... and it wrote flawlessly. 

 

@Mr Gutsy,  with everything you've tried perhaps you've already done this.  If not, it is worth a try. 

[Mr Gutsy]

@Mercian, @Mechanical

 

Thanks for the suggestions and advice on the collector. I'll try the acid bath for the collector in the first instance, as it is possible the collector is gummed up with goodness knows what in-between the fins. It isn't fully clear, but rather stained a blue-black colour by another ink that's been used in the pen in the distant past. Should I have any concerns with this solution and the rubber diaphragm for the vac?

 

Failing that, I'll look into dedicating a specific pen to use with the IG bottle until it's empty or the iron precipitates out (whichever comes first). I'll report back on the success of the acid bath treatment.

[Mercian]

3 hours ago, Mr Gutsy said:

Should I have any concerns with this solution and the rubber diaphragm for the vac?

 

I don't think so - the warnings that I've seen on here about rubber sacs say to avoid alkaline solutions/inks, rather than acidic ones.

Do though bear in mind that I personally have never put/cycled vinegar solution into/through a rubber sac.

 

I am now tagging @inkstainedruth, because I found an old post in which she said that she had flushed sac pens with vinegar solution, and so I would like to ask her whether she has found vinegar solution to be safe to run through her Vacumatic "51"s?
Or has it ever damaged their diaphragms?

 

Slàinte,
M.

[inkstainedruth]

AFAIK, vinegar solution hasn't been a problem, -- but then, I tend to mostly not use IG inks in my 51s (although I HAVE on occasion used some Noodler's inks, with zero issues -- I used North African Violet in my Plum Demi 51 Aero (on the grounds that those Pli-glass sacs were originally designed to be used in pens being filled with Superchrome ink...). 

Of course, if you're talking about an ink like Bay State Blue?  All bets are off -- that one gets relegated these days to a Noodler's Charlie eyedropper so I can top off a fill with distilled water to control BSB's incessant feathering....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mechanical]

For what it's worth, the 1935 Parker Service Manual recommended the use of vinegar to clean stains in transparent Vacumatics.  Back then, they apparently did not dilute -- they just used vinegar.  Thankfully, they finished up with multiple water flushes.  :-)

 

I think I would also search the FPN for "vinegar" or "vinegar vacumatic" to see if there are any reports of issues.

[Mercian]

9 hours ago, Mechanical said:

the 1935 Parker Service Manual

 

THANK YOU for that link!

You have enabled me to download a PDF of the Service Manual from c.1960 😊

[FarmBoy]

The original document scan as well as many others contributed by members can be found in the PCA library 

 

https://pencollectorsofamerica.org/reference-library/

 

consider a membership to help support the PCA. 

[Flounder]

In addition to the good advice above, check if the small cylindrical shim at the barrel end of your vac's collector is still intact and in place. And good luck!

[Mr Gutsy]

Thanks all for you advice on this, it's been very helpful.

 

After a fairly intensive treatment cycle of white vinegar and water the pen is now performing in line with what I would expect. I've come to appreciate that Registrars ink is a high maintenance ink and I think if my 51 wasn't actively being used that it would become a nightmare to clean out if it dried up.

 

What I would add for anyone in the future that's curious or looking for information on how the 51 handles this. It behaves just fine, but do dedicate a single pen to this and undertake an intensive clean before filling with Registrars ink for the first time and be prepared to actively use the pen. This is an ink that doesn't place nice if left idle for any length of time.

 

 

[Mercian]

55 minutes ago, Mr Gutsy said:

After a fairly intensive treatment cycle of white vinegar and water the pen is now performing in line with what I would expect.

 

Yay! 😊

 

55 minutes ago, Mr Gutsy said:

I've come to appreciate that Registrars ink is a high maintenance ink and I think if my 51 wasn't actively being used that it would become a nightmare to clean out if it dried up.

 

What I would add for anyone in the future that's curious or looking for information on how the 51 handles this. It behaves just fine, but do dedicate a single pen to this and undertake an intensive clean before filling with Registrars ink for the first time and be prepared to actively use the pen. This is an ink that doesn't place nice if left idle for any length of time.

 

And (for anyone reading this thread in future) a +1 from me to ↑ that

 

In the right pen, Registrars' Ink is a very reliable, very water-resistant ink that resists spreading and feathering.
But a Parker "51" is (IMO at least) not the right pen for it.
The fantastic 'collector' in the "51" makes it too tricky to clean out if you do ever happen to let the stuff dry-out in your pen.