Fountain Pen Care

[pvdiamon]

According to Richard Binder, "...it’s a good practice to flush and refill your pens once a month or so." Do most users follow this advice? Also, how long can a pen stay inked and NOT USED? If you go away for 10 days, would you empty and clean them? Or can they go a few weeks before worrying about it?

[wimg]

Hi pivdiamon,

 

This is indeed a good practice, to prevent pens from clogging up and the like. I do this when I leave a pen unused for a while, especially, and when I switch inks too.

 

If you write with a pen every day, and it doesn't get used much despite that, you may well be able to extend that one month to a much longer time, provided the cap really seals off the nib and feed air tight.

 

If I go away for 10 days, I tend to take all my filled pens with me, so I can't really give you advice on that, other than, it is just the same as the general rule. So 10 days should be fine, a few weeks even, as long as the pens don't dry out.

 

You have to be most careful with regard to pens drying out when they contain difficult inks, f.e., inks containing fine particles, i.e., soot, like black inks, or plant and insect parts, like iron gall inks. Both of these inks may block feeds when left to dry out. And iron gall inks are permanent not only on paper... Other inks to be careful with are red, pink and violet inks. There used to be a few more inks to treat with caution, like the Parker Penman inks, but those are now vintage inks, so less of a problem, I would assume.

 

Filling a pen with an ink different from the one used previously without rinsing and flushing in between, may also cause problems, especially with inks with red dyes, like the aforementioned red, pink and violet inks. The dyes may react with the new ink in a way that is adverse to the functioning of your pen, i.e., block it up by forming difficult to remove gunk.

 

Also, the flushing may help in keeping the pen's feed in a good condiction. There is always gunk that ends up in the feed, residues from the ink, little pieces of paper, and rinsing and flushing it removes all of this. A pen may continue to work for many years if you don't, but this is just general good practice for pen maintenance and care.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Ruaidhri]

Definitely a good idea. Like backing up your computer !

Unfortunately I don't practice what I preach & from time to time have to do a soak & blow out ! (and recover & reinstall my drive )

Only exception is my Trident which is reputedly a #%$£ to clear, so I keep it clean.

The 61 capiliary is great fun with water, ammonia & a blower from the local camera shop but in regular use is a dream

My favourite 51 does not care. Just writes, perfectly and immediately but doesn't seem to want to stop

[garythepenman]

I use all of my pens from time to time so I better get flushing as no doubt a few have been sitting for a while.

Makes you wonder how much ink gets flushed down the drain ? .

No wonder we have purple spiders and green ants..

Gary

[JRodriguez]

I have a golden brown parker vacumatic that I kept inked for 4 years straight and used it everyday without fail and it never seemed to have any problems. So its certainly possible to use a pen for an extended period, though having since read of stories of clogging, I would not today keep a pen inked for so long without cleaning it. I still have the pen and do flush it at least once per month if it is in use. And personally, if I don't foresee using a pen for more than three days, I try to empty and clean it. This may be over-cautious, but I've come to baby my pens, as I'm sure others on FPN do. I've read on some manufacturers sites that they recommend cleaning twice per year or any time that the pen will not be in use for an "extended period." I would guess that more than a week is an extended period and my advice would be to not let a pen sit unused for longer than that. It most likely "can" go longer than 10 days without any serious problems, but if you have some nice treasures that you want to last a lifetime, it can't hurt to get in a routine of cleaning them when they aren't in use.

[Glenn-SC]

I only flush my pens when I am either:

1) changing inks (some inks don't play nicely together)

2) putting the pen away.

 

What could happen if you didn't flush "once a month"?

If you are using a single type ink your ink feed MAY dry. Then, running the nib under water will flush it clean again.

 

I have "filled" 30+ year old vintage fountain pens I've gotten with water, and they resume writing! The water disolved the old dried ink and worked just fine.

Edited March 6, 2006 by Glenn-SC

[pvdiamon]

Glenn, if you aren't flushing regularly, have you noticed how long you can keep a pen inked without having a problem like drying out?

[JimStrutton]

I think I must be of the, "if it ain't broke don't fix it school" The pens I have inked stay inked until they come out of the rotation or I change ink colour.

 

I do wipe the nib before I fill or if I notice any fibres caught. Apart from that a pen can be in use and filled for months before it gets flushed. Don't seem to have any great problems. Either that or it is the design of the Parker "51" 61 as that is what I mostly use.

 

Jim

[Betty]

Silly question, but if you face the pen upwards so that ink doesn't touch the feed during storage, do you still have to clean it monthly?

[Ruaidhri]

Not an expert but I'd expect there would be ink in the collector anyway. Better safe than sorry.

Wish I could practice what I preach !

[KCat]

I have a golden brown parker vacumatic that I kept inked for 4 years straight and used it everyday without fail and it never seemed to have any problems.

i think this is important to emphasize. Using it everyday or even every other day keeps flow going and reduces the need for flushing, IMO.

[saturation]

Glenn, if you aren't flushing regularly, have you noticed how long you can keep a pen inked without having a problem like drying out?

I'm not Glenn but I tried this simple experiment.

 

When I prepare a pen for storage, I normally flush them clean with water, then suck water into the pen + converter for a day, to take the last residuals of ink out.

 

I was cleaning some extra Pilot VP nibs this weekend. Left exposed in a room with winter humidity of 30%, after 24 hours the converter is over half empty.

 

Ink is more viscous, but it demonstrates how quickly the pen dries out without a cap.

[Stylo]

I have a golden brown parker vacumatic that I kept inked for 4 years straight and used it everyday ...

A pen that gets used every day doesn't give ink much of a chance to dry inside the pen, and the mere refilling process probably does some flushing anyway. I think it is when pens periodically sit unused for a few days that dried ink slowly starts building up inside.

[southpaw]

This is not a recommendation, but merely what I do. I have some pens that get used occasionally but sit inked. Most of the ones in this category do great and write immediately with no problems - Cobalt Glow Balance II with Swishers/Noodlers Aquamarine Contract Ink comes to mind. When I write a pen out or want to change colors or take it out of "rotation" (in quotes because I don't really have a rotation yet), I always flush them out well with water. So far so good.

[wimg]

Silly question, but if you face the pen upwards so that ink doesn't touch the feed during storage, do you still have to clean it monthly?

Hi Betty,

 

Yes, you do, unless it doesn't contain any fluids anymore . Pens will dry out, even with the air tightest of caps, so it is better to prevent any problems than it is to eliminate them afterwards. The latter generally is harder to do and much more work too...

 

Warm regards, Wim

[wimg]

I have a golden brown parker vacumatic that I kept inked for 4 years straight and used it everyday without fail and it never seemed to have any problems.

i think this is important to emphasize. Using it everyday or even every other day keeps flow going and reduces the need for flushing, IMO.

Hi KCat,

 

You say it exactly right: reduces the need for flushing. But it still is required. I have had one pen, in the past, that I used for several years, every day, no flushing. It finally started writing rather badly, skipping, and the like. I flushed it and left it for a while, filled with water. Then flushed again, and it was ok again. This was in the period before I knew anything about fountain pens, other than how to write with and fill them, so I have been very lucky, the way I see it now...

Especially after my experience with a certain type of Parker ink...

 

Warm regards, Wim

[pvdiamon]

I'm glad to see this helpful discussion. But it seems most people use their inked pens daily. What do you do if you go away for vacation, and don't want to take all the inked pens? Do you flush them before you leave, or is 1-2 weeks okay to leave them? If you flush them, and some are half full or so, do you simply waste the ink down the sink?

[wimg]

Hi pvdiamon,

I'm glad to see this helpful discussion.  But it seems most people use their inked pens daily.  What do you do if you go away for vacation, and don't want to take all the inked pens? Do you flush them before you leave, or is 1-2 weeks okay to leave them?

If the cap seals very well, I would leave a pen inked. If the cap doesn't, I would rinse and flush it.

If you flush them, and some are half full or so, do you simply waste the ink down the sink?

Yes. For the risk of putting unwanted organic matter back into the ink (moulds and other nasty stuff) I'd rather flush those few cents away rather than potentially spoil a whole bottle of ink. Alternatively, you could expel the ink in an empty ink bottle you have kept for this specific reason. Some people make special mixes this way .

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[KCat]

Hi KCat,

 

You say it exactly right: reduces the need for flushing. But it still is required. I have had one pen, in the past, that I used for several years, every day, no flushing. It finally started writing rather badly, skipping, and the like. I flushed it and left it for a while, filled with water. Then flushed again, and it was ok again. This was in the period before I knew anything about fountain pens, other than how to write with and fill them, so I have been very lucky, the way I see it now...

Especially after my experience with a certain type of Parker ink...

 

Warm regards, Wim

Hi Wim.

 

Note the key word I used "reduces". Not eliminates.

 

I'm one who tries to flush my pens out probably about every two months if they're daily users.

 

if they aren't going to be used for 2+ weeks, they are usually emptied and flushed. Unless I forget. which happens. With my penchant for Penman Emerald, I feel strongly that most of the inks we use (if not all) are not 100% safe for long term storage in a pen. "Safe" is a strong word as I don't think they'd eat away anything - but definitely crud things up.

 

A sib had a pen that had been filled with "a certain brand" - Ebony was the color I think. And then packed it away and forgot about it. She showed it to me to see if I thought it was a lost cause. It wasn't "damaged" but the cleaning required was well beyond a flushing and she sent it off to Mr. B. to be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned.

 

On that note - I think my 200 with it's steady Emerald diet has been neglected and I should take a moment to do as I say.

[KCat]

I'm glad to see this helpful discussion. But it seems most people use their inked pens daily. What do you do if you go away for vacation, and don't want to take all the inked pens? Do you flush them before you leave, or is 1-2 weeks okay to leave them? If you flush them, and some are half full or so, do you simply waste the ink down the sink?

i agree with Wim on this one - 1-2 weeks ought to be perfectly safe. Since I often don't know how long a pen will be out of rotation, i go ahead and flush 'em. But if you know you'll be back to them within that time - give or take a few days - then it's probably fine to leave them as is.

 

As far as what I do with the ink - if it's one that's pricey or hard to get (Penman, NOS Skrip) then I have a small Nalgene jar that gets the contents of the pen for later use. Assuming of course that when I open the Nalgene jar the next time, nothing is growing in it. (so far, so good)