Newb with a P51 - trouble starting it

[Taylor of Bank Street]

​Pen gurus,

So, first of all, I was completely wrong about being able to hold off for awhile and just use my little lamy and its cartridges before looking further afield. Some knowing comments were made and they were right...I've got the bug. I still want to be more of a pen user rather than a pen collector, but I have made some acquisitions. My mea culpa having been made, this brings me to my problem...

I recently acquired a Mark II Parker 51 aerometric. So far, so good. The seller had writing samples and I'm trusting that they were in fact from this pen.

It was sold fully restored and ready to go. I gave it a good soak and flush anyways, removing some seemingly fresh blue ink from the sac/bladder.

Just tried it out for the first time a few minutes ago with some Eternal Brown and...no dice. A dip pen would work better. Holding it in the proper position I can hardly get any ink out of the nib. I've tried dipping it, and giving the sac a little squeeze but it doesn't keep going for more than a few letters. If I write really, really slow the ink flow can keep up, but at normal speed it soon disappears entirely. There seems to be an ink flow problem of some sort.

I found this on the net, which seems to capture my issue perfectly:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/139226-parker-51-trouble-starting/

I can try this advice, but I already gave it what was supposed to be another redundant cleaning.

So, so discouraged. Had wanted to do a few holiday cards with a permanent ink before heading in to work to prep for what is my crazy time of year. I don't have time for this. Crap. I'm admittedly less patient than I normally am right now, but I can't say I'm feeling particularly zen.

I've watched enough take-it-apart videos on the P51 that I don't relish the possibility of trying to take it apart myself.

Any words of wisdom?

T.

 

[STLMike]

That's a bummer! What I would try is to flush it, soak just the nib in cold water with 2 or 3 drops of dish soap in it for a few hours to overnight. I would only soak the nib and not all the way up to the threads just to make sure no trim gets corroded. Once you finish the soak, use a paper town to wick away any water left in the feed. Press the squeeze bar a few times while you have the paper towel over the nib too. If you have a different ink, I would try that when you are ready to refill the pen. Whenever I have a problem pen I try using a Waterman ink as they seem to flow in just about anything.

I know it's a pain but the 51 once it's working will be a fantastic pen! I've to a Dove Grey 51 special that is in my rotation and isn't leaving anytime soon! I did have to do the above to get it working well. I thought the black ink would never stop flushing out of it!

 

[Taylor of Bank Street]

Thanks for the reply.

I guess another cleaning/flushing and another ink is about all I can try. After that, I may have to consider sending it out to have someone take a look at it. I'm feeling a little better about it and hearing your experience indicates that all is not lost. I'm going to set this pen aside for a bit till I have time to devote to it.

In the meantime, I'm going to fill an empty lamy cartridge with my new ink and give that a go. If that doesn't work as well, I'll question whether the common denominator (ink) is the issue. It's been below freezing here of late and wonder if that could have mucked up the ink in transit.

Onwards and upwards.