Any advice on cleaning a pressure bar type fountain pen?

[politicat]

I have a thing for fountain pens, but until I bought this most recent one, I've always had twist type converters or ink reservoirs. I've never had a pressure bar pump type, and this one is a permanent pump, meaning I can't take it apart to clean it.

Does anyone have any advice for getting this one clean? I'm not terribly attached to it, but it does have a nice, fine hooded point, and it wasn't very expensive, so if I can keep it in rotation, I'd like to.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. I collect 'em and can fix 'em ...... but ya gotta give me .......

.... a bit more to go on. A name and model is helpful. A picture's worth a thousand words.

[politicat]

2. Easy.

It's a cheapie; I buy cheap ones from the merchant I linked the photo from because they walk off my desks with surprising regularity. I know better than to use something vintage or expensive where it can go walk-about. (And to be honest, the ones I don't like I tend to leave on the desk where the pen thieves can take them, so that someone else has to deal with the thing.)

It's this one:


And this is the fill mechanism.


Yes, it's a cheap parker aerometric knockoff. It's also a five dollar pen I don't have to stress about losing, and since I can no longer write with ballpoints and razor-points tend to leak at this altitude, this is the solution.

I'm having a hell of a time getting the bulletproof green ink out of it (this pen will become a black ink only pen, I think...). I can still see green liquid in the bladder inside of the fill mechanism.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. I'm not sure there's an easy and financially viable fix for it ....

.... it isn't a 'pressure bar' pen. It is, as you point out, an aerometric filler with a design the Chinese maker (Hero) ripped off from Parker's 51s, 41s, 21s, etc.

It may actually be interchangeable with a Parker, but you'd need a donor pen for that.

Honestly ..... I don't think its worth fixing.

[politicat]

4. It works, it just is a pain to clean.

I'll probably leave it on my desk for anyone with a lust for my pens to latch on to.

(Am I just evil, or what?)

[Stinky The Clown]

5. I dunno about evil ...... but to set a pen sting ...... you might be!

:)

If its just the green ink residue that's troubling you .... there may not be any quick fix other than to replace the bladder, which is likely some sort of silicone. That's what Parker used.

The green ink residue might be from the pen having been filled with Parker Pen's greatest error ever - Penman Ink. It is vile shit and will stain everything it touches. It was intended to replace their older (1940s-1950s) Superchrome ink made specifically to work with the Parker 51. The Superchrome was a more saturated color than Parker's regular ink - Quink. The Penman was too strong and Parker eventually killed off the line in the late 90s, but some of it is surely still in circulation.

The other problematic ink is Herbin, a vegetable based ink made in France since the 1700s ... maybe even earlier. It works sorta okay in fountain pens but has a nasty habit of staining not only the innards, but the outside too. Cellulose pens (those dreamy swirly brightly colored plastics that are just captivating) are particularly susceptible. Like this vintage Parker Duofold in Lapis Lazuli Blue:



My guess is that the staining won't affect an ink color change. Since you'll be changing to black, I dare say you'll never notice the green at all.

[politicat]

6. It's new; I inked for the first time, so this is my mistake.

I use noodler's almost exclusively because I'm a leftie, so I need a quick dry, even though I'm not a hook leftie. Below line, at an angle, and I regrind my nibs for a tiny oblique angle.

I love twist fillers.... this thing is a pain in the butt.

[nedbal]

7. Soaking a day in ammonia will break down OLD india ink