Burping P45

[Paddler]

I have done a search for this problem and came up with 20 pages of bad hits, so I guess this problem hasn't come up here before.

I have 3 Parker 45 pens. One of them (the one I use the most) has recently begun to burp a large drop of ink when the barrel warms up in my hand. It is like the feed suddenly lacks an ink buffer. Parker 21 MK1 and MK2 pens do the same thing, but I understand that is a design problem with the feeds.

Is there a fix for my P45?

[jar]

Cool hands, Luke.

Switch to cartridges?

[ac12]

Never had that problem with a P45, and I used 2 of them heavily in 7 years of college; undergrad and grad.

How are you holding the pen so that your hand is warming up the pen?

What is the environment where you are writing?
Describe the senario where this happens, paying attention to the environment where the pen is, from several hours before using the pen, till the time that the pen burps.

What ink are you using, and how wet does the pen write?

[amk]

That is really weird. You're not eyedroppering a 45, I hope?

Worth checking to see if the nib unit isn't screwed in firmly. If it has worked a bit loose that might account for the problem.

[Paddler]

jar, I am using cartridges in all three pens. One pen burps until it warms up; the others do not.

ac12, I hold the pen in the normal three finger hold with the barrel in the web of the hand.

I start by pulling the pen out of its holder where it has been all night, nib up and cap on. The heat in the room is set at 58 degrees F. The pen writes at the first stroke and gradually, over the course of five minutes or so, begins to write darker as time progresses until it deposits a blob of ink on the paper. I wipe the nib and feed which pulls more ink out of the pen. The pen will then write the rest of the day, as long as I don't let it cool off. The problem gets worse as the air bubble in the cartridge enlarges. My other two 45s don't do this.

I use Parker blue/black Quink and refill the cartridges with a syringe. Changing cartridges doesn't help. The pen writes with middling wetness, showing a normal light/dark variation.

Oh, and the front 2/3 of the section has a little shrinkage. The shrinkage is symmetrical around the circumference. My other 45s don't have this feature.

[jar]

Find the air leak.

[ac12]

Try using Cross or Pelikan ink. I had a drooling problem with my P180 and Quink ink. Seems that the pen was too wet for the Parker ink. The dryer Pelikan ink slowed down the ink flow enough that the pen stopped drooling.

[Paddler]

It acts like the buffer in the section is blocked. Is there a way to clean it out? Is it threaded together? What is inside there, anyway?

[stub]

Disassemble the pen soak the section in luke warm water with a few drops of dish detergent in it overnight. Every once in a while pull the section out of the cup and put it back in or agitate it. Maybe mildly warm up the water ever once in a while or change the water completely. in the morning swap out the water again. Go to work, come home do it again overnight but just clear water now. Meanwhile clean and dry the feed, nib & collar. ... Do this till the water is clear. The section has a collector type thing built into it and that sucka can hold a metric shit ton of old 70s Quink. Make sure it is really clean as you can get it.

Put it back together after it is rinsed thoroughly and dry. Now try a cartridge. Get yourself a box of Aurora Blue or Black Carts. Pop one in. Write with it a while. Let it sit a day, try again. See where you are at. All should be good. If not. You might have other issue.

I am doing this dance now with a flighter. The converter was hosed and was leaking and once it is cleaned up I will also try an Aurora Cartidge and see where I am at. Doesn't have to be Aurora but that is good ink and Aurora carts are the same as Parker and i know Aurora ink's behavior well.

[jar]

Also make sure the nib is fully screwed in place. If you have another nib try swapping them.

[Paddler]

OK.
I will put the section into a film canister with distilled water and a drop of dish soap and tape it to a control arm on the old Wrangler and take 'er off-road for a while. That will unplug a Sheaffer TipDip feed in about a week. I'll let you guys know what happens.

[Paddler]

Update:
I ran water through the section until the water ran clean. Then, I squirted water and air through with an ear bulb. The water started clean and then suddenly a whole lot of ink came flooding out. I kept at it until the water was colorless again and then put the section in a film canister with water and liquid dish detergent and taped it to the front suspension of my Jeep and drove over rough roads for a week. Then I put the section through a few cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner. The problem is now worse than ever: If I hold the cold pen in my hand long enough, 5 drops of ink will eventually drip from the nib. If I hold it vertically without warming it, it doesn't drip at all. I think I will smash this section to see what is inside and put the other parts in the parts box.

[jar]

Update:
If I hold the cold pen in my hand long enough, 5 drops of ink will eventually drip from the nib. If I hold it vertically without warming it, it doesn't drip at all.

That does not sound like burping at all but rather an air leak.

Are you using a converter? If so, switch to a cartridge and see if the problem goes away. Let's see if we can determine where the leak might be.

[Paddler]

Update:
If I hold the cold pen in my hand long enough, 5 drops of ink will eventually drip from the nib. If I hold it vertically without warming it, it doesn't drip at all.

That does not sound like burping at all but rather an air leak.

Are you using a converter? If so, switch to a cartridge and see if the problem goes away. Let's see if we can determine where the leak might be.

OK, jar,
I wasn't using a converter, but I put in a new cartridge anyway. Cleaned out all the blue black Quink first. The new cartridge is a genuine Parker and is brand spankin'. Color is blue, but whether permanent or washable, I can't tell without testing it. So far, everything is working well. I don't expect any dripping, though, until the bubble in the cartridge gets bigger.

[jar]

Update:
If I hold the cold pen in my hand long enough, 5 drops of ink will eventually drip from the nib. If I hold it vertically without warming it, it doesn't drip at all.

That does not sound like burping at all but rather an air leak.

Are you using a converter? If so, switch to a cartridge and see if the problem goes away. Let's see if we can determine where the leak might be.

OK, jar,
I wasn't using a converter, but I put in a new cartridge anyway. Cleaned out all the blue black Quink first. The new cartridge is a genuine Parker and is brand spankin'. Color is blue, but whether permanent or washable, I can't tell without testing it. So far, everything is working well. I don't expect any dripping, though, until the bubble in the cartridge gets bigger.

Let us know, but the design of the Parker 45 is such that simple heating from your hand should never cause burping.

Consider how the Parker 45 is built.

When assembled with a cartridge you basically have a thermos bottle, a liquid container surrounded by an insulator (the cartridge itself) then a sealed airspace, and yet an outer insulator (the pen body). This is entirely different than the construction of an eye dropper.

I really hope the new cartridge solves your problem but still suspect a leak in the pen somewhere. It could just be the nib not fully screwed in place or a small crack in the hood (even an internal one) but really think burping is very unlikely.

[Paddler]

The new cartridge has been in place long enough for me to write it down halfway and no burps. I guess the old cartridge was faulty. I will have to investigate that. It feels like a good tight fit when I plug it in. Sure fooled me.

Thanks for the help, jar and stub and ac12.

[jar]

The new cartridge has been in place long enough for me to write it down halfway and no burps. I guess the old cartridge was faulty. I will have to investigate that. It feels like a good tight fit when I plug it in. Sure fooled me.

Thanks for the help, jar and stub and ac12.

yay!

[stub]

Glad it worked out. Currently enjoying several P45 in my daily work and while bad ones can be pretty darn terrible, good ones are a joy.