Cleaning Parker 51 before changing inks?

[azkid]

I don't use ammonia on my 51--or really any pen, anymore. It's really not necessary.

Gee, good thing I bought two gallons of the stuff. Anyone need some ammonia??

The design does tend to hold a lot of ink in the feed fins versus some designs I own.

I empty any remaining ink out then flush until the output starts to clear up, then put the pen nib down in a 30ml jar of water and let it sit a few hours then repeat the flush and soak until no more ink appears in the water in the jar. (Don't soak hard rubber parts or they will discolor)

I just got done cleaning mine and this time it took two repetitions (sometimes it's 3 or 4) and all of 5-10 minutes of actual work It's really not that bad, though.

But, yeah, you should flush unless you want your old ink contaminating your new ink.