Hi James (and to the list, it might help someone else)-

I think you were right about the rubber bulb, the bottle was off of a 
commercial strip-chart recorder. I don't use a rubber bulb, I just 
gently squeeze the plastic bottle (see below). Yes, there is a trick 
to it, but the BIGGER trick is to keep it flowing once you get it flowing!

Let me start with 1- ink, then 2- cleaning a gummed-up pen, 3- 
filling, and finally 4- operating (this is sort of the sequence of events)

INK- I use Sheaffer's Skrip fountain pen ink. It is easy to get, is 
water soluble/cleanable (use ammonia to remove ink from fingers), and 
can be cleaned from completely plugged-dry pen tubing (see below).

PLUGGED PEN ASSEMBLY- I take the whole metal pen assembly (not the 
plastic capillary tubing!), put it in an old pot and BOIL IT for a 
few minutes (don't let your wife catch you doing this!) Take it out 
and use a syringe to force water through the re-attached capillary 
tubing and pen. I use tap water for boiling and clearing, but I 
always do a finish rinse with distilled water using very clean 
utensils (pans/syringe, etc). Sometimes I have to soak and boil again.

FILLING- I use blunt-tipped industrial syringes of about 10cc volume 
so that one squirt fills my bottle. One cheap source of syringes is 
www.sciplus.com. The small ink bottle cap has a long metal tube to 
the bottom that the plastic capillary connects the pen to and a very 
short tube to allow air into the top of the bottle. Have the plastic 
tubing connected to the bottle and the pen before starting the first 
fill (I have gone years without needing to take the tubing off).I 
fill it by unscrewing the cap and gently injecting the ink directly 
into the bottle (try to not get bubbles). To fill the tube the first 
time, fill bottle with ink about 2/3rds, screw cap back on firmly to 
get an air seal around the cap. place a small square of absorbent 
tissue under the tip of the pen as it rests on the drum paper, put 
finger over top tube (if you use one), and gently squeeze the plastic 
bottle to fill the tube and pen. Continue squeezing until you get 
quite a bit of ink on the tissue. Important, do not let bottle suck 
ink back in when you release! While still squeezing, unblock top tube 
then unsqueeze. Remove  tissue and you are in business. Top of bottle 
must be able to get air in (or else it will just stop in a few days, 
or burp ink out on the paper). Sometimes the short tube gets a dried 
drop of ink in it and is blocked. I don't trust it and so I always 
leave the cap loosely screwed on

OPERATING- Adjust the height of bottle to be just a bit above the pen 
tip on the drum. Capillary action at the pen/paper interface will 
actually 'pull' the ink in and gravity will also help. I am able to 
leave the bottle at one place and have it work perfectly as the ink 
level goes from full to nearly empty. If there are any air bubbles in 
the line, the pen will stop inking. Catch this quickly or the ink 
will dry in the pen, it needs the ink to move through it to keep 
itself clean. Just do the tissue, plug and squeeze routine to get it 
started again. If the pen is skipping it is telling you that 
something is wrong and you should check ink bottle-height, use a 
tissue to see if ink will flow, and check ink level in bottle. NEVER 
let the ink get below the bottom of the tube down into the bottle! If 
it does, you go back to square one! I drew a big line on my bottle at 
about 1/4 and that is my signal to re-ink. I occasionally get a line 
that is too wide. Ink bottle too high can cause this, just move 
bottle down.. In the Summer when dust blows in, the pen will pick it 
up and also give a wide trace.

Procedure- I change paper about every three days. I have a 
micro-switch that will turn the drum drive motor off at the end of 
the travel and I frequently get an inkblot on the end of the trace. 
While ugly and data is lost, this is good for the pen as it keeps the 
ink flowing until you can change paper. When I change paper I gently 
clean the pen tip with a tissue wiping-off the bit of ink that has 
dried there and check ink level in the bottle and refill as 
necessary. I can usually go a week or 10 days before refilling. When 
finished refilling I hold the syringe vertical and aim it at a piece 
of tissue and pump air in and out a few times to try to get all the 
ink out. Shaking and repeating also will get some additional ink out 
of the syringe (don't do this over carpets!).  If I go on a trip for 
up to a week, I do nothing. if I am away longer I will remove all ink 
from the system (by squeezing the bottle), wash in clean distilled 
water, blow it dry and store in a safe place.

These procedures have worked for me for years and may be useful to you too.

George



At 08:14 PM 10/26/2009, you wrote:
>Hello again George.  I forgot to ask how do you get the ink to start 
>flowing.  I noticed that the cap to the ink bottle has what appears 
>as two openings, one for the capillary tubing and a larger open 
>one.  Is the larger one for some type of rubber bulb to force the 
>ink to start flowing through the capillary tubing?
>James Allen


George Bush
Sea Ranch, CA, USA


Hi James (and to the list, it might help someone else)-


I think you were right about the rubber bulb, the bottle was off of a
commercial strip-chart recorder. I don't use a rubber bulb, I just gently
squeeze the plastic bottle (see below). Yes, there is a trick to it, but
the BIGGER trick is to keep it flowing once you get it flowing!


Let me start with 1- ink, then 2- cleaning a gummed-up pen, 3- filling,
and finally 4- operating (this is sort of the sequence of
events)


INK- I use Sheaffer's Skrip fountain pen ink. It is easy to get, is water
soluble/cleanable (use ammonia to remove ink from fingers), and can be
cleaned from completely plugged-dry pen tubing (see below).


PLUGGED PEN ASSEMBLY- I take the whole metal pen assembly (not the
plastic capillary tubing!), put it in an old pot and BOIL IT for a few
minutes (don't let your wife catch you doing this!) Take it out and use a
syringe to force water through the re-attached capillary tubing and pen.
I use tap water for boiling and clearing, but I always do a finish rinse
with distilled water using very clean utensils (pans/syringe, etc).
Sometimes I have to soak and boil again. 


FILLING- I use blunt-tipped industrial syringes of about 10cc volume so
that one squirt fills my bottle. One cheap source of syringes is
www.sciplus.com.
The small ink bottle cap has a long metal tube to the bottom that the
plastic capillary connects the pen to and a very short tube to allow air
into the top of the bottle. Have the plastic tubing connected to the
bottle and the pen before starting the first fill (I have gone years
without needing to take the tubing off).I fill it by unscrewing the cap
and gently injecting the ink directly into the bottle (try to not get
bubbles). To fill the tube the first time, fill bottle with ink about
2/3rds, screw cap back on firmly to get an air seal around the cap. place
a small square of absorbent tissue under the tip of the pen as it rests
on the drum paper, put finger over top tube (if you use one), and gently
squeeze the plastic bottle to fill the tube and pen. Continue squeezing
until you get quite a bit of ink on the tissue. Important, do not let
bottle suck ink back in when you release! While still squeezing, unblock
top tube then unsqueeze. Remove  tissue and you are in business. Top
of bottle must be able to get air in (or else it will just stop in a few
days, or burp ink out on the paper). Sometimes the short tube gets a
dried drop of ink in it and is blocked. I don't trust it and so I always
leave the cap loosely screwed on


OPERATING- Adjust the height of bottle to be just a bit above the pen tip
on the drum. Capillary action at the pen/paper interface will actually
'pull' the ink in and gravity will also help. I am able to leave the
bottle at one place and have it work perfectly as the ink level goes from
full to nearly empty. If there are any air bubbles in the line, the pen
will stop inking. Catch this quickly or the ink will dry in the pen, it
needs the ink to move through it to keep itself clean. Just do the
tissue, plug and squeeze routine to get it started again. If the pen is
skipping it is telling you that something is wrong and you should check
ink bottle-height, use a tissue to see if ink will flow, and check ink
level in bottle. NEVER let the ink get below the bottom of the tube down
into the bottle! If it does, you go back to square one! I drew a big line
on my bottle at about 1/4 and that is my signal to re-ink. I occasionally
get a line that is too wide. Ink bottle too high can cause this, just
move bottle down.. In the Summer when dust blows in, the pen will pick it
up and also give a wide trace.


Procedure- I change paper about every three days. I have a micro-switch
that will turn the drum drive motor off at the end of the travel and I
frequently get an inkblot on the end of the trace. While ugly and data is
lost, this is good for the pen as it keeps the ink flowing until you can
change paper. When I change paper I gently clean the pen tip with a
tissue wiping-off the bit of ink that has dried there and check ink level
in the bottle and refill as necessary. I can usually go a week or 10 days
before refilling. When finished refilling I hold the syringe vertical and
aim it at a piece of tissue and pump air in and out a few times to try to
get all the ink out. Shaking and repeating also will get some additional
ink out of the syringe (don't do this over carpets!).  If I go on a
trip for up to a week, I do nothing. if I am away longer I will remove
all ink from the system (by squeezing the bottle), wash in clean
distilled water, blow it dry and store in a safe place.


These procedures have worked for me for years and may be useful to you
too.


George





At 08:14 PM 10/26/2009, you wrote:

Hello again
George.  I forgot to ask how do you get the ink to start
flowing.  I noticed that the cap to the ink bottle has what appears
as two openings, one for the capillary tubing and a larger open
one.  Is the larger one for some type of rubber bulb to force the
ink to start flowing through the capillary tubing?

James Allen







George Bush

Sea Ranch, CA, USA

38.73775N, 123.48882W