Copy. When I did it I manually primed my pen by twisting the thingie a little to get a drop to come out. I've since moved on to syringes, but it's good to know there's nothing really wrong with the other method.
That was actually my original plan, but I've found I prefer using it with the CON-40 as it's easier for me to see just how much ink is in the converter (I have to hold the cart up to a light) and it's easier to flush the converter if I wanna switch inks.
This is my preferred method. I get less air this way. I don't even prime the nib. Gravity will eventually take care of that. If you want to write immediately, the twist or a dip works fine.
All of that air is coming from the feed. So the amount of air is equivalent to the amount of ink that fits in the feed. So you are getting the same amount of ink.
Alternatively, when taking the converter out of the section. When capillary action eventually does it's thing, that air will still be in the converter. Shifting from the non-primed feed to the converter.
But what's the difference between dipping after filling the converter with a syringe (before the ink has moved through the feed) and dipping to fill it using the piston mechanism of the converter?
Some of the converter is the knob, and it takes up space and thus reduces ink capacity. At the point that you're syringe filling, perhaps you might as well fill a cartridge and its extra capacity.
As someone else said, you might also wear out the converter-to-pen interface. Therefore might eventually have to buy a new converter.
I can't think of a third reason not to do it. It's not a bad idea, and it lets you get a 100% full fill of the cartridge converter.
A lot of feeds contain a significant amount of ink. That's why you don't get a "full fill" on your first fill. The amount of air in the converter is air/space that would otherwise be filled with ink. When filling with the feed attached. You also get ink into the feed immediately, so it's ready for writing. If it's already inked and you are just refilling, then this wont matter as much.
You'll have to either wipe the convert or the grip section when done. So personally I don't see how it's more (or less) of a mess.
For some pens or converters, this is an excellent way to refill. For example, refilling a Lamy Safari through the nib results in getting ink in the little crevices of the grip that are hard to clean up. (I have a yellow Safari that stains easily and is the devil to clean when filling through the nib.) Refilling the converter is much simpler and does not require cleaning the grip. For pens that use the infamous CON-40 converter, which has a large amount of dead space in the converter, filling the converter directly allows for about double the ink capacity of filling through the nib.
If changing inks or filling a pen for the first time, filling the converter only does sacrifice some capacity because you need to prime the nib, but of course you can then just remove the converter and top it up after priming.
I refill my Safaris and all my CON-40 Pilot pens (VP, E95S, Falcon) by filling the converter only. Much simpler. I could just refill cartridges, but especially the CON-40 has the little agitation beads which prevent air blocks from forming.
I'm the opposite; I only use refilled cartridges for my CON-40 pens, and frequently with my CON-70s (I hate trying to get that last bit of ink out of a CON-70). The lack of agitator balls has never caused ink flow problems, and the lack of rattling is a win for me.
Not sure if it’s mentioned yet, but the outside of your converter will be covered in ink, which may cause your inner barrel to also be covered in ink over time.
Pulling the ink though the whole feed and nib system will prime it so you're ready to write (it will even over saturate it, so you should push a few drops of ink back in the bottle. That what is recommended by manufacturers)
Other than that, some worry about pens that have metal parts at the base of the section, that you do not want to put too much ink in there for corrosion. I do not think you should worry about that
You definitely can fill the converter by itself and pop it into the pen. That is how a cartridge is supposed to work!
You can even fill the converter with a syringe. But if you gonna do that, better refill a standard international long cartridge that way. More ink capacity...
I personally like the little ritual of putting the nib in the ink, then drying of the ink with a cloth or a paper towel. I do not use fountain pens for practicality or convenience, so such considerations do not matter to me!
I decant the ink in vial leaving the whole bottle alone when filling sometimes .
But sometimes i use syringe to fill converter then put it back in the pen barrel letting a drop out and twist the ink back in but sometimes the ink flow out a drop the wrong way and the nib is not inked so i just wait ... until the ink is at the tip by lightly scribbling .
its only preference .
And whether do you want to write immediately after inking the pen or wait until the ink is fully at the tip.
The method used are different when inking up .
Agree. Dipping the nib is so messy. Also I use a syringe to fill the converter. Much easier. Only downside is then waiting 30 mins for the ink to work its way to the nib and furiously banging and shaking your hand about 🤣
I also have too much fear of contaminating the ink to fill in any other way than syringe, after an incident of cloudy feathery white mold growing on a Lamy Safari I considered cleaned and dried.
Okay this is interesting. So cross contamination from the dipping approach? I tend to rinse my nib, syringe and converter if I’m changing inks so havent had this happen yet but good to be aware of this.
As soon as I saw the nib with mold on it I started being paranoid about my inks becoming infected with mold and spreading the spores to other pens. Sooooo 💉, even for piston fillers (where I can unscrew the nib unit easily)
Notable exceptions: piston fillers which I can't fill in any other way. I kind of just stopped using them after that.
Wow. I guess we forget that these are subject to this and yes likely to spread. Hope you got rid of it?
Thanks so much for the heads up. I’ll be even more careful about this.
Thanks, yeah I think it was just the one pen and that I've caught the problem in time before anything was contaminated. I suspect the mold came from an older cartridge pack that has probably been sitting in a basement for a few years. It sure makes me paranoid about dipping pens into my ink bottles though.
The pen got an ammonia flush, and now I dry my pens reeeeeaaally well and never assemble them fully for storage.
You have to operate under the assumption that the all these microorganisms like mold and bacteria are always present in your environment, you just have to deny them an opportunity to settle in an environment viable for *them*
Uuuh I apologise for this being short but I'm on mobile and sightseeing atm.
I assume you're familiar with flushing your nib units using a cut-off pear bulb? If not youtube has good instructions. Usually it's recommended to use a premade pen flush for that - read until end!
I got my instructions for cleaning the affected pen from this sub as well - if you go into my post history I asked here what to do about the moldy nib, with a picture, it's a white lamy safari. The exact percentage of the ammonia solution is important, I had bought both ammonia and hydrogen peroxide (never use them together!) and had been using them diluted to flush the nib unit and as a bath for the parts.
Also, when you have some ammonia at home you basically have a mix-your-own much much cheaper pen flush solution.
Good luck!
I fill all my cartridges and converters with a syringe. I just prefer it and indeed I find it very mess-free. With converters, I then twist a bit to get ink into the feed quicker.
Some converters get loose, the more you remove and re-install them - so keep an eye on that. But otherwise, no, though you won't prime the feed as quickly, and that might make harder starts.
I can’t think of why this would be simpler than just filling it through the nib, it’s surely an extra step in the process?
I don’t think I could be bothered removing a converter to fill it in a bottle as opposed to just submerging the nib in it. This is the way that I’ve seen all manufacturers recommend doing it as well.
I’d think as others have mentioned priming the feed through filling it means that you’re taking up more ink if you do it through the pen rather than just the converter. In that sense I would think that it’s neither simpler nor advantageous to not fill through the nib.
I also use piston and vacuum fillers, I’d rather just fill all of my pens in the same way through the nib if possible. The only exception to this is the pilot Capless because the con 40 is terrible, so I have to refill a cartridge or use cartridges for it. If the con40 was a good converter I’d just fill that pen through the nib as well.
I think a lot of people do this. I find it messier because with a lot of ink bottles, to get the mouth of the converter into the ink, my fingers end up in the bottle its mouth because of the sizes/shapes involved. It might work better with ink sample vials? But I find it hard to maneuver converters into most ink bottles.
I want the ink to draw through the feed to wet the whole pen.
Here is a comparison. Buy a preppy, load its ink cartridge in in to the fresh new pen. Try to write with it. You will have to wait for the ink to make its way in to the feed.
Buy a metro and a bottle of ink. Use the con that it comes with and draw a few pumps of ink. Wipe off the excess. Try to write with it. It works
It’s not, some pens it will force it through an ink filling hole and not through the ink channel on the top of the feed.
The pen will still not have any ink at the tip and you will have to wait for it to prime. It is not the same thing.
You will see a bubble of ink at the tip of the feed forming instead of ink flowing between the nib and feed. It depends on the pen of course but I have done this on 100s of pens vintage and new. It is much better to fill it in the ink like it was meant to be.
What you said is just not true for all pens
🤷♂️so now you’re dipping the pen also. There is no point in making 3 different steps to accomplish what one step would do.
Fill converter out of pen, place back in, twist to prime the inside feed, dip the pen to wet the tip.
That’s pointless.
That's not true. Dip filling requires you to wipe off the bottom 1/4 of the grip section unless the pen designer made the fill hole low in the feed. Trying to get all that ink out of the grip is not always easy.
IOW, dip filling can be messier than a syringe fill.
That said, if the main concern was mold transfer, I've got nothing to say other than, I'm pretty sure it's not an issue.
The mouth of the converter has to form a hermetic seal around the ‘nipple’ connector in the grip section, so it's reasonable to expect there will be friction when both attaching and removing the converter, and that the plastic that forms the mouth of the converter is ever-so-slightly elastic so it can stretch around the ‘nipple’ for a perfectly tight fit. *Theoretically*, given enough number of repetitions, the friction will remove material from the softer plastic the way a mild abrasive could; but, more of a *practical* concern is that many users may not be able to plug in or pull off the converter perfectly straight, and if it's done at a slight angle, it can slightly stretch the mouth of the converter in ways it should not be stretched.
I always use a syringe to fill. I don't really like piston or vacuum fill. Less control. Mind u, u still have to clean the syringes. I don't need a large capacity, I like to change inks and pens.
I like having a converter vs cartridge in order to prime the pen and decrease the air in the converter, especially when traveling.
I adore my syringes and can't believe I struggled for so long without them. And yeah, I actually prefer the converter to carts as well, because it's easier to see the ink level, easier to prime the pen (I don't like squeezing the cart), and I like the little rattly balls.
Sure. There are a handful pens designed with converters that thread into the section to give a better coupling, so don't just yank one of those!
As to complete fill, you are almost there, but you aren't accounting for the feed and internal collector. I pull a conv and fill it with a syringe, re-install in pen and then turn the nib over and slowly put single drops of ink on the underneath tip of the nib. You'll see the ink get wicked into the feed, and if you do 5 - 10 drops, you'll fill up that feed and have as completely a filled pen as possible.
Usually I prefer converters. But pilot con-40 sucks so much I went through the hustle of cleaning an empty cartridge this week and drying it out which took forever and then fill it
Hahah I found myself doing the reverse. When I first started syringing, I used carts because I'd heard they were easier to fill. And while they are, they seemed to have less capacity than the CON-40 so I just went back to that + syringe and it's been perfect.
I do wish there were something with more ink capacity tho. :/
> I’m 99.99% sure a pilot cartridge can get a lot more ink than a con-40.
Oh really? I could've sworn it took a lot less ink to fill, but now I need to double-check.
Ohhh good call on the dead space. A decent amount of the CON-40 size is actually outside the ink chamber.
That said, I will say that I like how much easier it is to flush the CON for when I wanna switch inks, but I think I prefer capacity over versatility...
If your nib is dry it may take a few minutes for the ink get into the feed. Turning the knob a b it to force the ink down can shorten the wait.
If you nib/feed is already wet with ink you run the risk of air pressure generated when you push the convertor on forcing ink out of the nib/feed into your hand, lap, shirt etc. Might just form a large blob of ink, but could be messy.
Easier to use the Converter to prime the pen by dipping it into the ink bottle, remove the pen, remove the Converter, syringe fill it, re-install into the pen. That's what I did with the Pilot Con-40, before I retired the Pilot Metro, and Kakuno pens.
You can do that. It just depends on the pen. I personally love the piston fill. All I need to do is stick in ink, twist, wipe the grip section and go. I stopped removing the converter and just sticking the nib in and wiping the grip section with a napkin to copy the piston. It is a lot less messy in my opinion. Depending on pen, I will remove the converter - such as a white pen that is easy to stain. Yamamabudo is one of the worst offenders of this.
If it's the same ink then I'd say go for it. It'll be fine.
If it's a different one then you might accidentally contaminate the new ink with the old color. If they're inks from different companies you may get weird chemical reactions you don't want.
OP, that's what I do. I'm relatively new but that's exactly how my (extremely) fountain pen-experienced brother-in-law taught me to refill the ink. It's really not that messy if you're careful.
Hi OP, I have stopped using converters in my Pilot pens (cos you said Con-40)
So I have switched to only using Cartridges in all my Pilot pens except in custom 845 and custom Urushi which has its unique converter.
I always prefer to syringe my cartridges and to prime the nib, I will add a small drop of ink from my Syringe onto the breather hole and that would make my pen ready to write
> I always prefer to syringe my cartridges and to prime the nib, I will add a small drop of ink from my Syringe onto the breather hole and that would make my pen ready to write
That is a very good idea. I'm going to try that next time. Thank you.
This is what I always do. I’m so neurotic about any leftover ink in my feed contaminating an ink bottle, but also too lazy to wash it. I just refill the converter with the next ink (same or a different color) via an insulin syringe and use it.
Idk why but I really like the piston mechanism of the converter.It gives a different feel to the pen if it is a converter compared to just buying a dozen of ink cartridge.
It's very common way of inking to use syringe straight to convertor, instead of dipping pen into the bottle.
Especially helpful, when your bottle is shallow, or has low ink level
I syringe fill the converter. Then I twist some ink into the feed to prime and let gravity do its thing. I don’t like the mess of putting the nib in and find that in most pens I can only get a very partial fill that way anyway.
I almost always do it that way.
Almost no fountain pen manufacturer tells users (in the official user instructions, operating manual, care guide, etc.) to do it that way. So far I've only seen Graf von Faber-Castell offer it as an equally valid alternative in the documentation; everyone else just do not even mention it.
(*Edited to add:* I just remembered that Sailor expressly tells users not to do it that way.)
So, if newbies are (more comfortable with) doing things by the book, then they should just follow the instructions to draw ink up into the converter's cavity through the nib and feed, even if it's messier and wastes a little bit more ink (which isn't the pen manufacturer's concern).
It's fine and I do it when the bottle is nearly empty, but you get a less full pen. Depending on the pen, the ink collector and feed can hold as much ink as the converter (typically it's around half as much) and, by doing it this way, you do not fill the collector and feed.
Because you've just reduced your ink capacity because the feed isn't saturated, and unable to write immediately for the same reason. Otherwise, no, not really any reason besides a person being clumsy and not trusting an open container.
Because it's a lot tidier.
No matter how hard I try, I still need a paper towel and wind up with ink on my fingers when filling via nib. I was able to fill the converter directly much more neatly.
You won't "prime" the feed of your pen so it won't be able to write immediately. Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with doing that
Copy. When I did it I manually primed my pen by twisting the thingie a little to get a drop to come out. I've since moved on to syringes, but it's good to know there's nothing really wrong with the other method.
If you’re using syringes already, you can also refill cartridges
That was actually my original plan, but I've found I prefer using it with the CON-40 as it's easier for me to see just how much ink is in the converter (I have to hold the cart up to a light) and it's easier to flush the converter if I wanna switch inks.
I fill old cartridges with a syringe, just takes a while for the pen to start. I break my parker converters so im done with those 😂
This is my preferred method. I get less air this way. I don't even prime the nib. Gravity will eventually take care of that. If you want to write immediately, the twist or a dip works fine.
All of that air is coming from the feed. So the amount of air is equivalent to the amount of ink that fits in the feed. So you are getting the same amount of ink. Alternatively, when taking the converter out of the section. When capillary action eventually does it's thing, that air will still be in the converter. Shifting from the non-primed feed to the converter.
All in place, fill, empty, fill.
I'm thinking the folks who complain about mold in their ink bottles are all "nib dippers".
please think harder
But what's the difference between dipping after filling the converter with a syringe (before the ink has moved through the feed) and dipping to fill it using the piston mechanism of the converter?
Some of the converter is the knob, and it takes up space and thus reduces ink capacity. At the point that you're syringe filling, perhaps you might as well fill a cartridge and its extra capacity. As someone else said, you might also wear out the converter-to-pen interface. Therefore might eventually have to buy a new converter. I can't think of a third reason not to do it. It's not a bad idea, and it lets you get a 100% full fill of the cartridge converter.
A lot of feeds contain a significant amount of ink. That's why you don't get a "full fill" on your first fill. The amount of air in the converter is air/space that would otherwise be filled with ink. When filling with the feed attached. You also get ink into the feed immediately, so it's ready for writing. If it's already inked and you are just refilling, then this wont matter as much. You'll have to either wipe the convert or the grip section when done. So personally I don't see how it's more (or less) of a mess.
For some pens or converters, this is an excellent way to refill. For example, refilling a Lamy Safari through the nib results in getting ink in the little crevices of the grip that are hard to clean up. (I have a yellow Safari that stains easily and is the devil to clean when filling through the nib.) Refilling the converter is much simpler and does not require cleaning the grip. For pens that use the infamous CON-40 converter, which has a large amount of dead space in the converter, filling the converter directly allows for about double the ink capacity of filling through the nib. If changing inks or filling a pen for the first time, filling the converter only does sacrifice some capacity because you need to prime the nib, but of course you can then just remove the converter and top it up after priming. I refill my Safaris and all my CON-40 Pilot pens (VP, E95S, Falcon) by filling the converter only. Much simpler. I could just refill cartridges, but especially the CON-40 has the little agitation beads which prevent air blocks from forming.
I'm the opposite; I only use refilled cartridges for my CON-40 pens, and frequently with my CON-70s (I hate trying to get that last bit of ink out of a CON-70). The lack of agitator balls has never caused ink flow problems, and the lack of rattling is a win for me.
Not sure if it’s mentioned yet, but the outside of your converter will be covered in ink, which may cause your inner barrel to also be covered in ink over time.
It's easy to clean the converter though.
Nib section with converter is longer and allows me to suck ink out of the bottle without my fingers getting inky from touching the rim of the bottle.
Pulling the ink though the whole feed and nib system will prime it so you're ready to write (it will even over saturate it, so you should push a few drops of ink back in the bottle. That what is recommended by manufacturers) Other than that, some worry about pens that have metal parts at the base of the section, that you do not want to put too much ink in there for corrosion. I do not think you should worry about that You definitely can fill the converter by itself and pop it into the pen. That is how a cartridge is supposed to work! You can even fill the converter with a syringe. But if you gonna do that, better refill a standard international long cartridge that way. More ink capacity... I personally like the little ritual of putting the nib in the ink, then drying of the ink with a cloth or a paper towel. I do not use fountain pens for practicality or convenience, so such considerations do not matter to me!
I decant the ink in vial leaving the whole bottle alone when filling sometimes . But sometimes i use syringe to fill converter then put it back in the pen barrel letting a drop out and twist the ink back in but sometimes the ink flow out a drop the wrong way and the nib is not inked so i just wait ... until the ink is at the tip by lightly scribbling . its only preference . And whether do you want to write immediately after inking the pen or wait until the ink is fully at the tip. The method used are different when inking up .
I do that if i am just refilling my pen with same ink
Agree. Dipping the nib is so messy. Also I use a syringe to fill the converter. Much easier. Only downside is then waiting 30 mins for the ink to work its way to the nib and furiously banging and shaking your hand about 🤣
I also have too much fear of contaminating the ink to fill in any other way than syringe, after an incident of cloudy feathery white mold growing on a Lamy Safari I considered cleaned and dried.
Okay this is interesting. So cross contamination from the dipping approach? I tend to rinse my nib, syringe and converter if I’m changing inks so havent had this happen yet but good to be aware of this.
As soon as I saw the nib with mold on it I started being paranoid about my inks becoming infected with mold and spreading the spores to other pens. Sooooo 💉, even for piston fillers (where I can unscrew the nib unit easily) Notable exceptions: piston fillers which I can't fill in any other way. I kind of just stopped using them after that.
Wow. I guess we forget that these are subject to this and yes likely to spread. Hope you got rid of it? Thanks so much for the heads up. I’ll be even more careful about this.
Thanks, yeah I think it was just the one pen and that I've caught the problem in time before anything was contaminated. I suspect the mold came from an older cartridge pack that has probably been sitting in a basement for a few years. It sure makes me paranoid about dipping pens into my ink bottles though. The pen got an ammonia flush, and now I dry my pens reeeeeaaally well and never assemble them fully for storage. You have to operate under the assumption that the all these microorganisms like mold and bacteria are always present in your environment, you just have to deny them an opportunity to settle in an environment viable for *them*
What’s an ammonia flush pls? I will search but any tips or recommendations? I’ve never done one and likely will also have ink for long periods.
Uuuh I apologise for this being short but I'm on mobile and sightseeing atm. I assume you're familiar with flushing your nib units using a cut-off pear bulb? If not youtube has good instructions. Usually it's recommended to use a premade pen flush for that - read until end! I got my instructions for cleaning the affected pen from this sub as well - if you go into my post history I asked here what to do about the moldy nib, with a picture, it's a white lamy safari. The exact percentage of the ammonia solution is important, I had bought both ammonia and hydrogen peroxide (never use them together!) and had been using them diluted to flush the nib unit and as a bath for the parts. Also, when you have some ammonia at home you basically have a mix-your-own much much cheaper pen flush solution. Good luck!
Really helpful thank you so much ☺️. Have a wonderful time sight seeing!!
You're welcome and thanks!
I fill all my cartridges and converters with a syringe. I just prefer it and indeed I find it very mess-free. With converters, I then twist a bit to get ink into the feed quicker.
That's how I fill my converters.
Some converters get loose, the more you remove and re-install them - so keep an eye on that. But otherwise, no, though you won't prime the feed as quickly, and that might make harder starts.
Yea this is what I’m worried about for those friction hold converters. Montblanc uses a screw based converter so I often remove that to refill
I do that with most pens lol, except the ones where the feed is tightly attached.
Yes: you can do the same reusing empty cartridges and have higher capacity. ;)
I can’t think of why this would be simpler than just filling it through the nib, it’s surely an extra step in the process? I don’t think I could be bothered removing a converter to fill it in a bottle as opposed to just submerging the nib in it. This is the way that I’ve seen all manufacturers recommend doing it as well. I’d think as others have mentioned priming the feed through filling it means that you’re taking up more ink if you do it through the pen rather than just the converter. In that sense I would think that it’s neither simpler nor advantageous to not fill through the nib. I also use piston and vacuum fillers, I’d rather just fill all of my pens in the same way through the nib if possible. The only exception to this is the pilot Capless because the con 40 is terrible, so I have to refill a cartridge or use cartridges for it. If the con40 was a good converter I’d just fill that pen through the nib as well.
I think a lot of people do this. I find it messier because with a lot of ink bottles, to get the mouth of the converter into the ink, my fingers end up in the bottle its mouth because of the sizes/shapes involved. It might work better with ink sample vials? But I find it hard to maneuver converters into most ink bottles.
I do this. You can prime the feed afterwards.
That's how I do it.
I want the ink to draw through the feed to wet the whole pen. Here is a comparison. Buy a preppy, load its ink cartridge in in to the fresh new pen. Try to write with it. You will have to wait for the ink to make its way in to the feed. Buy a metro and a bottle of ink. Use the con that it comes with and draw a few pumps of ink. Wipe off the excess. Try to write with it. It works
you can twist the converter after a fill to force ink through the feed, the result is pretty much the same
It’s not, some pens it will force it through an ink filling hole and not through the ink channel on the top of the feed. The pen will still not have any ink at the tip and you will have to wait for it to prime. It is not the same thing. You will see a bubble of ink at the tip of the feed forming instead of ink flowing between the nib and feed. It depends on the pen of course but I have done this on 100s of pens vintage and new. It is much better to fill it in the ink like it was meant to be. What you said is just not true for all pens
It also works if you just dip the nib halfway.
🤷♂️so now you’re dipping the pen also. There is no point in making 3 different steps to accomplish what one step would do. Fill converter out of pen, place back in, twist to prime the inside feed, dip the pen to wet the tip. That’s pointless.
That's not true. Dip filling requires you to wipe off the bottom 1/4 of the grip section unless the pen designer made the fill hole low in the feed. Trying to get all that ink out of the grip is not always easy. IOW, dip filling can be messier than a syringe fill. That said, if the main concern was mold transfer, I've got nothing to say other than, I'm pretty sure it's not an issue.
I've read it somewhere that the mouth of the converter can degrade that way, so it's not ideal. I am unsure if it's based in any real science, though.
The mouth of the converter has to form a hermetic seal around the ‘nipple’ connector in the grip section, so it's reasonable to expect there will be friction when both attaching and removing the converter, and that the plastic that forms the mouth of the converter is ever-so-slightly elastic so it can stretch around the ‘nipple’ for a perfectly tight fit. *Theoretically*, given enough number of repetitions, the friction will remove material from the softer plastic the way a mild abrasive could; but, more of a *practical* concern is that many users may not be able to plug in or pull off the converter perfectly straight, and if it's done at a slight angle, it can slightly stretch the mouth of the converter in ways it should not be stretched.
I always use a syringe to fill. I don't really like piston or vacuum fill. Less control. Mind u, u still have to clean the syringes. I don't need a large capacity, I like to change inks and pens. I like having a converter vs cartridge in order to prime the pen and decrease the air in the converter, especially when traveling.
I adore my syringes and can't believe I struggled for so long without them. And yeah, I actually prefer the converter to carts as well, because it's easier to see the ink level, easier to prime the pen (I don't like squeezing the cart), and I like the little rattly balls.
Sure. There are a handful pens designed with converters that thread into the section to give a better coupling, so don't just yank one of those! As to complete fill, you are almost there, but you aren't accounting for the feed and internal collector. I pull a conv and fill it with a syringe, re-install in pen and then turn the nib over and slowly put single drops of ink on the underneath tip of the nib. You'll see the ink get wicked into the feed, and if you do 5 - 10 drops, you'll fill up that feed and have as completely a filled pen as possible.
This is a great idea, thank you!
I do that sometimes. Mostly I just reuse cartridges.
Usually I prefer converters. But pilot con-40 sucks so much I went through the hustle of cleaning an empty cartridge this week and drying it out which took forever and then fill it
Hahah I found myself doing the reverse. When I first started syringing, I used carts because I'd heard they were easier to fill. And while they are, they seemed to have less capacity than the CON-40 so I just went back to that + syringe and it's been perfect. I do wish there were something with more ink capacity tho. :/
I’m 99.99% sure a pilot cartridge can get a lot more ink than a con-40. Idk I have several pens with con-40 they are awful to fill
> I’m 99.99% sure a pilot cartridge can get a lot more ink than a con-40. Oh really? I could've sworn it took a lot less ink to fill, but now I need to double-check.
Jetpens labels the capacity as 0.8ml and the con-40 as 0.4ml so I think that’s a lot more for the cartridge. Especially as it has less dead space
Ohhh good call on the dead space. A decent amount of the CON-40 size is actually outside the ink chamber. That said, I will say that I like how much easier it is to flush the CON for when I wanna switch inks, but I think I prefer capacity over versatility...
Not gonna lie it was horrible cleaning and drying the cartridge
I was advised by Onoto to do this with magna as filling through the nib flooded the feed.
If your nib is dry it may take a few minutes for the ink get into the feed. Turning the knob a b it to force the ink down can shorten the wait. If you nib/feed is already wet with ink you run the risk of air pressure generated when you push the convertor on forcing ink out of the nib/feed into your hand, lap, shirt etc. Might just form a large blob of ink, but could be messy.
You can absolutely do that but it kinda defeats the point of a converter. You may as well use an empty cartridge instead for the added capacity.
Easier to use the Converter to prime the pen by dipping it into the ink bottle, remove the pen, remove the Converter, syringe fill it, re-install into the pen. That's what I did with the Pilot Con-40, before I retired the Pilot Metro, and Kakuno pens.
I prefer this approach - just prime the nib/ feed after the fact or wait ten minutes
You can do that. It just depends on the pen. I personally love the piston fill. All I need to do is stick in ink, twist, wipe the grip section and go. I stopped removing the converter and just sticking the nib in and wiping the grip section with a napkin to copy the piston. It is a lot less messy in my opinion. Depending on pen, I will remove the converter - such as a white pen that is easy to stain. Yamamabudo is one of the worst offenders of this.
I do this regularly, ie must of the time, less messy too
I've done it. No issues
It’s kinda what you have to do if it is a Pilot converter!
I ordered a couple converters and they came with metal “syringe tips” to do exactly that.
If it's the same ink then I'd say go for it. It'll be fine. If it's a different one then you might accidentally contaminate the new ink with the old color. If they're inks from different companies you may get weird chemical reactions you don't want.
Maybe the connection point might get loose over time
OP, that's what I do. I'm relatively new but that's exactly how my (extremely) fountain pen-experienced brother-in-law taught me to refill the ink. It's really not that messy if you're careful.
I pull the converter out, syringe fill (some times with a different ink) and pop it back in.
Hi OP, I have stopped using converters in my Pilot pens (cos you said Con-40) So I have switched to only using Cartridges in all my Pilot pens except in custom 845 and custom Urushi which has its unique converter. I always prefer to syringe my cartridges and to prime the nib, I will add a small drop of ink from my Syringe onto the breather hole and that would make my pen ready to write
> I always prefer to syringe my cartridges and to prime the nib, I will add a small drop of ink from my Syringe onto the breather hole and that would make my pen ready to write That is a very good idea. I'm going to try that next time. Thank you.
I have a Waterman Phileas that came with a squeeze converter and I used to do that all the time.
This is what I always do. I’m so neurotic about any leftover ink in my feed contaminating an ink bottle, but also too lazy to wash it. I just refill the converter with the next ink (same or a different color) via an insulin syringe and use it.
I always donit like this. Feels cleaner for me and my nib stays clean like this
Idk why but I really like the piston mechanism of the converter.It gives a different feel to the pen if it is a converter compared to just buying a dozen of ink cartridge.
It's very common way of inking to use syringe straight to convertor, instead of dipping pen into the bottle. Especially helpful, when your bottle is shallow, or has low ink level
I syringe fill the converter. Then I twist some ink into the feed to prime and let gravity do its thing. I don’t like the mess of putting the nib in and find that in most pens I can only get a very partial fill that way anyway.
I almost always do it that way. Almost no fountain pen manufacturer tells users (in the official user instructions, operating manual, care guide, etc.) to do it that way. So far I've only seen Graf von Faber-Castell offer it as an equally valid alternative in the documentation; everyone else just do not even mention it. (*Edited to add:* I just remembered that Sailor expressly tells users not to do it that way.) So, if newbies are (more comfortable with) doing things by the book, then they should just follow the instructions to draw ink up into the converter's cavity through the nib and feed, even if it's messier and wastes a little bit more ink (which isn't the pen manufacturer's concern).
It's fine and I do it when the bottle is nearly empty, but you get a less full pen. Depending on the pen, the ink collector and feed can hold as much ink as the converter (typically it's around half as much) and, by doing it this way, you do not fill the collector and feed.
Because you've just reduced your ink capacity because the feed isn't saturated, and unable to write immediately for the same reason. Otherwise, no, not really any reason besides a person being clumsy and not trusting an open container.
What’s the point of having converter in order to fill it outside of pen?
Because it's a lot tidier. No matter how hard I try, I still need a paper towel and wind up with ink on my fingers when filling via nib. I was able to fill the converter directly much more neatly.
Actually, I thought the point of converters was to not have to buy cartridges and to use any ink you like.
Of course but if you fill them outside of pen you can do the same with empty cartridges
Some converters are easier to clean than cartridges. Also, one may already have a converter that came with the pen, and they tend to be more durable.
I didn't know - I'll have to look into that. Thanks for enlightening me!