Better cartridge converter for Kaigelus?

[Saintpaulia]

Having read about the ball inside the Kaigelu converters and how it sometimes corrodes, and reading how one member easily removed it, I tried the same and only managed to render the converter inoperative (I did get the ball out however!).

Now I am reduced to loading ink into the converter with a syringe. I'd like to not have to do this. Is there a cartridge converter that will fit the Kaigelus (mine is the 357) but which is better than the ones included with them at point of sale? Or, failing that a cartridge that will fit them?

Thanks, The Inept Saintpaulia

[KrazyIvan]

I believe any standard converter should work but I would need to verify before committing to that statement.

[Saintpaulia]

I believe any standard converter should work but I would need to verify before committing to that statement.

I'd appreciate your effort on my behalf in ascertaining just what this pen will accept. Thanks, BB

[KrazyIvan]

Oops I answered in the wrong thread. I might as well post the answer here too.


I forgot about your converter. I tried three converters. I figured a Schmidt converter is pretty standard and would be easy to find. It is too small I think. It may fit if I force it in but it wont work in it's intended pen if I do, so, I don't want to force it. I tried one of my Jinhao converters and it is too big and just falls out. The last one is a Rotring converter. It is also small. I think the best bet is a standard Schmidt but you have to jam it in.

[Saintpaulia]

Dear KI, thanks for your research. Doesn't sound too good. It's hard to believe, but I guess it is possible that Kaigelu has managed to create a "proprietary" cartridge converter. So where does one get one? except with a pen? Darn! I wish I knew what I did to mine that made it unable to suck up ink. But really this Kaigelu converter is really poor quality. I wonder if the Kaigelu 300 series has cartridges. That would be another way to go at this problem. I do this with my Sheaffer Student which does not accept any converters.

[KrazyIvan]

Try checking with Todd from isellpens.com. He carries Kaigelu and might be able to get converters or point you in the right direction.

[Saintpaulia]

Try checking with Todd from isellpens.com. He carries Kaigelu and might be able to get converters or point you in the right direction.
Great idea!

[Saintpaulia]

Ivan, here are the photos I took of the Kaigelu converter that I removed the ball from and which now does not work. Breck

1113111411151116

[KrazyIvan]

Okay, it looks in one piece, what does not work?

[Saintpaulia]

Okay, it looks in one piece, what does not work?
It does not seem able to draw up ink when it is attached to the feed. When it is just by itself it does suck up the ink, or rather water in the case of "by itself" test.

As a backup measure I have ordered a new Kaigelu converter from isellpens (along with a full bottle of Noodler's Habanero! :)).

[KrazyIvan]

And it did not do this until you took the converter apart?

[Saintpaulia]

And it did not do this until you took the converter apart?
You know, now that you dig deeper into this with me my chagrin increases. I don't know just what I did before the 'remove ball bearing' excercise. Let me play around with this a bit more. Let's put this in pause mode for now. I'm getting in over my head. :cry:

[KrazyIvan]

Okay, but just one last question. Are you dipping the nib fully into the ink? I may be wrong but it sounds like you are not. The whole nib needs to be submerged in the ink, just past the start of the section in order to create the vacuum needed to suck up the ink. If you look at the feed, just where it meets the section, you will see a little notch or hole in it. That is where the ink gets sucked into the pen from and it needs to be submerged in the ink in order to work properly. Imagine trying to drink from a straw but holding the straw 1 inch from the surface of the liquid. It's not going to work, same concept here. :) Make sure you have a cloth handy to clean up the pen afterward. :)

[Saintpaulia]

Okay, but just one last question. Are you dipping the nib fully into the ink? I may be wrong but it sounds like you are not. The whole nib needs to be submerged in the ink, just past the start of the section in order to create the vacuum needed to suck up the ink. If you look at the feed, just where it meets the section, you will see a little notch or hole in it. That is where the ink gets sucked into the pen from and it needs to be submerged in the ink in order to work properly. Imagine trying to drink from a straw but holding the straw 1 inch from the surface of the liquid. It's not going to work, same concept here. :) Make sure you have a cloth handy to clean up the pen afterward. :)

Thank you Lord. That is actually welcome advice to one who did not really know just where the ink was sucked in!!! My contact with the real world is tenuous at the best of times. Case in point. I may not have had it down in there far enough because the source of my ink was an ink sample vial (from Goulet).

[Sailor Kenshin]

I had trouble with this myself, loading a Huashilai with JHerbin ink from the bottle. Wouldn't draw until I tilted the bottle (huge pen, massive nib).

Also sometimes you have to try various cart/cons in any given Chinese cart-loader. That's what I did with the Hua until one of them fit.

Good luck!

[KrazyIvan]

There is also a less messy way of filling that I do on occasion but requires a syringe and a bit more work. I fill the converter to the brim, plug into the section and with the nib facing up I turn the converter nob so the ink gets forced into the feed. I turn until I see the ink in the feed then turn the knob back just a little so it suck the ink back in. Then I pull the converter out, turn the knob so the piston is fully retracted then fill it back up with the syringe. Plug the converter back in and the feed is fully primed with ink.

[Saintpaulia]

I find that the converter picture with Kaigelus is still pretty funky. I still do not know where to order one for the 357. The one that Todd sent to me does not fit the 357 (but did come in handy as a way to get a replacement ball-agitator). But if one wished to buy a new converter for a Kaigelu 357 what would that one do?

Or how about this? Where would one get a cartridge for a 357? Not a converter, just a plain old cartridge? Does anyone know what type of cartridge the darned things take?

[Jon Szanto]

I may be missing something, but...

I just took a look on eBay. These pens sell for less than $10 with free shipping. Why not just get a new pen, which will include a convertor? Maybe with a different nib than the one you have? Seems like this is an awful lot of trouble for a very inexpensive pen, and I seriously doubt you'll be able to buy just the convertor for much less than that.

Just a thought.

[KrazyIvan]

I may be missing something, but...

I just took a look on eBay. These pens sell for less than $10 with free shipping. Why not just get a new pen, which will include a convertor? Maybe with a different nib than the one you have? Seems like this is an awful lot of trouble for a very inexpensive pen, and I seriously doubt you'll be able to buy just the convertor for much less than that.

Just a thought.

+1 that sentiment.

[inky]

Uh Oh! Didn't know about the ball in the Kaigelu converters! I have one in my 316, right now I have it inked up with Florida Blue. I'm not to worried about it though. I'll run the converter out and if the ball has any problems I'll remove it. My converter comes right apart. I guess there must be some variation in their converters.

[Saintpaulia]

I guess your idea never occurred to me due to my Scottish sense of frugality. Buying an entirely new pen of a model I already have, just in order to get another converter, just does not fit in my way of living. Besides, I was just as much interested in this question from a purely research orientation as I was in getting a new converter. There seemed to me to be a kind of disjunct here. Most fountain pens' converters are easily discovered and bought. Wheareas these Chinese pens are not. That should not be. There should be a source for replacement Chinese pen converters. Or so my mind says.

Now when Todd Nussbaum sent me a replacement converter for my Kaigelu, as I've mentioned, it did not fit. So even though some States-side businesses have some Chinese pen converters they are not yet standardized and hence one can get the wrong one as often as not. I think I may have to write an email to one of the Chinese pen dealers on eBay that I have had fairly successful communications with, in English and ask her.

[Jon Szanto]

While I may agree with you in principle (on frugality), the near "give-it-away" prices on many of the Chinese pens makes our old models of thinking somewhat beside the point. I know for a fact that most convertors for many other brands cost nearly that much (plus shipping), so while you may think it odd, maybe it is time to think a little past your old paradigm.

"Buy a convertor, and we'll throw in a pen!"

[Saintpaulia]

While I may agree with you in principle (on frugality), the near "give-it-away" prices on many of the Chinese pens makes our old models of thinking somewhat beside the point. I know for a fact that most convertors for many other brands cost nearly that much (plus shipping), so while you may think it odd, maybe it is time to think a little past your old paradigm.

"Buy a convertor, and we'll throw in a pen!"
Good saying! Oh I do understand. And I wasn't saying that I wouldn't do this; only why I hadn't.

[Saintpaulia]

OK. I did bid on and then won a Kaigelu 356 for a total cost of $5.49. That's a converter price basically. And I am assuming that the converter that comes with the 356 will also fit the 357. If anyone knows to the contrary I'd like to have that info. By the way I happen to like the pen anyway. It's a sort of champagne gold.

[phzervas]

Hi, I know this is an old post, but there is a way how to upgrade the quality of the nib performance in the Kaigelu 316. One can replace the existing nib with a 250 Bock housing and a #6 nib along with a Beaufort Standard International cartridge converter, which is the same as the Pelikan c/c. The details of this modification are described here: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/302951-kaigelu-316-modification-250-6-bock-nib-beaufort-ink-converter/

I hope people with a Kaigelu 316 may find this useful. Regards, Photios