Difficult fillers

[FredRydr]

I love the 1980-90s stub nibs in my Balance IIs, Connaisseurs, Legacy I and Heritage, but the squeeze fillers always have to be squeezed a bit to get the ink started after sitting a few hours. It's been an issue since I've owned some of them new. It is annoying knowing I'll have to have to remove and replace the barrel to squeeze the filler if I want to write with any of those pens. These pens are flushed thoroughly in water/ammonia/surfactant mix and flushed again with clean water. Once ink is flowing, all is well until next time.

Is there a secret to these fillers, or is it, "they all do that"?

Fred

[pajaro]

I have found that a lot of modern pens from the 80s to current are like this. Montblancs and Pelikans are exceptions that work better. I had started just refilling pens that do this before each use, a nuisance. Wetting under a tap or in a small container can help. I have gradually stopped using pens that do this. It leaves me using older pens from the 1960s and before, Montblancs and Pelikans. I think the inner caps are somehow not effective.

[FredRydr]

Your Montblanc and Pelikan have piston-fillers. I have those as well, and I agree that these don't have the same issue; neither do my modern Aurora and Omas piston-fillers. I just remembered that another group of pens that have the same problem are my Edison pens with converters (which are essentially little piston-fillers). I always have to remove the barrel and then screw down the converter's piston several millimeters before the pen will write again.

So...what would be the common attribute of all your post-1980 modern pens, my Sheaffer squeeze-type converters and my Edison converters that leads to this issue? By the way, the inks regularly vary in all of these.

I confess that I keep ~10 filled pens in my rack, nibs up but I do a lot of writing and regularly use each.

Fred

[Sailor Kenshin]

Once I started using standard international carts in my Sheaffers, I never looked back.

[pajaro]

Once I started using standard international carts in my Sheaffers, I never looked back.

Is this a cure-all?

[Sailor Kenshin]

Once I started using standard international carts in my Sheaffers, I never looked back.

Is this a cure-all?

Possssiblyyyy....

I use a spring to ensure they don't go anywhere.

[pajaro]

Once I started using standard international carts in my Sheaffers, I never looked back.

Is this a cure-all?

Possssiblyyyy....

I use a spring to ensure they don't go anywhere.

A spring to hold the cartridge in place. That's pretty good. I had used a few international cartridges in Sheaffers, and they work pretty well, about as well as a refilled Sheaffer cartridge.

The piston converters in my Montblanc 144 and Generation pens worked well, almost alone among 80s to 90s pens. Earlier Sheaffers would work well too with squeeze converters or later production piston converters, if those fit.

[inklord]

Could it be that it's not the filling system, but rather the inner cap (or lack thereof) that causes this? My Sailors and Lamy 2000's never seem to have issues (both have rather serious inner cap constructions), but my Franklin-Christophs and non-2000 Lamys do occasionally... as do my wife's various Pilots (Metro and Falcon models)

[Sailor Kenshin]

Might be worthwhile to try those pens with a cartridge to see if it's a converter problem or something else.

[ethernautrix]

I can't remember which pen I had this problem with, but when I sussed out that I had to turn the piston knob on the converter to push the ink down, I started flicking the pen with my finger or flicking the pen itself over the garbage can to get the ink going. I believe my solution was to use a cartridge (cos of the little ball inside it breaking up the ink).

[pajaro]

Or you can wet the nib and feed.
Or you can fill cycle the pen.
Or you can wet the nib with your tongue (if it is your pen).

[Sammyo]

I have had issues with some pens in the same way. However, I never have this problem with any of my Platinum #3776 Century pens. These are "famous" for having the "Slip & Seal" mechanism in the cap, and can be left for a long time but still start up with no issues.

Where was I going... oh yes... my guess would be, and I agree with others that, it is probably related to the sealing mechanism in the cap rather than the filling system.

[pajaro]

I have had issues with some pens in the same way. However, I never have this problem with any of my Platinum #3776 Century pens. These are "famous" for having the "Slip & Seal" mechanism in the cap, and can be left for a long time but still start up with no issues.

Where was I going... oh yes... my guess would be, and I agree with others that, it is probably related to the sealing mechanism in the cap rather than the filling system.

Yes, I believe you have hit the nail on the head.

[Woody]

Eye droppers and Cartridges with no problem for Edison, FC, and even Sheaffers from 1990. There's a bit of a trick for Converters. Have a ink bottle filled distilled water that contains a drop dishwashing liquid. Run the converter with the solution a couple of times - then fill up. It works very well. What I do now is have a mix of distilled water and 5% photo-flo in a bottle and fill and unfill my converter with that. That also works. I only have 4 pens on the go at times. If you'd like the links for photoflo and mixing I can supply those links.

[pajaro]

Eye droppers and Cartridges with no problem for Edison, FC, and even Sheaffers from 1990. There's a bit of a trick for Converters. Have a ink bottle filled distilled water that contains a drop dishwashing liquid. Run the converter with the solution a couple of times - then fill up. It works very well. What I do now is have a mix of distilled water and 5% photo-flo in a bottle and fill and unfill my converter with that. That also works. I only have 4 pens on the go at times. If you'd like the links for photoflo and mixing I can supply those links.

I have done the dishwashing liquid thing with distilled water, because we have stinky, hard water in southeast Michigan. It's not the filler that's the problem. It's the inner cap. Some of them are damaged in production, riveting clips to caps (Sonnet). Some are just ineffective, or the inner cap is nonexistent. Some, systems like Pelikan and Montblanc, and apparently Platinum, are better designed, and the drying out process is greatly retarded, resulting in pens that don't dry out for months, sometimes years. I have read so many times about using a miniscule amount of detergent, a metal ball in the cartridge or converter, but the surface tension is not the problem here. It might be a problem somewhere else. There might be cases where surface tension and the inner cap present an invincible barrier to proper function of the pen.

Many of the modern pen makers just do not seem to understand that an effective inner cap is necessary. Waterman seems to have systematically produced drying out pens from at least the age of the Laureat, because my Carenes, Phileases, Kulturs, etc., all dry out by the next day if not sooner. Sheaffer Prelude dries out in a couple of hours for me, but their 300 stays moist for days. What I do is discontinue using pens that dry out sooner than I wish them to. As a result I have many pens I will no longer use. Why waste my time? Here are a few that work great and stay moist and writing for a long time: Pelikan M series pens, Montblanc Meisterstuck and Generation series, Lamy Safari, Sheaffer School pens, especially with translucent barrels, Sheaffer 300, Sheaffer Snorkel and Sheaffer Imperial with Dolphin or inlaid nibs. Apparent Platinum are good also, but that wasn't my experience. Others will name other pens. There's just a lot of stuff out there today that is just people trying to make a buck on the fountain pen market without having an idea of how to make an effective pen. Just because it writes right after a fill doesn't necessarily get it. You could, of course, fill before each writing session. If you take the pen on the go, have a back up handy.

[Woody]

Yes. Drying out. I have a couple of Cross Townsends and the caps are almost too tight. They're like plungers. I've had good luck with the Edison Collier. Perhaps just a bit lucky.

[titrisol]

IT happens, I would actually be sruprised if pens didnt dry after a while.
Thanks for suggeting using international carridges in the Sheaffers, I had not tried and that brings a lot of possibilities
Diamine Black works great in them!

[titrisol]

PS International cartridges work great in Sheaffer's
They last me 10-14 days which is OK

[ac12]

I have some pens that have to be stored flat or nib down. As odd as it seems, it behaves like the ink flows back out of the feed, when stored nib up.