Converter Lubrication?

[C-town]

I've been hearing quite a bit of talk about having to lubricate piston filler fountain pens. Is the same true for converters?

[mhosea]

In terms of life, twist converters are like brake pads. You don't need to replace them all that often, but the car should outlast them at least a few times over, if not several. I don't think many people lubricate converters, rather discard them when they wear out or whatever, but in fact I do maintain my converters in exactly the same way as I do piston filling mechanisms. That is to say, I pay attention to how stiff they are and lubricate them when it seems indicated. Works for me. But whether it needs doing, I don't know.

[SteveE]

Nah. Converters are supplied as consumable items, much like ink. They just last longer than cartridges, but since they are typically only a very small percentage of the cost of the pen, I just use them until they fail (which is not that often), then replace. I have a small stock of spares, so I'm not out of commission for more than a short time.

 

I'm old enough to still feel that pens are really just tools. (Yeah, and I have way too many box wrenches and socket sets, too.) I have mine to use them, even though I have enough of them that each is not used all that often. I don't lose sleep over whether I've surgically cleaned my pen after use, whether I've lubricated the piston this week, or how I've treated this converter or that. I just use them with minimal maintenance (flush before storage, replace failed sacs, etc.) and enjoy them. Try it -- I think you'll like it.

[Charles Skinner]

My Waterman Philas (spelling?) is becoming hard to "turn." Which converter fits this pen? And where could I buy another one?

 

C.

[wastelanded]

My Waterman Philas (spelling?) is becoming hard to "turn." Which converter fits this pen? And where could I buy another one?

 

C.

 

Waterman are supposed to be able to take international cartridges and converters, but not quite. When it comes to converters in particular, off-brand ones can leak in a Waterman pen.

 

If possible, get an actual Waterman converter: they're usually on Amazon.

[pajaro]

Off brand converters might not work in a Phileas becaise of the brass tube in the barrel that adds weight and narrows the barrel too. I found that a couple of aftermarket generic converters for Waterman would work perfectly in Carrene, Kultur and Laureat, but that the generic converters were too wide for Phileas because of the brass tube in the barrel. Phileas was the only one that needed the Waterman converter.

[Chi Town]

To date, I have not lubed up a converter, I just replace them as they are relativly cheap, in my opinion. But who knows, I just may get a wild hair and start lubing my converters up someday just to see how it's done and to verify if it's worth it or not?

[mhosea]

To date, I have not lubed up a converter, I just replace them as they are relativly cheap, in my opinion. But who knows, I just may get a wild hair and start lubing my converters up someday just to see how it's done and to verify if it's worth it or not?

Well it seems to help a lot with the problem of ink staying in the back of the converter. You get that, easier twisting, and a longer-lasting converter. On the cost side, it takes maybe 1 minute of time once in a great while and costs essentially nothing.

Edited December 20, 2014 by mhosea

[Bookman]

In terms of life, twist converters are like brake pads. You don't need to replace them all that often, but the car should outlast them at least a few times over, if not several. I don't think many people lubricate converters, rather discard them when they wear out or whatever, but in fact I do maintain my converters in exactly the same way as I do piston filling mechanisms. That is to say, I pay attention to how stiff they are and lubricate them when it seems indicated. Works for me. But whether it needs doing, I don't know.

 

I lube my converters. Easy to do. Instant payoff. Works for me too.

[KBeezie]

I lube my converters. Easy to do. Instant payoff. Works for me too.

Back when I had the Chinese pens, I used to disassemble, clean and grease them ahead of time. The rate of failure of it just spilling out the back seems to be higher than most other converters, but fine once you do some preventive measures.

[C-town]

 

I lube my converters. Easy to do. Instant payoff. Works for me too.

 

How would I go about doing it?

[KBeezie]

How would I go about doing it?

Depends on the converter, most of the chinese converters just unscrew off at the back, and you can pull the piston rod and rubber out. Stick a little bit of pure silicone grease on the front of that rubber gasket, push it back in, screw the collar tight, and work the piston up and down. You don't need much silicone grease at all.

 

(some just have push-on/pull-off collars down by the knob).

Edited December 21, 2014 by KBeezie

[mhosea]

FWIW, I only grease the sides of the piston head.

 

If you can't unscrew the converter, you'll have to apply grease in front of the piston head. This requires something thin to get the grease inside. Since I have silicone grease loaded in a 5ml syringe with an 18 gauge stainless steel needle, I just use that, but you can use a toothpick or some such. I think I've even twisted the corner of a paper towel.

[KBeezie]

FWIW, I only grease the sides of the piston head.

 

If you can't unscrew the converter, you'll have to apply grease in front of the piston head. This requires something thin to get the grease inside. Since I have silicone grease loaded in a 5ml syringe with an 18 gauge stainless steel needle, I just use that, but you can use a toothpick or some such. I think I've even twisted the corner of a paper towel.

Yea, there's no real point in having the grease on the front of the piston head. Just the sides that keeps the seal along the walls of the ink reservoir.

 

Toothpick works, since you can't get anything much bigger into a tiny little nipple opening of a converter. (q-tip may work if you got a pen with a integrated piston filling mechanism and the ability for the section/etc to unscrew from the barrel).

[Bookman]

 

How would I go about doing it?

 

 

Yea, there's no real point in having the grease on the front of the piston head. Just the sides that keeps the seal along the walls of the ink reservoir.

 

Toothpick works, since you can't get anything much bigger into a tiny little nipple opening of a converter. (q-tip may work if you got a pen with a integrated piston filling mechanism and the ability for the section/etc to unscrew from the barrel).

 

I just duplicate my m.o. for lubing the piston of my Pelikan M215, using a proportionately smaller amount of silicone grease. I start with the piston all the way back, up top. I pick up 1mm diameter's worth of grease on the smaller end of the toothpick (on my 215 I use the fat end of the toothpick), carefully insert it through the opening into the converter chamber, and then apply it to the chamber wall just in front of the piston. (The grease will end up on both the O-ring and the chamber wall anyway. I feel more comfortable sticking a toothpick against the chamber wall than against the edge of the piston.) I hold the toothpick steady while twisting the converter (the converter itself, not the knob) 360 degrees back and forth a few times to evenly spread the grease all the way around the circle, rather than try to spread it by moving the toothpick around. After carefully withdrawing the toothpick I move the piston all the way down and all the way up several times to completely and evenly distribute the grease.

Edited December 21, 2014 by Bookman

[tinta]

A converter is a consumable part of a C/C pen.

I would rather have a few new converters kept as back-ups, than greasing them with silicone.

That said, I will disassemble, thoroughly wash & dry a converter if ink appears behind the plunger. This too is only an issue if I want to change ink colour or brand.

The beauty of a converter is that for very little money it can be replaced.

 

[Bookman]

A converter is a consumable part of a C/C pen.

I would rather have a few new converters kept as back-ups, than greasing them with silicone.

That said, I will disassemble, thoroughly wash & dry a converter if ink appears behind the plunger. This too is only an issue if I want to change ink colour or brand.

The beauty of a converter is that for very little money it can be replaced.

 

 

I agree that converters are easily replaced. But I would argue they're more easily re-greased and put back to work than replaced. It takes five minutes. A twist knob that's suddenly or increasingly harder to twist doesn't turn an otherwise perfectly good converter into trash. I don't hesitate to replace one when it becomes necessary. That happens when the O-ring stops doing its job.

[mhosea]

I would rather have a few new converters kept as back-ups, than greasing them with silicone.

 

I have new converters as back-ups, and I also grease them with silicone. For me, greasing them has nothing to do with making them last longer, rather making them perform better, which they do when greased. They probably also last longer if the piston seal was going to be the thing that failed, but there's more that can wear out than just that.

[Immelmann]

I actually originally bought some silicon grease for converters. Yes I know lots of people here think they're disposable, but (especially as a student) I'd really rather not just burn through converters that can be made to last with less than a minute of work.

 

It's also handy for converters that either a) suck, or b ) you fill with difficult inks. My Waterman converters both leak through the back, so I've had to grease them to keep the ink on the correct side of the plunger (I'm actually appalled by how bad those are with a pen like the Carene). As for inks, Baystate Blue has a habit of stiffening some of my converters, so I keep those lubed and happy.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Immelmann

[C-town]

I actually originally bought some silicon grease for converters. Yes I know lots of people here think they're disposable, but (especially as a student) I'd really rather not just burn through converters that can be made to last with less than a minute of work.

 

It's also handy for converters that either a) suck, or b ) you fill with difficult inks. My Waterman converters both leak through the back, so I've had to grease them to keep the ink on the correct side of the plunger (I'm actually appalled by how bad those are with a pen like the Carene). As for inks, Baystate Blue has a habit of stiffening some of my converters, so I keep those lubed and happy.

 

I feel the exact same way. Why throw something out if, with just a little bit of time and care, you can make them last longer? Would a lubricating ink work just as well as silicone grease? how often would I have to use a lubricating ink?