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con 20 con 50 vs cartridges


buffalowings

  

92 members have voted

  1. 1. which one do you prefer?

    • con 20
      35
    • con 50
      33
    • cartridges
      24


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come on guys.. exercise your right to vote!!!

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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I can't quite decide between the CON-20 and cartridges as I used to prefer cartridges but only this week I have started using a CON-20 in order to use a bottled ink (Diamine Midnight). So if you want variety I guess the c/c is the choice... on the other hand the ink capacity is lower than a cartridge. The CON-50 doesn't appeal to me for some aesthetic reason. I believe people regularly refill their empty cartridges from bottled ink with a syringe to hold more volume. I don't tend to do this often as I've only got one syringe and I'm trying to make it last. Gah! that was a mouthful.

Sailor Professional Gear GT B Nib

Sailor Sapporo GT F Nib

Pelikan M1000 (black) B Nib

Bexley Simplicity bronze GT B nib

Pilot VP blue/GT B nib

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I like the CON-20 as I find it both mechanically easier to fill and easier to get a good fill with than the CON-50. I'm not a fan of cartridges.

 

The CON-70 blows them both away, though, and is probably the best converter I've ever used.

Edited by Silvermink

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what makes the con 50 so troublesome? does the ink actually stick to the top of the converter and refuse to flow into the nib? does it really hold so little ink? If I can use a pelikan convertor, will I have any issues with the con 50 convertor?

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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what makes the con 50 so troublesome? does the ink actually stick to the top of the converter and refuse to flow into the nib?

 

Sometimes, yes.

 

does it really hold so little ink?

 

I don't think it holds any less than the CON-20, but you really need to cycle it twice to get the maximum fill (forcing the air out of the feed, I think).

 

If I can use a pelikan convertor, will I have any issues with the con 50 convertor?

 

You won't have any trouble with the mechanics of it. I just find the dip-squeeze-squeeze of the CON-20 a lot simpler and quicker than the dip-cycle down-cycle up-cycle down-cycle up of the CON-50.

 

On the plus side, you can see the ink level with the CON-50 in most Pilot pens, but the metal sheath of the VP's nib unit covers the clear part (which strikes me as completely boneheaded from a design perspective - how about a cut-out window, at least, Pilot?) so in that pen you don't lose any usability with the CON-20.

http://twitter.com/pawcelot

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Currently inked:

 

Montegrappa NeroUno Linea - J. Herbin Poussière de Lune //. Aurora Optima Demonstrator - Aurora Black // Varuna Rajan - Kaweco Green // TWSBI Vac 700R - Visconti Purple

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does a pen write differently when you use different converters?

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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does a pen write differently when you use different converters?

 

Not really, unless the converter has some kind of flow issue (and then it'll write badly, which I suppose is a subset of "differently" :) ).

http://twitter.com/pawcelot

Vancouver Pen Club

 

Currently inked:

 

Montegrappa NeroUno Linea - J. Herbin Poussière de Lune //. Aurora Optima Demonstrator - Aurora Black // Varuna Rajan - Kaweco Green // TWSBI Vac 700R - Visconti Purple

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For my VP it's cartridges all the way. They hold nearly twice the amount of ink that the con-50 holds. I'm not a big fan of the con-20. The one I had was a bit leaky.

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what is the cure for the Heinz ketchup syndrome?

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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what is the cure for the Heinz ketchup syndrome?

 

I don't know if there is one. You could try washing/flushing the converter out with a very dilute dishwashing liquid solution and the surfactant might help the ink not to stick, but it seems like a design flaw with this particular converter. Anyone else had any luck curing a CON-50 of its surface-tension issue?

 

The other possibility is you could put something in the converter, like one of those little plastic balls that some cartridges contain or a very small spring (like some of the MB converters have) to break the surface tension.

http://twitter.com/pawcelot

Vancouver Pen Club

 

Currently inked:

 

Montegrappa NeroUno Linea - J. Herbin Poussière de Lune //. Aurora Optima Demonstrator - Aurora Black // Varuna Rajan - Kaweco Green // TWSBI Vac 700R - Visconti Purple

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my pelikan converter doesn't have this issue..grrrr

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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my pelikan converter doesn't have this issue..grrrr

 

Yeah, I haven't really run into it with any other converter either. The CON-50 is a little bit, uh, special.

http://twitter.com/pawcelot

Vancouver Pen Club

 

Currently inked:

 

Montegrappa NeroUno Linea - J. Herbin Poussière de Lune //. Aurora Optima Demonstrator - Aurora Black // Varuna Rajan - Kaweco Green // TWSBI Vac 700R - Visconti Purple

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I just wonder why they equip the VP with it, it seems to be plagued with endless issues with no easy solutions

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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here's a part of a conversation I had with Mike Masuyama, mike says, "Some european std converter from asian factory uses plastic that surface tension is high and ink stuck on top part of converter and does not come down unless you tap it. Pilot con-50 works good. So if you compare between con-20 and con-50. i would say they both work good."

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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In my Decimo, I get the best flow from a refilled cartridge from which I've removed the little round seal. Of the CON-20 and the CON-50, I much prefer the CON-20.

David

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The con-20 is the best converter I have ever used. The con-20 holds the most ink - without a syringe. The cartridges only hold more ink if you fill it with a syringe. So I voted for the con-20.

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here's a part of a conversation I had with Mike Masuyama, mike says, "Some european std converter from asian factory uses plastic that surface tension is high and ink stuck on top part of converter and does not come down unless you tap it. Pilot con-50 works good. So if you compare between con-20 and con-50. i would say they both work good."

 

His experience is contrary to mine, then. :)

http://twitter.com/pawcelot

Vancouver Pen Club

 

Currently inked:

 

Montegrappa NeroUno Linea - J. Herbin Poussière de Lune //. Aurora Optima Demonstrator - Aurora Black // Varuna Rajan - Kaweco Green // TWSBI Vac 700R - Visconti Purple

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I would love to get my hands on a CON 20 converter because as much as I love my VP, the CON 50 is a bit of a joke.

 

I have also doing a bit of research, getting a CON 20 could be a bit of a pain. One vendor will not sell one unless you buy a pen to go along with it and another vendor lists $16 postage to Canada for a converter with a $4 retail value. Any other options out there, preferably charging regular airmail rates?

 

Stand corrected, Jet Pens has CON 20 converters and they send first class airmail.

Edited by Bill Smith

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this poll needs more votes, come on people!!!

I'm a little hot potato right meow

"no they are not making littler ponies, they are EMBRACING"

I opened a box of cheerios and planted them. I thought they were doughnut seeds. They didn't sprout :( (joke of the week)

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I like the balance the CON-20 gives me between ease of filling and capacity. If the VP was my only pen I would only use carts and refill them as need. They hold so much more ink.

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