I've just gotten a new (to me) Conway Stewart Duro and it seems to have a problem. The button depresses OK, but very few bubbles come out of the nib when it's in liquid. And when I think it's filled, pressing the button doesn't expel more than a couple of drops of ink.

Shouldn't this pen act just like a vintage, sac-actuated vintage pen like a Duofold Sr?

Skip

Hmm...mine acts the same way. I think I mentioned in one of my earier posts when I first got it, last Thursday, I filled it per the directions in the manual but when I pushed the button to see just how much ink was taken in, only 2 or 3 droplets came out. Now I sent it back yesterday to get the feed and nib issues taken care of, that's going to tie a new pen up for 4-6 weeks if it goes back to the UK, if this button/fill issue turns into another problem and it has to go back again, well then, I'm wish'n I decided on another manufacturer of pen.

I spent a lot of time with it when I cleaned it out with water before shipping. Pushing the button while the nib was submerged in water produced a bunch of bubbles. But I got the same 2-3 droplets when I tried to empty the sac.

I know this didn't help with an answer for you but I just wanted to chime in to let you know mine acted the same way. Hopefully I'll see it before Halloween and I report back.

Skip,

I had/have similar problems with mine, didn't seem to take up much ink, went back to CS (I think the ink sac was leaking as well), when it came back it filled a little better but for me doesn't hold much ink. Even if I follow instructions when I empty just get a few largish drops of ink out but can't help feeling it should hold more, having said that some vintage lever fills seems to hold similar amounts of ink so maybe it's normal.

Have just refilled and tomorrow will see how many pages it writes before it empties.

To be honest I won't buy a button filler like this again, will go for C/C version as I really like the pen, I also find the button a bit small and difficult to depress and keep down, which may add to the problem.

Don't know what other people's experience of modern CS button fillers is.

Andy

Fills much nicer when you use something like Visconti's traveling inkpot. By using such a device you can eliminate all the remaining excess air in the sac, and you'll gain a much higher ink capacity. I own a Duro, too.

Funny, I have the same problem. I purchased the pen from an ebay auction.

When I got it, there was no button. It was missing and the pen was advertised as new.

The seller return it to Conway and I waited two months. ( I could have canceled the sale and received a refund, but a got a great price so I waited)

Now that I have it, and it seems not to fill well, maybe I will live with it, I do not want to wait another two months and who knows if it can be fixed.

Such is life.

Harv

Finally managed to experiment, with a full fill (your guess is as good as mine if it is a real full fill) I managed to write for 5 sides of foolscap paper, 34 lines/average 10 words per line before ink ran out.

Probably not a pen I would take into an exam or a long trip, but for my average use probably just about enough between fills, can't help feeling it should hold more and this will probably have me sitting trying it out with other pens (maybe not a Pelikan Level as I think my arm will drop off before that runs out).

Anyone out there got an opinion of whether this is average or bad, never really paid much attention with other pens as I don't need to write large amounts in one sitting.

Maybe Mary Burke will read this and give us an official view

Andy

I have never had good luck with either the button fillers or the levers on the modern Conway-Stewarts. A while ago on some board someone took one of the pens apart and there was something funny about the way they had constructed the lever filler, so that it just would not work very well. Their pens are very pretty, but now I either get the piston/internal converter, or the cartridge converter models.

Try filling the pen with the whole nib unit submerged in ink. Press the button a couple of times and on the last push, after letting go make sure the whole nib unit stayed in submerged in ink and give a good 5 to 6 seconds before pulling the pen out. This is also true when using lever filler. It is not good enough just have the ink level pass the breather hole, the whole nib unit needs to be submerge in ink. good luck.

Kev

Are the button fillers on the modern conway stewart pens true button fillers? The reason why I am asking is that the button fillers on some of the Modern Namiki/Pilot and Bexley pens are not true button fillers. Yes, they fill by pressing a button but the button filler is actually a converter filler that uses a button to suck up the ink. When you fill up those pens, you have to repeatedly press the button, around 6 to 10 times to ensure a complete fill.

If it is a real and true button filler with a sac, then there is a major problem when you stick the nib in the ink, hit the button but only get 3 drops of ink out of the sac!!

The piston filler on the modern CS pens are just integrated converters, is that correct?

The lever fillers on both my churchills fill without any issues. I heard that the lever fillers had some serious issues a few years back. I think it was Kurt who had major problems with his CS pens. I think it was him who posted on FPN regarding the repeated problems. If it wasnt Kurt, then I apologize in advance!!! I guess it is my age creeping up on me!!!

Best Regards

TNS

There was one Bexley a couple of years ago that used a permanently inserted Namiki/Pilot converter. That requires numerous pushes to fill. I believe that the CS button fillers have a real sac, they don't require the pumping that the Pilot converters need. From the feeling of it, I assume that the CS piston fillers are just internal converters, but I have not seen one taken apart.
David

I recently received a Duro back from CS servicing (2 month wait...). It now holds a decent amount of ink, which I'd expect in any button filler of that size. The Duro is a real button filler. The original filling problem was attributed to a bad bunch of sacs...

However, I've also got a Sterling Duro that appeared to be holding a good amount of ink, but simply stopped filling properly. Bad sac, or did the filler damage a good sac? I don't know, and didn't want to open the pen to find out. It normally takes me about ten minutes or less to put a new sac into a pen, but I didn't want to risk damage to the warranty So, that pen went back to the dealer yesterday to start the journey back to the UK. Two month wait coming (again)...

The piston fillers are indeed captive converters (and relatively small, cheap convertors at that)! I've seen the innards, and am not at all impressed. The one I've seen has a fraction of the ink capacity of a true piston-filler.

This is the same problem I have withj a very beautiful Churchill LE, button filler just does not fill. I've wirriten to Mary Burke and hope problem can be rectified as it's a very beautiful pen with a sumptuous stub nib.

I had the same issue but I returned it and waited and it came back operating well. It obviously doesn't hold a massive amount of ink but so far it's performing very well. I'm not well versed in the mechanics but I wondered if it was a nib problem rather than the sac. But whatever it was they fixed it and it performs well now.