My cartridge in the Waterman I was given for Christmas (my first fountain pen) is running out and I looked online and saw all the wonderful colors of ink available to me. I picked one, Noodler's Ellis Island, and along the way decided to order a Pilot Knight which includes an aeromatic converter. I get the package, whip out the pen and the ink and go to town. I dip the nib of the Knight almost all the way in the bottle of ink, squeeze the metal pieces and let go. Nothing happens. I try again and again a bit and am finally content there's ink in there. In my class this evening, I ran out of ink about halfway through a page of paper. I had less trouble with the Waterman and the twist converter, but on both pens there's a lot of ink. I get paper towel and clean it off as best I can, but where the nibs taper to the tip and around the slit there's ink on the nib that I can't get off. If I get the paper towel too close to the slit, more ink comes out.

So, my two questions:
1. Am I filling with the aeromatic correctly? I can't imagine that there's such a small supply that I'd run out of ink in half a page of notes.
2. How do I clean the nibs off properly?

Thanks!

EDIT: Added link to other thread.

I can't speak for the aerometric filler on the Knight, but on the wing sung pens that i just received today with aero fill it works by dipping the section completely in ink and giving it a bunch of squeezes until the sac is filled. I would imagine it would be a similar mechanism.

As for cleaning, i too have a phileas, then pen you have posted in the other thread (just like it as a matter of fact. great pen), and i must say that it is quite simple as just wiping it off. try not to use something that will suck up ink as you do it, like a paper towel. a cloth perhaps, although, a paper towel can still do the job, just trickier, i have found.. I use an old cotton cleaning cloth, and i wipe it in one quick motion, to avoid the pen bleeding onto the cloth. It's tricky at first, but you'll get it. I had the same thing happen when I first got my phileas, but i've figured it out now. I just start at the top of the nib and wipe straight down to the tip, in a quick half second motion. usually does it, but sometimes i have to give another wipe or two. it just happens.

The aerometric filler is easy to use.

Dip the pen until the section is half-submerged.

Squeeze the filler-bar. Bubbles appear. Release. Wait five seconds. Squeeze again.

Continue four or five times, or until there are no-more bubbles.

Remove from the bottle of ink and swaddle with a couple of tissue-papers and wipe carefully. Done.

I'm not certain about the aeromatic converter--it sounds like you're doing it correctly.

Some nibs clean up better than others, and I've found that the ink has a lot to do with it. Noodler's causes more messes than others. Ink will always creep through the slits if it comes into contact with paper towel, cloth, etc. After the initial clean with a fill-up, the nibs just stays a little inky with certain inks.

You should love the Ellis Island. It's a beautiful ink, and it flows very well.

Best,

PTR

Ok, I refilled it tried to wait for as many of the bubbles to stop coming out but it never did, even after multiple tries.

And the only reason I asked about the nip was that I see people with pictures of their used pens and the nibs all look brand new. I basically just want something that looks good and wanted to know if I there was something I could do so it would look just as good.

I think the Knight uses a squeeze-bar converter, and not an aerometric (not aeromatic) filler. But filling it should be the same, as others have posted.

Hint: practice filling it with water, so you don't waste ink. Also, press and release rather quickly... I don't think it'll fill well if you press the bar down really slowly, and release really slowly.

-Mike

If it helps any, I've made a video for you on how to fill an aerometric-filler. I didn't put any commentary in (I don't like the sound of my voice), but it should show you how it works.

great little video shangas

[edited because the video decided to appear all of a sudden ]

cheers from Adelaide

Thanks, Trev.

The inkwell in the video is the same one which is currently in my avatar. I bought it at the Melbourne Pen Show in November, 2007, for $30. It's a darling of an inkwell and I love it. The pen was my Parker '51' Flighter. Aerometric-fill, to demonstrate (or not, take your pick!!) how to fill such a pen. Apologies for all the ink-stains on my fingers! They are the result of four previous failed takes of this video. Take five was the one which finally worked properly.

You can hear them (just) in the video - the little 'squelch' and 'bubbly' noises. That's the air-bubbles escaping from the pen when I squeeze down on the filler-bar. That's what you should be hearing and seeing if your aerometric-filler works properly.

If you desire a second video with em...'audio commentary'...let me know.

Thanks for making this video it is helpful to see how the pro's fill there pens.
I think I will try this at home...

I really love the crystal ink adds a little extra style.

You're welcome. I can also do a demo-video of a c/c and a button-filler if anyone needs it...Heh. After I made that video, I poured the ink back into an ink-bottle and went to flush out the inkwell (You can see how much ink there is around the rim). I haven't managed to get it all off yet. Will soap help?

As I have posted elsewhere, I also like a clean nib and my solution is to just push the nib/section for a half second or so under a light drizzle of water in the sink. I then just sponge off the nib/under-section of the nib using a soft cloth (old t-shirt or similar is soft+absorbent=excellent) or soft tissue. You may get a few lines of watery ink writing, but it is worth it.

Hi,

To fill the Pilot, dip it until the lip of the grip is submerged, then press the bar on the converter once, release, then after five seconds, press it again, then release. Count to five, then pull the pen out of the ink.

It is not an aerometric filler, there are three kinds of fillers that often get confused for each other, Aerometric, press-bar pump, and press bar. The Aerometric has a tube inside of the filler, and the tube has a small hole cut into one of the walls. this hole is placed right behind the connection of the tube and the feed, and it allows stray air to escape during air pressure changes (in an airplane for example). The press-bar pump is the same thing except without the hole. Both the press-bar pump and the Aerometric work the same way--by pumping the air out and pumping the ink in. Now finally, the last filler is the press-bar, this filler does not have the tube, and it generally takes less ink as a result, but it is a cheaper thing to produce and works well in practice.

There is no real need to clean all the ink off the nib. I have been using pens for years, and I've always wiped only the stray ink droplets on the plastic grip section.

Dillon

Awesome video!

So, I just bought a "wild" Parker "51" online as my first try at it. Yes, I'm willing to accept my fate depending on how well this turns out, but I was surprised to see that you stick the nib in the ink with the hood in place. Is that standard practice?

If so, how much of the hood should be in the ink when you're doing the compressions?

I'll be sure to post a picture of my pen when it arrives and either mourn my stupidity or hail my daring triumph!

Yes, the hood must remain in-place. Remove it, and the pen will fall apart in your hands. About an inch into the ink is all you need.

Shangas, thanks for the video.

And it seems my problem was that I wasn't dipping it in far enough. The entire nib and a little of the black grip must be in the ink to fill it all the way. The first thing I noticed when doing that is that once it gets full, if you squeeze the bar again, it's hard, there's actually pressure, which didn't exist only covering up the little hole in the nib. Also, there were no bubbles after a couple of squeezes.

I haven't had to refill it yet, despite two days of class note taking and me starting a journal, so I think I'm doing it right.

Thanks!

Hooooo!!! Great video Shangas!! Now videos on the FPN, what’s next? pen-video-conferences? Great!

I do have a Stipula with this very same “sleeve” filling system, and this video shows me how to fill correctly, thanks!

BTW seems to bee a little hard to screw the section with just one hand well done!

Very best

Ricardo

Hey there all, I too am fairly new to the fountain pen thing and recently picked up a few pens, some twist converters and some black parker quink. The problem I'm having is that when I submerge the nib and twist the converter, I only get about half a converter's worth of ink!

It's this way with all three fountain pens (waterman kultur, parker frontier and an aldo domani), so I'm thinking it's eh... user error

Any suggestions for a newb?

Hi,

Take a look at my video for filling a piston converter here. I usually fill one twice, keeping the nib/section submerged the whole time. That usually gets rid of the trapped air.

Yes, the problem is that when you put ink in the first time after the nib is all dry that the ink first has to fill the feed completely. That's why it's best to fill a few times until most of the air is gone in the converter.

Erick

Thanks, that video was really helpful! :-)

My pleasure!

I'm having the same problem... I got this pen and a Hero 100 which are both areometer and I filled the Hero fine but am struggling with this one. It is an inexpensive pen but I like the weight and feel of it in my hand. If only I could get it to fill with ink so I could write more than one or two sentences with it.