Three days ago, I pulled my Namiki VP out of the pen box and filled it with Aurora Black. After writing a few lines to get the ink flowing, I set it aside, and didn't click it open again until today. When I did so, I couldn't get a drop of ink to flow. I tried working the converter to force a drop out, and nothing happened. I pulled out the converter, and it is bone dry; and, seemingly, so is everything else.

What the heck happened? Is it possible the pen failed to draw in any ink, and in effect I only dipped the nib? I wouldn't expect even an uncapped pen to dry out completely in only three days.

Huh. I'd say it's unusual. I have 6 VP's so far. The only one that ever went "dry" was one with a super fine nib inked with Galileo. Galileo tends to flow wet, but dry fast on a really fine nib. Fixed that with a Binder fine cursive italic. It may well have been that you didn't draw any ink, I don't know. I refill cartridges, as the VP converters don't hold enough ink to begin with. You may want to thoroughly clean the pen. Maybe it's possible the converter wasn't seated tightly and ink leaked out, or enough air was allowed in to dry the pen out. Only speculation, here.

What convertor is the pen fitted with?

I use the Namiki converter that came with the pen. I'm guessing that it must not have drawn in any ink, because it's clean and dry inside. Not a speck of dried ink. So, if the converter can fail this badly and give no clue that it has -- the tiny bit of transparent plastic visible above all the metal never fills with ink, so I wasn't aware there was a problem -- then I think it's time to do as kiavonne does, and refill the cartridge.

I hope I still have that cartridge, and the metal cartridge cap....

Just to be sure, did you dip the nib unit far enough into the ink? The VP doesn't seem to draw through the breather hole in the nib, but rather through a channel higher up. To fill the converter, you need to dip the entire nib, past the nib/holder join.

Otherwise, I know I've seen the metal cartridge caps for sale recently, for a couple dollars, and the cartridges are pretty reasonable as well. I've been refilling mine, as the wide neck makes it much easier than the standard international cartridges. I still use a converter to flush the nib, but that's it.

Best,
Jon

Absolutely correct. Failure to get the joint between the nib and the body submerged in the ink means a "dry draw." As ink bottles get less than half full, this becomes a problem. This and the small capacity of the converter (piston type) annoy me enough to somewhat diminish the enjoyment of the VP.

Does anyone know if the "aerometric" or vacuum converter, CON-20, shown here, a) works with the VP and holds more ink?

Thanks!

The CON-20 does indeed work. I've heard that it officially holds the same as the CON-50, but folks have said it holds more than a CON-50. shrug. My CON-50 didn't make a good seal in my VP (it does in a different Pilot, though) so I got a CON-20 for it, and it fits perfectly and works great.

The filling could be a problem (I switch inks too often to have run down a bottle enough to matter :) but an alternate is to use a refilled cartridge. It is surprisingly easy to refill a cartridge (use a syringe or something similar) which means you get more ink and are able to suck the last little bit of the ink out of the bottle.

Thanks for the tip. I have seen that technique referenced and assumed it was kind of a messy pain. Maybe I'll give that a shot. Probably order a CON-20 too. My Con-50 can never seem to get the last 1/8" or so between the piston and the top of the body full. I always have to turn it upside down and flick or tap it to make sure I didn't get a dry draw.

I ordered a few CON-20 converters when I bought my Vanishing Point. I immediately removed the stock converter and replaced it with a CON-20. The CON-20 is a great converter and makes an extremely tight seal. I fill it to the maximum by squeeze-filling it the usual way, then inverting the nib assembly to which the CON-20 is attached, and carefully tapping the side of the converter (think of the method used to get air bubbles out of a syringe) to bring any air left in the CON-20 to the surface. With then pen still inverted, I slowly and very gently squeeze the CON-20 to let the air escape through the pen's breather. It may look like ink is ready dribble out, but patience will yield a cluster of tiny air bubbles. With pressure still applied to the CON-20, I put the assembly back into the ink and very slowly release the pressure I've applied to the CON-20.

After readind this I took the squeeze converter from a Pilot Prera and placed it in my VP. Huge difference
Thank you!

If you're talking about a plastic/faceted body Namiki VP, the only converter that will work is the squeeze type of converter with a sac. The piston converter is a bit wider, and has a shoulder that hits the brass retaining ring inside the "barrel" (button end) of the pen when you screw it on. It seems to work, but it's pushing the nib/converter assembly forward just a bit. This opens the trap door in the cap end just enough that the pen will dry out rather quickly. If you have one of the piston converters in a VP, watch the nib end of the pen while you loosen and tighten the barrel. You'll see the trap door open ever so slightly.