Recycling Cartridges

[asdfg68plus1]

How is the easiest way to clean out a used cartridge to fill it with ink? I want to put a different color in, but am having a hard time getting all the old dots of ink out of the cartridge. The little plastic ball or whatever is preventing the ink from just flowing out (I guess that's why the put it there) so I tried using a little syringe, and it got most of it out, but not all of it.

[Vargouille]

I guess you just have to use a syringe and wash it out, first some glass cleaner like Windex with ammonia, and then water. do that a few times, and let it dry and it will be clean.

 

I did that with my Lamy Cartridge for my Safari. Good luck!

[stephen82]

How is the easiest way to clean out a used cartridge to fill it with ink? I want to put a different color in, but am having a hard time getting all the old dots of ink out of the cartridge. The little plastic ball or whatever is preventing the ink from just flowing out (I guess that's why the put it there) so I tried using a little syringe, and it got most of it out, but not all of it.

 

I reuse cartridges all the time - a syringe with water is all that is needed to rinse out cartridges. I purchased a syringe kit from pear tree pens and several syringes from ebay - with blunt tips. So I always have a dry one on hand for filling and one for rinsing.

[GreenVelvet]

I've never had a problem getting all the ink out of a cartridge when flushing with a syringe. Just takes repeats and a bit of patience.

[fabrimedeiros]

I used to fill some cartridges to use in my MB Bohème and Reform Demo. Both are cartridge exclusive and I like to fill them with Noodler's Baystate Blue.

 

regards,

 

Fabricio

[Bo Bo Olson]

I went to the pharmacists, and told him I wanted the biggest fattest needle and syringe he had, explaining it was for shooting hot butter cooked in herbs, then strained into a turkey...you could say in places where the chemicals were not.

In Germany we do not have chemically loaded Butterball Turkeys, we got the old fashioned dry ones.

Junkies do not want the biggest needle and syringe they can lay their hands on.

 

Not two days later, we found out the cooking companies had finally developed a real thin needle for that....before that the "needle" they had for meat and poultry was so thick the butter would just flow out.

 

That too would work.

 

You could also explain you need it for inks. Cleaning cartridges, cleaning out ink sac's and piston fillers. Bring pens and cartridges so you can show him/her why you need it.

I clean out my twist out nibbed, piston fillers or Esterbrooks inside of 30 seconds that way.

 

Sometimes the truth works wonders.

 

 

Do grind the needle flat...you could ask him to do to...now that really takes it out of abuse and into use.

Edited July 5, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[Teste99]

I use a 20cc Syringe with a 18 gauge 4" needle. Put the needle all the way into the cartridge and push hard on the plunger making sure the cartridge is vertical over the sink. You might have to scrub your hands a little when your done but I've had great success using this method. I would rather reuse a cartridge than use some of the cheap converters I've encountered.

[carroll]

Here's a glue syringe from Ebay. Works great for washing and re-filling cartridges.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Glue-Applicator-Green-Syringe-Flat-Back-Rhinestones-/180528012188?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a084edb9c

 

Also found at craft stores in the glue applicator area.

[GouletPens]

Private Reserve makes a cartridge refill kit. I sell them, as well as a lot of other retailers who sell ink:

http://www.gouletpens.com/v/vspfiles/photos/PR24CAR-2.jpg

These are nice because they are flat-pointed needles and very blunt, they won't cause you any harm like medical needles. They also have ml markings on the side to measure your ink amount, which is nice. It holds about 3ml of liquid.

[etoyoc]

Just to see how easy it would be, I stopped by Walgreens and picked up a 21 guage needle with 3 mL syringe for 27 cents. All I had to do is tell them it was for an ink refill for a pen. To dull the needle, I ran it over the edge of a pocket knife hone for a few seconds and then over an emery board. I did have a bit of 800 grit sandpaper laying at my desk so I finished it off on that. However, it was quick, easy, and cheap to get a refill syringe set up.

[churl]

+1 for the cartridge refilling kit from Private Reserve. I buy these kits for family and friends who don't work in the medical field. Needlestick injuries in healthcare are so ubiquitous that it's a question of 'when', not 'if', and these are trained professionals, so I strongly recommend avoiding sharps, especially hollow sharps.

 

Also, be extremely careful about disposal, since most every public trash disposal service specifically outlaws medical waste.

 

If you can find one, an angiocath is the best thing for refilling carts. But no pharmacy will ever give you an angiocath. Gotta know someone.

[Ipno Tizer]

I use a 10 ml syringe I bought in Morrisons as part of an inkjet cartridge filling kit. All I do to clead a cartridge is to fill the syringe, put the needle in the aperture of the cartridge and then, with the blind end of the cartridge against the side of the sink, give it a good blast.

 

But take my advice. Ensure that this operation is done entirely under water because releases a deluge of ink laden water which will get all over you if it get's the opportunity.

[ajcoleman]

I haven't seen anyone mention the Write Fill kit from Pear Tree Pens. It comes with a syringe, a dull-metal "needle" and a flexible plastic needle. It works great. I like refilling my Parker cartridges because they hold more ink than the converters, and while perhaps not quite as "nostalgic" and fun as dipping a pen in an ink bottle and filling it, it is probably neater to refill the cartridges with a syringe.

[wvbeetlebug]

You need a flavor/marinade injector like this. Make sure you get one with only a hole in the end. A lot of them now have holes that shoot out of the sides.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/tablecraft-h76779-flavor-injector-syringe/80840006.html

[Lenny_Nero]

Cheers people, I cant believe I had not thought of this.

I am, or rather was looking to get the Z24 converter for my Lamy's,

but this is a much better method and I dont have to feel so bad about binning the empties.

Edited July 19, 2010 by Lenny_Nero

[Ink Stained Wretch]

How is the easiest way to clean out a used cartridge to fill it with ink? I want to put a different color in, but am having a hard time getting all the old dots of ink out of the cartridge. The little plastic ball or whatever is preventing the ink from just flowing out (I guess that's why the put it there) so I tried using a little syringe, and it got most of it out, but not all of it.

You haven't said what style of cartridge you're trying to clean out, so I'll cover some bases generally.

 

I mostly just hold the closed end of the cartridge in my fingers and hold the open end under the hot water tap, at an angle. Then I flip the cartridge several times to empty the hot water out into the sink. I repeat a few times and I have a clean cartridge. This usually works. Afterward I use the same technique to clean the hot water out using cold water.

 

Sometimes I need to use other means to get the water into a cartridge, so I just put the needle into the cartridge, without a syringe, and blast water into the end of the needle that would go into the syringe. The needle acts as a sort of very thin funnel in this situation.

 

Pilot cartridges are so open that I have never needed to have anything extra going on to clean them out.

 

I used to use my syringes and needles to clean out the cartridges, but I then found that the wear and tear on the syringes was unnecessary.

 

I use a 20cc Syringe with a 18 gauge 4" needle. Put the needle all the way into the cartridge and push hard on the plunger making sure the cartridge is vertical over the sink. You might have to scrub your hands a little when your done but I've had great success using this method. I would rather reuse a cartridge than use some of the cheap converters I've encountered.

Well, that'll get it done, a little overkill, but that'll blast the old ink out, all right.

[kwpalzang]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

[wvbeetlebug]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

I wouldn't risk trying to seal it. Remember whatever is on the nip of the cart goes onto the nip inside the sec of the pen.

[y_bauluck]

Lamy and Parker cartridges are really cool with their reserve feature, sort of small crevice to hold few drops of ink until you actually run out of ink. But does anyone here have a quick way to remove all the ink in there. I been using a syringue to blast water in there but it takes some time to clear everything out.

[kwpalzang]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

I wouldn't risk trying to seal it. Remember whatever is on the nip of the cart goes onto the nip inside the sec of the pen.

 

I was thinking about that, actually. Whether a touch of superglue would be too strong and damage the section. Not to mention the funky things a small chunk of dried Krazy Glue might do floating around in the ink itself...