Is It Possible To Make A Seam On My Pen Watertight?

[Obedai]

I love turning my cartridge/converter pens into eyedroppers because it is easy and lets me hold so much more ink. However, I have a Platinum Century 3776 pen that I am having trouble converting. I want to convert it because it is in the semi-transparent blue color, which makes it lovely for eyedropper filling, and I just love the way the pen writes. However, these pens have a small golden band near the bottom of the barrel that leaks out ink if I eyedropper fill it. Is there any way that you guys know of to seal this seam so that it does not leak ink? Right now I just wrap it in a single layer of electrical tape, but that is obviously ugly and not ideal. Any help you can give would be appreciated.http://fpquest.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/platinum3776bluechartres_oncap.jpg

[Charles Rice]

Find an O ring the right size. Works for me.

[WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

Does the bottom unscrew?

[warblerick]

Silicone grease?

[framebaer]

Ron Zorn's sealant.

[Scycotic]

If you're really really careful you could try a layer of cyanoacrylate on the inside.

[JemC]

The least ugly way to do it is with some form of sealant applied liberally on the inside of the barrel around the ring. But if you're lazy, you could just take some caulk and fill in the bottom to just above the ring.

[Steven]

I recommend clear silicone sealant. The excess that oozes out can be easily wiped off and any residue that dries can be removed with you finger nail.

[Obedai]

I should note that the bottom ring does not unscrew and it would be preferable to not have to simply fill up the bottom of the pen with a solid substance, since that reduces ink capacity a fair amount. What I'm wondering is if I can take one of those super glue containers you can get that have brush applicators and simply paint a thin seal of glue around the outside of the ring.

[UK Mike]

I cannot conceive of any instance where the need for a huge supply of ink would make me do that to a Platinum 3776 - but if I did I would either plaster silicone sealant on the inside of the barrel or possibly paint thinned PVA or even a thin epoxy around the ring and let it dry - for ages. Don't use anything that will react with the plastic - it will quickly ruin the surface finish.

 

Do NOT try and paint superglue on the barrel - most cyanoacrylate glues will "fume" on plastics and give a white powdery and immovable deposit all over your lovely pen. I haven't inspected the barrel of a 3776 but it sounds like the barrel end button is a press fit - it may respond to putting a rod up the barrel and tapping gently to drive it out. If you can get it out a dab of sealant on reassembly and you are sorted!

[Inkling13]

You might want to get a small brush and brush some slow cure 2 part epoxy to the inside. Just got to be careful, since the pen is transparent, and an ugly job will be with you forever. I would not use CA glue, for the fact that it can fume and cause hazing of your plastic, but also, it is unstable in waterlogged conditions, aka, inside your eyedropper. Barring this, I actually have a better idea. Take a cart for your pen, and attach the end of a body of a bic pen or something similar, in essence extending the cartidge's capacity. Much simpler, and reversible.

[Sasha Royale]

It can be done. These are very good suggestions. How inconvenient is it to "pop" in a fresh ink cartridge ?

 

Personally, I would never be confident enough to put the converted pen nib-up into my shirt pocket.

 

Then there is the BURP .

[holgalee]

This is a great post! I have the same question as I like eyedroppers!

 

But for many Platinum and Sailor pens, the part of the section which screws on to the barrel are metallic. I'm assuming that has to be coated as well? I recall reading a suggestion to coat the inside of an all-metal pen with PVA glue--or was it an acrylic coat--for conversion into an eyedropper. Did anyone else read about that?

[Inkling13]

This is a great post! I have the same question as I like eyedroppers!

 

But for many Platinum and Sailor pens, the part of the section which screws on to the barrel are metallic. I'm assuming that has to be coated as well? I recall reading a suggestion to coat the inside of an all-metal pen with PVA glue--or was it an acrylic coat--for conversion into an eyedropper. Did anyone else read about that?

Would you trust your paint job to be ink tight? and would you trust it to hold with use? I wouldn't especially if it has the propensity to give a false sense of security and hide the corrosion going on behind it. I would just stick to standard carts, or at worse, a modified cart.

[Stephen2020]

The trouble with glue on the inside is it can dissolve into the ink and the goo get into your nib feed and ruin a good pen. I'd accept it for the pen it was intended and only do eyedroppers where no glue is needed.

[novarider]

What about filling the end with silicone grease? It's reversible and shouldn't react with any ink. This wouldn't decrease your ink capacity very much as you only need to fill it just past the ring.

Edited January 22, 2014 by novarider

[holgalee]

I'm thinking aloud here. What about joining two Platinum cartridges to form one? That will be a lot less drastic and permanent than trying to seal the pen. So you won't see ink sloshing around the barrel but within a cartridge. Anyway, the eyedropper ink sloshing look is highly over-rated. I know as I've got some eyedropper pens! And it's a lot more fun to change inks regularly.

 

P.S: What's the nib size for your 3776?

Edited January 31, 2014 by holgalee

[Mesu]

I have some suggestions about gluing the bottom like using Shellac but as this is a beautiful blue demonstrator, the glue might show and spoil its looks.

[hari317]

I love turning my cartridge/converter pens into eyedroppers because it is easy and lets me hold so much more ink. However, I have a Platinum Century 3776 pen that I am having trouble converting. I want to convert it because it is in the semi-transparent blue color, which makes it lovely for eyedropper filling, and I just love the way the pen writes. However, these pens have a small golden band near the bottom of the barrel that leaks out ink if I eyedropper fill it. Is there any way that you guys know of to seal this seam so that it does not leak ink? Right now I just wrap it in a single layer of electrical tape, but that is obviously ugly and not ideal. Any help you can give would be appreciated.

It is your pen and of course you are free to use it as you see fit. However, in my opinion, it is a very bad idea to use the pen with ink directly filled into the barrel, apart from the issues of leakage from the rear of the pen.

 

Look at the pics of my pen similar to your pen but for the color:

 

 

 

Do you see all that chrome plated metal at the end of the section? all of that will likely corrode badly when in direct and in continuous contact with ink if ink is filled directly inside the barrel.

 

HTH.

 

Hari

Edited January 31, 2014 by hari317

[Inkling13]

What about filling the end with silicone grease? It's reversible and shouldn't react with any ink. This wouldn't decrease your ink capacity very much as you only need to fill it just past the ring.

That is bad... it's impossible to remove silicone oils/grease once applied. Just ask any woodworker who's tried to refinish a wood surface that has been polished with furniture polish containing silicone. To be able to pack it in without any leaks is one thing, and keeping it there would be another.