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Do You Remove Converters To Refill? Or Dip The Nib And Twist?


Intensity

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I have trouble filling a converter as fully as possible if I fill via dipping complete pen into an ink bottle and twisting the converter. There's invariably a good chunk of air above the ink. Recently I started a thread complaining about inks concentrating (slightly drying out) on the feed in the short term and also altogether in the long term (couple weeks of sitting in a pen unused), and one advice was to fill a pen completely rather than only fill with a small amount of ink. I'm guessing that means not leaving much air in the converter when filling.

 

So, do you find that a converter "mouth" wears out fairly quickly and loses its seal if you remove it to refill?

 

Do you remove to refill?

 

Also it's of course much neater and less wasteful to just fill the converter without dipping the nib (avoids having to wipe the nib and the pen barrel of excess ink).

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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For some pens I fill through the nib and others I remove the converter. It may eventually wear out the converter to remove it often but I've never experienced any problems.

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I fill through the nib as well.

 

I think the secret is having the patience to allow time enough for the ink to be drawn up. Also, it doesn't hurt to invert the nib and converter, 'burp it', and then dip, expel the ink and draw up a new load to get topped-up.

Edited by ParramattaPaul
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I think the secret is having the patience to allow time enough for the ink to be drawn up.

I'm sorry, what does this mean exactly?

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Depends on the pen.

 

If it's easy to clean off I dunk the nib in.

 

Depends on the bottle of ink. Some are too short. Some are too long. Some are low on ink.

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I'm sorry, what does this mean exactly?

 

Perhaps that aerometric/squeeze converters need a little time for the sac to fill?

 

I generally fill through the nib because it involves fewer steps. I make an exception for a Waterman Jiffie with a type of section that is known to dissolve over time if repeatedly immersed and a Waterman Gentleman with a ribbed section that's a pain to wipe clean.

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Hi all,

 

I dip the nib... it's good to have bi-directional ink flow in the channel and feed... it helps prevent clogging, skipping, etc. ;)

 

 

- Anthony

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Dip the nib also. I never remove the converter unless I flush the pen. When I remove the converter for normal filling, the remaining ink at the tip of the converter would bother me.

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I remove converters to fill them from a syringe if they don't fill really well through the section. Otherwise I try to fill through the section because ink flow starts easier that way. I don't worry about wearing out the connection where the converter attaches inside the pen.

 

If I end up with half a converter full of ink or less, and I wish to refill it, then I always syringe some more ink into the converter, rather than dipping the 'dirty' section into the ink.

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Dip and twist....as Anthony says helps clean the feed channels also.

Grab a needle syringe, fill, take off converter, fill, put converter on again....with dry feed.

Clean needle syringe, put up needle syringe.

Pump converter to get the pen to work because of dry feed. .... :( Right, :headsmack: .

 

Dip and twist....two seconds with a paper towel....the same two seconds I have to use with a sac or piston pen.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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If I end up with half a converter full of ink or less, and I wish to refill it, then I always syringe some more ink into the converter, rather than dipping the 'dirty' section into the ink.

This part is good hygiene. I dip/fill only with a fresh clean dry pen; it also helps prime the dry feed. I avoid dipping "used" nib back into ink bottle after it's been writing & picking up paper fibres, this would just end up in the bottle.

 

When I need to topup an inked pen, I yank the convertor & fill that up. Sometimes with ink, sometimes with just water if I can't remember using that pen much since its last fill. (I've been organised enough to label each pen with ink name & fil date)

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for all my pens, except for the Eye dropper, I just dip the nib into the bottle and get working on the piston or so .. specific pens I use I would fill by removing the converter but usually that had to do with the section having issue ( say wooden section that would get stained if I put it into the bottle of ink ).

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Up until the advent of the balpoint pen, a fountain pen manufacturers instuction leaflet recommended holding the pen in the ink bottle and refilling several times to expel the air. I always fill then pull the pen from the ink and empty. If air bubbles appear then refill. I repeat this procedure until there is no signof any air and the converter is full.

Edited by Pickwick

They came as a boon, and a blessing to men,
The Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley pen

Sincerely yours,

Pickwick

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I dip the nib, too. But you have to dip it completely,

because the ink gets sucked in by the section, not by the nib.

 

When there is air in the reservoir, I take the pen out of the ink before I fully pull back the piston.

This way the feed gets sucked dry (relatively).

Then I turn the pen with the nib upwards and push the air out of the reservoir again till I see the ink raising.

You have to be careful here: you might get inky fingers if you don't pay attention!

Then I dip the pen again and fill it up completely.

 

The instuctions of my Pelikan M200 say that you should fill the reservoir completely,

then screw back the piston to let 2 or 3 drops fall back and then scew the piston home

with the nib in air, so the feed gets free of surplus ink.

(I personally prefer my above mentioned method of just pulling the pen up before doing the last turns.)

 

I would only take out the converter if the ink in the glass was too low for the nib to be completely dipped.

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