Parker Roller Ball Refills

[Rob G]

I recently acquired a Sonnet Ocean Blue ST roller ball to match my FP... when I put the refill in, it was too short!

 

Went through the junk drawer and found an old Vector RB. When I pulled the refill out, there was a small black (about 1/4" long) washer or spacer (whatever you want to call it) which has to be stuck on the tail end of the refill in order to make it long enough for the point to protrude. It doesn't lock on; it just sits there. Then you have to get it into the pen body and hope that it doesn't fall off before you do.

 

Gadzooks! I have exactly one of these little gizmos, and if I ever drop it on a dark-colored rug, it will be history. Not one of Parker's better moments.

 

Does this make any sense? And is there a source for these?

[FrankB]

Does it make sense? No. But Parker is going to do what they are going to do, common sense be damned.

 

What would I do in your place? Contact Parker and - 1. Complain, 2. Ask to buy several more spacers.

[Rob G]

I sent a copy of this post to Janesville.

 

We shall see.

 

 

[orangezorki]

My understanding is that every refill has one of these spacers - I believe that it doubles up as the cap whilst in transit. I guess the design is to allow for its use in shorter pens without the need for a seperate refill?

 

David.

[dennis_f]

 

 

Rob,

I recently bought a few generic Parker RB refills from Staples. All of these refills came with i) one clear plastic protective "cap" fixed to the Roller Ball end (presumably stuck there to keep the ink from drying out while it sits on the store's shelf), and; ii) one black spacer similar to what you're describing, fixed pretty firmly on the back end of the refill. In the case of these new refills (that aren't labelled as Sonnets or Vectors (I found them beside a bunch of Latitudes)), the spacer is about 3/4 inches long.

 

I just tried to pull the spacer off the back end and failed several times; which is to say, on a new refill, the spacer is jammed on fairly tightly.

 

In any case, if you buy new refills, you should find the spacer already attached.

 

Hope this helps,

Dennis.

 

ps: I just discovered that if you take the transparent "cap" from the RB end, and wedge it onto the black spacer, you can use it as a wrench of sorts to remove the spacer. My spacer now comes off and on fairly easily, but it's not loose enough to fall off (by any means). Presumably the spacer has been made removable so that the generic refill will fit a shorter pen... hope this helps...