Duke Ink Coverters

[Gdowne]

Hello, all -

 

I'm new to the forum and have certainly come to appreciate all the expert advice and opinions offered by people who not only profess a love of fountain pens, but actually act on that love by using fountains pens (in most cases, everyday, I suspect).

 

My question relates to Duke Ink Converters...I have purchased several Duke Fountains (Ruby, Silver Key, Charlie Chaplin) and while all have impressed me with their ability to write smoothly and quickly out of the box (and to always start up even after sitting unused for several days), I must also say that I am disappointed by the ink converters. It seems to me that their suction is fairly weak. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get the converter to fill up more than halfway with ink, even if I try fill, empty and refill again. Am I doing something wrong, or does this seem to be a problem that others on the forum are experiencing? If so, any pointers? Given that I really think these pens are nice for the cost, I would hate to relegate them to the back of the drawer for this reason alone.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[richardandtracy]

I suspect there is a fairly large collector or something that also stores air/ink in the section. So, when you wind the piston down, the air in the piston fills the collector, then as you fill the pen with ink, the collector is filled, displacing the air into the piston.

 

You could get around this by filling as you have, then putting the pen nib upwards and carefully expell air using the piston until ink starts to emerge at the nib. Now, put the nib back into the bottle and fill again. The piston should stay full now. Having completely filled the pen, expell a drop or two back into the bottle and suck air in. If you don't do this the pen is likely to blob quite badly. Note: this filling procedure can be messy!

 

Hope this helps,

 

Richard.

 

[Gdowne]

I suspect there is a fairly large collector or something that also stores air/ink in the section. So, when you wind the piston down, the air in the piston fills the collector, then as you fill the pen with ink, the collector is filled, displacing the air into the piston.

 

You could get around this by filling as you have, then putting the pen nib upwards and carefully expell air using the piston until ink starts to emerge at the nib. Now, put the nib back into the bottle and fill again. The piston should stay full now. Having completely filled the pen, expell a drop or two back into the bottle and suck air in. If you don't do this the pen is likely to blob quite badly. Note: this filling procedure can be messy!

 

Hope this helps,

 

Richard.

 

Thanks. I now have blue hands, but more importantly, I have a full converter. I appreciate the tip!