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I've purchased a number of Jinhao pens (and a few Baoers) in recent months via eBay. I like the way they write (with one or two exceptions) but they seem to dry out very quickly. (My Parker 51, TWSBI Mini, and Pilot Varsities can go a long time without use and start right up. I haven't even found how long is too long!) Generally, re: my Jinhao's and Baoers: If not used for a day or two, they'll start hard.If not used for 2 or 3 days, they'll need priming (twisting the convertor or running the nib under water)They seem to do a little better when stored horizontally rather than vertically.No, it's not an issue of the ink "sticking" to the rear of the converter because I've gotten into the habit of shaking them downward before use.I don't think it's a broken inner lid--they still have a satisfying snap when opening and closing. I also opened one to verify and the inner cap was fine. So, is this merely the reality of cheap pens not sealing particularly well? I've seen some folks talking about the converters being (partly?) to blame. Can y'all advise and help me improve this issue? Thanks! Dylan Postscript: I'm using Jinhao x450s, x750s, 159, and Baoer 801, 508.

Hi there, I have been working on restoring my Lady Sheaffer 904 Medium nib Paisley pen. I have been more successful than I thought I would but now I am stuck again. So I thought I would turn for help to you all! The pen was not in use for over twenty years. I flushed it out with water thoroughly. It has a squeeze converter that seems to work. The rubber sac does not seem damaged, no leaks, perhaps it holds just a hair less ink than it did before because the rubber is softer and exerts less pressure to suck the ink in. But still, it holds enough for me to be able to write for hours. I have pumped with with light colored water and know it fills enough based on what I can retrieve when I squeeze it back out. But when I filled it with ink, it wouldn't write. So I thought, there must some ink flow issues in the feed, etc?. I tried inserting a Mont Blanc Emerald Green cartridge, and voilà it started writing beautifully. I now have a pen that writes beautifully, again, but remains dependent on cartridges. I'd much rather restore the converter or get a new old converter. The standard Sheaffer piston converter does not fit in this pen (too long). Is there another converter I don't know about? Is there a way to restore my original converter? Peyton Street Pens say that the piston converter should work on numbered pens, but it didn't fit mine: "You'll find Lady Sheaffer pens in two different configurations -- the ones with clips that have the inset semi-hooded "fingernail" nib, and clip-less models with short conical Triumph nibs. The first style has numbered models (we carry the Lady Sheaffer 904) and the second style has models denominated in Roman numerals (we usually have X and XI in stock). You'll find these pens in a wide variety of finishes, both in metal and enamel. You'll want to pay close attention to the converter style required ... the numbered models will all take either the squeeze converter or the modern piston converter, but the Roman numeral models vary and sometimes they cannot accommodate any converter, period." Thanks so much for reading!

Strange problem. Please help me diagnose and give some suggestions! Bought a Lamy Scala Piano Black Special Edition 14k Gold Fine Nib from ebay. Gorgeous pen! It doesn't come in that special box I saw on Lamy, the one that has a bottle of ink in it. Instead it comes in a standard Lamy Scala box, which is OK by me. It comes with one blue cartridge and a Z26 (I think) converter. I put in the cartridge. Pen immediately writes nicely. Flowing and smooth. I very quickly used up the cartridge. Never skipped a beat. Now I put in the converter. It doesn't go in as tightly as the cartridge. Seems to wobble just a tiny bit if I move it around. I didn't pay much attention and proceed to draw some ink (Lamy Blue to be consistent). It's able to draw ink up fully. But after writing half a page, ink flows dry and eventually ink stops. I tap and flick the converter, then ink will come back for half a page at most, then it'll stop again. At this point, I remove the converter and put in another new Lamy cartridge, a black ink this time. Again ink flows beautifully and smoothly immediately and never stops again. I have since flushed the pen and soaked with mild ammonium solution before trying again. Same problem. It's not the feed or the nib because it writes smoothly with a cartridge. What is the problem? It would be quite sad if this pen is sentenced to cartridge forever. Thanks! See Converter Image The Pen

I know that the easiest thing would be to get a new converter, but am curious about what exactly is wrong with it and if there's an easy fix, as I'm a tinkerer. The symptoms: A international piston converter with no apparent cracks fills up when attached to a pen section nipple but quickly loses ink, which flows back out through the nib. If the converter is not attached to the nipple and on its own outside the pen, this doesn't happen and the ink stays inside. Tried with several pens and the symptoms stay constant, so it's not a pen-specific issue. What's the probable diagnosis?

Hey everyone, I recently bought a Sheaffer Legacy Heritage (pictured) and for some reason it leaks from the converter and into the barrel. It doesn't actually leak out of the nib, and I only ever see the ink when I unscrew the barrel but, as I'm sure you can appreciate, this is annoying regardless. I currently have Mont Blanc Irish Green in there. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the ink properties, but I don't think it's done this with any other ink before. Another thing I'm thinking it might be is the temperature. I walk to and from school every day, and at the moment (here in the UK), it's extremely cold. In fact - it was even snowing here today (I'll only take one pen to school tomorrow I think and make sure I keep it warm). Could a low temperature make the pen leak a little? It's fine sitting on my desk at the moment. I've written with it and there are no leaks, until I get to school and have a look inside the barrel to find ink over the converter.

The only converter that ?I can see as available for the Lamy a Safari is the one which has a bright red bit on the end....anyone know if there's another kind which would do? It's merely a cosmetic/aesthetic effect thing....I don't like seeing the red part, when the ink is a different colour( or at all, actually, especially in the transparent Vista) Alex

Hi All, I recently acquired a very nice used Signum Carina. The pen writes very nicely however the converter which came with it is leaking. Although it appears to be a Standard International type, I was just wondering if anyone here can confirm that it is indeed a standard converter and not a proprietary type. Signum pens are practically unknown here in Australia and there doesn't appear to be any local importers or agents I can approach for assistance.

Dear FPN'ers, We are introducing our RANGA Acrylic Model 4CS Pens with German Schmidt Screw in nibs and Converters. in 20 Beautiful colours. These are Eyedropper Pens. These pens are completely handmade and Visual mesmerizers. Please see our handmade Pen making Video Which is very unique in the world and needs Extensive skills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08pUuLREZR4&feature=youtu.be The length of the capped pen is 5.75 inches. The thickness is 13.5mm Dia app. Flat shape (Both ends), Rounded shapes(Both ends) are available. Nib: The Pen uses German White Schmidt Screw in (FH341) nib . It is available in Fine / Medium/ Broad points. It comes with German Schmidt K5 Converter. The pen is 3 in 1 Filling Mechanism. Clip: Both Thin clip and Broad clips are available in Gold colour and White colour. Clipless Option is also available. The colours are 1. Grey/ White 2. Purple/Pink/Dark blue 3. Yellow/ Orange /Dark Green 4. Purple with Black 5. Bright Green With Thin Green Swirl 6. Orange With Black Swirl 7. White with Black 8. Pink With Black Swirl 9. Sea Blue With Red 10. Red with Black Swirl 11. Orange With Dark Blue 12. Blue with Black Swirl 13. Yellow with Dark Green/Red/Black 14. Pink With Dark Blue 15. Yellow with Dark Green 16. Purple with Dark Blue 17. Light Green with Blue Swirl 18. Orange With Blackish Green 19. Bright Green with Green Swirl 20. Pink/Green/Black Price: 50$ Shipping: Free worldwide Registered Post shipping Payment can be done to my paypal id mpkandan@gmail.com http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Ebonite%20Gajendra/C%20Rod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS/DSC04750-1_zps0i2di68w.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Ebonite%20Gajendra/C%20Rod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS/DSC04675-1_zpsjpgvehqv.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Ebonite%20Gajendra/C%20Rod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS/DSC04714-1_zpszfqpp6nq.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Ebonite%20Gajendra/C%20Rod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS/DSC04672-1_zpsaitglvsv.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Ebonite%20Gajendra/C%20Rod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS/DSC04676-1_zpshq567geg.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Ebonite%20Gajendra/C%20Rod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS/DSC04713-1_zpss4kmqc1r.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05121-1_zpskubcq6ka.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05113-1_zpsw1cubfdm.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05115-1_zpsupzoyxs3.jpghttp://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05111-1_zpsn4ztdubf.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05108-1_zpspfa3lhhi.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05106-1_zpskpzmwodj.jpg http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z437/mpkandan/CRod%20Acrylic%20Model%204CS%20Converter/DSC05122-1_zpsvsn9wkyd.jpg Thanks for viewing and support Regards, Kandan.M.P Ranga Pen Company

I have four Kaweco Sport fountain pens, three Classic Sports in M, B, and BB and an AL-Sport in medium. Recently I outfitted them all with Kaweco squeeze converters. Up until that point I had been refilling cartridges with a syringe. I found that once I started using the squeeze converters the pens started bleeding through every paper with every ink. They bled through Rhodia, Clairefontaine, and Maruman Mnemosyne papers I've used them on. I haven't been using bleed-prone inks with them either. Off the top of my head, I've used Waterman Serenity Blue, Parker Quink Blue, Noodler's Heart of Darkness, and other inks that I've had zero problem in the past with bleedthrough. This happens regardless whether I draw ink up through the feed or fill the converter directly with a syringe. Seeing this pattern since I started using squeeze converters, I started refilling cartridges again to fill the pen. Now I'm back to having no problem at all: back to my Kaweco Sports being on the slightly dry-ish side. I bought my converters from different sources so I don't believe it's a case where I had a bad batch. So I can only conclude that something about the squeeze converters affects the ink or the nib and feed in a way that causes bleeding with conservative inks on usually bleed resistant paper. Am I the only one having this problem? Is there anyone who could explain how this could happen?

I've had Diamine Sargasso Sea in a Lamy Z26 converter for at least a couple of weeks. Today, it finally ran dry, and as I was cleaning it and preparing to reload with another ink, I realized that the converter had been stained a light purple by the ink. I typically flush with plain tap water. I've done that, and the water is running clear through the pen now, but the converter is still stained. Does anyone have any recommendations for removing the stain? I don't own any pen flush, and operate on a graduate student's budget, so I tend to favor simple, inexpensive, and DIY solutions to those that would require me to, say, order a bottle of pen flush. Thanks!

Any suggestions as to the availability of converters for a Delta? Is there a 'universal' one which would fit? Can't remember the name of the model....it's a basic, pearly white one. Alex

Picked up a Pilot 78G (from eBay seller leeleehihi, recommended) but since I refill cartridges with a syringe I have no use for the converter. First person to email their postal address to rappard //at// gmail //dot// com gets it. (Not entirely sure if this converter fits all Pilot pens, hence the "78G" mention. http://www.jetpens.com/blog/how-to-use-the-pilot-con-20-fountain-pen-converter/pt/212 seems to imply that it will fit other Pilot models as well.)

Wasn't sure if I should put this here or not, but as it's partly about converters in general, that's my logic. I got a lovely old yardoled some time ago....turned out that the casing above the nib unit had a spiral crack, it leaked/wouldn't write properly(went through all the complaining to the seller route, who maintained - adamantly - that it was not cracked, or had not been when he sold it. He was wrong. But, that's another matter. All ended well, after I asked here, and followed up on the suggestion to send it to yardoled, which I did, and they put a whole new u it on it - nib, nib section, everything, no charge at all: I'd made it clear in the covering letter I sent that I had bought it second hand.....ie I was not the original owner: it felt like 'cheating' not to have told them that) So, it's lovely.....don't know the model: long, slim, plain, in a small slim wooden box. So much nicer than the more modern ones(just my opinion) Anyway, Im trying to find out if there's a converter which will fit: one place suggests a pilot. As it uses international cartridges, it seems likely that several might; I'd like the piston type. Any suggestions or help, please? I'll post a pic in a wee while....just wanted to ask first. Would also be interested to know hat the model is....the seller was not into pens, and even if he was, he was so unhelpful( and just plain wrong) that I have no desire to contact him as he wouldn't know anyway, and it will just have upset me. It's very plain, and has a sweet simplicity....the numbers on the top of the clip are 4635. Thanks Alex Edited to add photos

I have a uni exam in just over a week and will be trialling my Pilot custom heritage posting nib fp under real exam conditions (yes, I'm practicing with it, it's my favourite uni pen). When I refill, or try to, it the converter hardly fills. When it does, it's full of air bubbles. What am I doing wrong please? Or is there some trick I should know? Seems to be writing fine, but I want maximum ink in that converter for the exam (3 hrs of writing). I've already figured out I can't fill the converter separately without the section/nib unit attached to eliminate bubbles like I can with Lamy converters. Details: I finished an Iroshizuku ink blend, rinsed converter and section/nib unit with lots of distilled water (that con-70 is a pest to get clean!) shook out water vigorously, dried it off a bit, and put in Sailor Blue Black (apparently permanent) with a manuf date of May 2008 (bought new at full RRP just a couple of weeks ago from a retail fp store in Brisbane, Aus.) Sailor Blue Black is going to be the everyday ongoing ink for this pen. Thanks!

I have what I believe is the Cross Stratford fountain pen. Will the standard green push in converter from Cross work with this. I have read some blogs complaining about these leaking. Anything to that?

Hi everybody, I recently bought a Sheaffer's Lifetime 1250 Cartridge Pen. After looking through the Sheaffer converters I already had I found that the slim sheaffer converter that fits the targa fits perfectly in the pen. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the slim converter in the 1250 lifetime. All the other converters I have don't fit at all. Thanks in advance. Davide

Big new article from Brian Gray on the Edison Pen Co. site: http://edisonpen.com/page.cfm/Reevaluate-Converters Most of what he's written squares well with my own experience, having used many different kinds of fillers. I've gradually concluded that all filling methods have their pluses and minuses, and the Magical Wonder Filler has never yet been invented. (The syringe filler in the Gate City Belmont comes pretty close, though!) Although converters don't excite me, I understand the practical and economic reasons why they are so prevalent, and I've come to terms with them. Unlike Brian Gray, I have had lots of problems with converters! I'm sure he only deals with high quality Schmidt K5 converters on a daily basis, so he can be forgiven for not fully appreciating how many cheap, shoddy, leaky, poorly-fitting converters are out there in the world. I've found the converters that go into better pens from major pen makers are generally good, and so is the K5. The cheaper Schmidt converters, or Lamy Safari, to say nothing of Chinese ones, are less dependable. I feel that all converters are semi-disposable items. They are a bit dainty, and even if you get a good one to start with, you can expect it to wear out eventually. The good news is that changing them out is quick and easy. So. . . Troublesome but easy-to-fix is not a bad tradeoff. Another problem he neglects to mention is air lock. Sometimes, especially with some dry inks, a converter will get an air bubble lodged in a way that prevents ink from flowing to the feed. It doesn't happen too often, but it can be quite a nuisance when it does. (In my experience, vac-filler pens are even more prone to this problem.) Because of their relatively small capacity, and because they are insulated from the pen's barrel with an air space, converter pens deliver very consistent ink flow most of the time. This makes it easier to design a feed, since it doesn't have to deal with irregular surges of ink. The problem there, as Brian noted, is that those readily available feeds designed for C/C pens may prove inadequate when adapted to another filler type. Everything is connected.

I'm the very happy owner of a VP that came with a twist-style converter, and I've been using it for some months. When I got the pen, the converter was very firmly fastened in to the end of the nib and didn't want to come out, so I left it alone and have been writing and refilling with no problems. I recently had a reason to temporary put the converter on another Pilot pen, and to my surprise, it removed easily from the VP with just a light tug. It worked great in the Pilot, and now it's time to go back... ...except I can't figure out how to do it. There's something preventing the converter from seating all the way in, so it's just lightly resting inside the barrel of the nib assembly, instead of fitting snugly around the interior as I know Pilot carts and converters do. As it stands now, it's certainly not ink-tight. Is there some secret to re-attaching these that I don't know about? I'm thinking that whatever held the converter in place with such force back when the pen was new is now preventing the re-insertion. The converter is fine, and it's back on the other pen for the time being, where it fits fine and snugly. Any tips? Of course the business end of the converter is out of sight inside the nib unit, so I can't tell what's going on in there. I suspect gremlins.

Hi all: I am moving from cartridges to bottled ink. I want to tall you what I am doing and I will be as clear as possible. Last week, I filled my pen in there traditional way by inserting the nib/grip/converter of the pen into the bottle of ink. At that point, I turned the top part of the converter so that the plunger went up and down 2 or 3 times and after the last turn, the converter was filled with ink. (I did insert the nib/grip/converter into the ink until the grip was in the ink by about 1/4 of an inch) The problem I had was that the inside of the grip was filled with ink and even thought I patted it dry, it just seemed to have ink in it. Checking ink level in the converter after unscrewing it left me with Bay State Blue fingers. So, I have a question that might eliminate this problem and I was hoping to see if this makes sense. Can I simply fill the converter alone with ink and at that point, insert the nib/grip not the converter and have gravity allow the ink to flow downward into the feeder and nib, thus eliminating any ink going into the inside of the grip. This solution seems logical to me but logic is not always a good answer or an effective one. Any help on this greatly appreciated.

Hi, New here. I bought my first Cross today and really want to use green ink with it. I looked on the Cross site and it states the orange converter should work. However, my main concern is that the guy in the shop said that it didn't take converters because of the slim size. I can understand this as the cartridges are longer and thinner than the regular type. I just want to make sure! Thanks for your help, Juli

Hello, I've heard rumblings here and there that some modern and more available converters may fit old Esterbrook cartridge pens, for which cartridges are no longer available and aeromatic fillers are hard to find. So I'm curious to see if any of it is true. If you have any of the following converters and an old Estie cartridge pen, can you check to see if they might fit? Converters to test for fit: -Lamy -Platinum -Pilot -Sheaffer Any others?. Other brands are worth a try if you have them. Supposedly large-mouthed ones may offer some hope for those of us wanting to see if there's a better way than refilling also hard to find Esterbrook cartridges or adjusting Sheaffer ones.

I have a few Waterman pens (Le Man 100, 200, Opera and an Executive), and a few (all identical) converters that are more or less original to the pens or from about the same era. In the Opera and others the threaded converter forms a tight seal...but in one pen (the Le Man 100) the same converter is loose--to the point that it seems as though it could fall out. As far as I was aware the Opera is just a fancier body on the same Le Man 100 base. So I don't understand why the converter would fit any differently. Any insights? and where might I be able to get Waterman converters that fit these pens perfectly these days? A few of the converters became brittle and failed so I would like to acquire a few more and have read that some of the universal replacements do not offer a perfect snug fit.

I recently bought a Stipula Etruria and I am having difficulty filling it. I tried an international converter but this does not fit. Neither did an international (short) cartridge. The problem seams to be that the barrel is too narrow inside. I notice that the barrel has metal threading way up. You can just see this in the photo below. I have read here about converters and removable pistons. Can anybody explain what I need to do? This Etruria does not have the piston nob. It has gold trim and it has an 18K nib. I have attached a few photos if that helps.

I got, a while back a Montegrappa Shema....beautiful pen, lovely writer, and I've been using it with small cartridges. Decided I wanted a converter, was looking online, as I thought that one hadn't been included, and then noticed a sound under the lining....there was a converter there all the time, under the inner lining if the box, which I hadn't noticed (d'oh....) When I looked at it I noticed something odd: I've seen converters with a tiny ball which rattles about, presumable to help the ink flow, but this has a little wire coil which moves on its own. Pictures below.....what I'd like to know is.....is it meant to be there/move about? (Also....in case I need to buy one...is there a universal type converter which would fit? This one screws in tightly. I've not tried using it yet) (In the photos, I've tried to show it in the middle, top and bottom. Harder to describe than to show) Thanks Alex

Hello, I have Sheaffer 86700 converter that came with my Sagaris. I find it doesn't fit tight on the front section of my pen. I don't know if this is a common thing with this converter, but until very recently it has worked perfectly fine. Would there be a way to increase the purchase of the converter on the pen? Is there perhaps a third party brand that sells converters that fits Sheaffer pens? Cartridges fit fairly securely, but I wouldn't want to rely on that as my main filling method. Secondly, I mentioned earlier in the post that I had a recent problem with this converter. I filled my pen with Noodler's Liberty's Elysium and noticed some leaking out of the front of the converter. I store this pen nib up so I don't know whether the ink migrated from the converter upwards or if it's ink from the feed that slid over and down the metallic front end of the converter. Again, this converter has worked perfectly fine in the past, so could it just be this ink doesn't play well with this converter? I did go ahead and order a new converter, for this reason and also because I think it's a good idea to have a spare.