Recycling Cartridges

[wvbeetlebug]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

I wouldn't risk trying to seal it. Remember whatever is on the nip of the cart goes onto the nip inside the sec of the pen.

 

I was thinking about that, actually. Whether a touch of superglue would be too strong and damage the section. Not to mention the funky things a small chunk of dried Krazy Glue might do floating around in the ink itself...

Exactly. And it is so quick and easy to refill the cart. I just wouldn't do it.

[Possum Hill]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

This post suggests using tiny rubber plugs.

[sotto2]

Scotch tape. Works fine for me. Easy off and on.

[MeiLin]

I tried to refill my Preppy cartridge with ink--and no love. I rinsed everything, filled up the cartridge, put it back in. Wouldn't write. Dipped the pen thinking maybe it needed priming, it wrote fine, but eventually it became clear it was the ink from the dipping only; the ink came very thin and dilute, as if watered down. An interesting effect with Diamine Damson, but not what I wanted. This morning I went to write my morning pages and I got the faint ink; my husband interrupted me, and when I went back to write, nothing. Not even faint, nothing. I refilled a second cartridge and plugged it in--still nothing.

 

Where did I go wrong??

 

At least my Epenco is writing strong with Private Reserve Chocolat. Love that color. May even add some Bliss BPAL to it (chocolate-scented perfume that is beautiful like whoa).

[Possum Hill]

I tried to refill my Preppy cartridge with ink--and no love. I rinsed everything, filled up the cartridge, put it back in. Wouldn't write. Dipped the pen thinking maybe it needed priming, it wrote fine, but eventually it became clear it was the ink from the dipping only; the ink came very thin and dilute, as if watered down. An interesting effect with Diamine Damson, but not what I wanted. This morning I went to write my morning pages and I got the faint ink; my husband interrupted me, and when I went back to write, nothing. Not even faint, nothing. I refilled a second cartridge and plugged it in--still nothing.

 

Where did I go wrong??

 

At least my Epenco is writing strong with Private Reserve Chocolat. Love that color. May even add some Bliss BPAL to it (chocolate-scented perfume that is beautiful like whoa).

It sounds like you have water in the feed; did you rinse the pen? If that's the case you may just have to write loops or lines until you've written out the water.

 

I've refilled Platinum cartridges for Preppys as well as Sheaffer, Lamy, Pilot, international and Sailor cartridges without problems.

 

Don't give up! We can make it work.

 

ETA Actually I did have a problem; a Lamy cartridge developed a leak.

Edited August 15, 2010 by Possum Hill

[MeiLin]

Yes, I did rinse out the pen. I've been writing loops and loops and loops to no avail. I just disassembled the pen and left it to dry.

 

Moral of the story: Have a back up Preppy.

[Possum Hill]

Yes, I did rinse out the pen. I've been writing loops and loops and loops to no avail. I just disassembled the pen and left it to dry.

 

Moral of the story: Have a back up Preppy.

 

Yes, the answer to all of life's difficulties is more pens. And more ink.

[mooshi]

I took the advise of others on this forum and went with the bead glue from a hot glue gun. Worked fine for me; and it also survived travelling across the country on air plane flights.

 

-- Moo

[GreenVelvet]

Yes, I did rinse out the pen. I've been writing loops and loops and loops to no avail. I just disassembled the pen and left it to dry.

 

Moral of the story: Have a back up Preppy.

 

Well, you can get a converter for a Preppy or even make the whole darn pen an eyedropper, I've done both with great success.

 

But for refilling the cart, it sounds like you've got some air pressure or a bubble or some kind of situation that I understand but can't explain. So. How you overcome: hold a tissue or paper towel against the writing end of the nib, cap off. Swing or shake the pen, such that ink would fly out the nib if it weren't covered. Keep looking at that paper towel or tissue, and when it shows signs of ink in it, you've overcome your problem.

 

I do find that Preppies have better flow with a converter, and best flow of all as an eyedropper, but YMMV.

[MeiLin]

Off to research turning a pen into an eyedropper. I caved and bought a handful of Preppies (including a new black one to replace the one I stole from the hubby) and we'll see what happens when those cartridges run out. The hubby is intrigued by the eyedropper thing.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

Someone has already pointed out this thread about doing that. Unfortunately I got injured right after that and even though a kindly fellow FPNer sent me some rubber plugs and stuff we'd discussed I never got around to doing the big test I'd envisioned. But my experience with it on a smaller scale is that the rubber plugs may work if you can keep them plugged in. I've experimented with cramming plugged cartridges into a tin box with a hinged lid, originally containing mints, but a certain amount of tension is required and a bump could release the ink. The original good idea of using a small ball bearing as a temporary stopper ran into the problems of 1) adding a steel BB to the plastic or glass BB that's already in an international cartridge, and 2) pushing a piece of stainless steel with the plastic nipple and feed-end is not going to ensure a long life for the fountain pen.

 

Still, I should work on this some more.

 

Lamy and Parker cartridges are really cool with their reserve feature, sort of small crevice to hold few drops of ink until you actually run out of ink. But does anyone here have a quick way to remove all the ink in there. I been using a syringue to blast water in there but it takes some time to clear everything out.

I can't stand those sorts of things! They just make some of the ink hard to access. I'd prefer if the manufacturers didn't do those things. [He says knowing from experience that no manufacturer on this planet cares what he prefers :bonk: .]

 

I tried to refill my Preppy cartridge with ink--and no love. I rinsed everything, filled up the cartridge, put it back in. Wouldn't write. Dipped the pen thinking maybe it needed priming, it wrote fine, but eventually it became clear it was the ink from the dipping only; the ink came very thin and dilute, as if watered down. An interesting effect with Diamine Damson, but not what I wanted. This morning I went to write my morning pages and I got the faint ink; my husband interrupted me, and when I went back to write, nothing. Not even faint, nothing. I refilled a second cartridge and plugged it in--still nothing.

 

Where did I go wrong??

 

At least my Epenco is writing strong with Private Reserve Chocolat. Love that color. May even add some Bliss BPAL to it (chocolate-scented perfume that is beautiful like whoa).

Putting the nib into some absorbent paper, like papier de toilette might make it start up all by itself. Something I've run into recently is that knocking on the side of the fountain pen sometimes works. I suspect that the problem in such a case is that a bubble has formed around the nipple where the ink goes into the ink channel and the air bubble just won't leave that nipple. Knocking on the part of the pen where you figure the bubble, and nipple, might be sometimes works for me. And then there's swinging one's arm with the pen in hand and either capped or with something over the nib to catch any ink that may be overly enthusiastic.

 

I took the advise of others on this forum and went with the bead glue from a hot glue gun. Worked fine for me; and it also survived travelling across the country on air plane flights.

Please tell us more about this. Is there any particular glue that works better than others? I'm really only familiar with hot glue guns from watching former editors use them to put publications together. That's a sort of waxy glue, isn't it? I'd still be concerned about tiny bits of glue breaking off and getting into the ink channel.

 

I wonder if a waxy glue could be used to keep a rubber stopper in a cartridge :hmm1: ?

[MeiLin]

The Preppy is working again, and lovely Damson ink from Diamine (a present from a reader, yay) is flowing onto my morning pages. Thank you, folks!

[mooshi]

Please tell us more about this. Is there any particular glue that works better than others? I'm really only familiar with hot glue guns from watching former editors use them to put publications together. That's a sort of waxy glue, isn't it? I'd still be concerned about tiny bits of glue breaking off and getting into the ink channel.

 

I wonder if a waxy glue could be used to keep a rubber stopper in a cartridge :hmm1: ?

 

Hot glue gun uhm... glue is actually pretty flexy. It adheres well enough to the cartridge that it won't come off during transport, but supple enough that you can peel it off without any hassle. Because it's not brittle, you shouldn't worry about it breaking off into bits or getting clogged in your feed since it should come off in one piece.

 

-- Moo

[sygyzy]

Sorry for the amateur question but I have never used a cartridge (only converters). So when you reuse one, by rinsing and refilling. Do you insert the needle into the bottom part of the cartridge (that is nearest the nib when installed), or the top part (nearest the rear of the pen)?

[Possum Hill]

Sorry for the amateur question but I have never used a cartridge (only converters). So when you reuse one, by rinsing and refilling. Do you insert the needle into the bottom part of the cartridge (that is nearest the nib when installed), or the top part (nearest the rear of the pen)?

The needle is inserted in the end that fits over the piercing tube, or spike or nipple, so that it's not necessary to puncture the cartridge with the needle. Blunt needles are best because it's harder to puncture one's self with them.

[ailleurs]

Private Reserve makes a cartridge refill kit. I sell them, as well as a lot of other retailers who sell ink:

http://www.gouletpens.com/v/vspfiles/photos/PR24CAR-2.jpg

These are nice because they are flat-pointed needles and very blunt, they won't cause you any harm like medical needles. They also have ml markings on the side to measure your ink amount, which is nice. It holds about 3ml of liquid.

 

Used mine for the first time yesterday. Easy peasy! Just allow sufficient time to get all the ink flushed out and the cartridge properly rinsed after that. You'll know when it's clean.

[ag273n]

Is there a way to reseal the cartridge for storage? A bead of superglue? Duct tape? O_o

I wouldn't risk trying to seal it. Remember whatever is on the nip of the cart goes onto the nip inside the sec of the pen.

 

I was thinking about that, actually. Whether a touch of superglue would be too strong and damage the section. Not to mention the funky things a small chunk of dried Krazy Glue might do floating around in the ink itself...

 

 

i'm not sure if this helps, but if you want something thats airtight seal, try a testube and a cork...

if you want to store re-filled cartidges at home, i gues that works...

[ag273n]

Please tell us more about this. Is there any particular glue that works better than others? I'm really only familiar with hot glue guns from watching former editors use them to put publications together. That's a sort of waxy glue, isn't it? I'd still be concerned about tiny bits of glue breaking off and getting into the ink channel.

 

I wonder if a waxy glue could be used to keep a rubber stopper in a cartridge :hmm1: ?

 

Hot glue gun uhm... glue is actually pretty flexy. It adheres well enough to the cartridge that it won't come off during transport, but supple enough that you can peel it off without any hassle. Because it's not brittle, you shouldn't worry about it breaking off into bits or getting clogged in your feed since it should come off in one piece.

 

-- Moo

 

 

well, other cartridges like quink has a soft ruber-like plastic tip at the opening, which might adhere just enough for the hot glue and not too strong that you still can peel it off, but it might actually melt the tip.. or somewhat?

[mooshi]

Please tell us more about this. Is there any particular glue that works better than others? I'm really only familiar with hot glue guns from watching former editors use them to put publications together. That's a sort of waxy glue, isn't it? I'd still be concerned about tiny bits of glue breaking off and getting into the ink channel.

 

I wonder if a waxy glue could be used to keep a rubber stopper in a cartridge :hmm1: ?

 

Hot glue gun uhm... glue is actually pretty flexy. It adheres well enough to the cartridge that it won't come off during transport, but supple enough that you can peel it off without any hassle. Because it's not brittle, you shouldn't worry about it breaking off into bits or getting clogged in your feed since it should come off in one piece.

 

-- Moo

 

well, other cartridges like quink has a soft ruber-like plastic tip at the opening, which might adhere just enough for the hot glue and not too strong that you still can peel it off, but it might actually melt the tip.. or somewhat?

 

Hmm... I've never had a problem with anything melting. But at the same time, I also don't apply the glue right away; I'll wait for it too cool down to a point where it's still pliable and sticky, but not cold enough that it wouldn't stick. It takes a little bit of trial and error to get it right though.

 

Another option you could use is Para-Film. If you've got access to a chemistry or biology lab, that's what we use to seal off our test tubes and beakers and such to make it airtight and leakproof. A little square can go a long, long way.

 

-- Moo