Mont Blanc Rollerballs Inadequate?

[meiers]

My very best friend in the whole wide world

L O V E S

MB rollerball pens. She finds them more than adequate. I won't contradict her.

My preference is for fountain pens, ballpoints and pencils.

Edited February 5, 2017 by meiers

[Studio97]

I have to chime in. I hate the MB rollerball cartridge. Too scratchy, dries up easily, doesn't last very long at all. And way too expensive.I put a TUL GEL cartridge in the pen where it would normally thread into place. Then dropped a shortened spring in the other half and put it together. Works fantastic.

Edited February 5, 2017 by Studio97

[meiers]

Sounds interesting. Could you show us a few pictures?

[Studio97]

Never posted photos here. No computer here at my place either. But the TUL refill seats nicely in place in the pen point end with no spring in the writing end . Take a cut down spring to 1/2 inch and drop it in the barrel that would contain the cartridge. The end of the TUL cartridge is sealed so the spring is pressed up against it. When you put the pen together the 1/2 inch spring has just the right amount of tension to hold the cartridge in place properly. Maybe I could send a photo to by email. I have a poor phone camera.

The refill is for the TUL Gel retractable pen.

Edited February 5, 2017 by Studio97

[Kublai Khan]

Hi folks,

 

Am a newcomer to Rollerballs. Was recently given my first one -a Bordeaux/Burgundy MB (I think it's a 163) as a gift. Not very pleased with the writing - it's not even as smooth as my handy $3.50 ball pen and I'm surprised and quite disappointed at this. I'm hanging on to it, since it was a gift from my sister, but would really like to know some refill replacement options. Is there no other refill made that screws in like MB's does?

 

Happy writing! (... with FPs, that is...)

[RoSpectre]

MB ballpoint and rollerball refills are nothing special, and are probably objectively below average. Likely haven't changed their ink formulas since the 60s, and most dollar store pens will outperform them. Monteverde makes refills designed to fit MBs, but their record is spotty for performance and QC. "Worth a try" I think is the consensus on Monteverde.

 

Depending on the pen, gel refills from companies like Uniball which write great and can be waterproof, may be able to be fit, but it is a labour of love requiring much filing of plastic and trimming or extending the refills with odd bits of other refills. I find the easiest is to buy a very thin refill, like a gel refill made for a multi-pen, and then build it up with tape etc.

 

Kind of a pain, but getting a well-made refill into a Montblanc body can be very rewarding. My other recommendation is hybrid ink refills, which are very very smooth ballpoint inks.

[penparadise]

Monteverde makes refills designed to fit MBs, but their record is spotty for performance and QC. "Worth a try" I think is the consensus on Monteverde.

Sorry to correct you but the rollerball refills of Montblanc, Monteverde, Montegrappa, Aurora, Faber-Castell and many many other brands all over the world come from one and the same supplier: Schmidt Technology http://schmidt-feintechnik.de/en/schreibgeraete/produkte/index.htm

The only difference on some refills are the screw section and the length of the plastic at the end. Inside they are identical.

[RoSpectre]

Sorry to correct you but the rollerball refills of Montblanc, Monteverde, Montegrappa, Aurora, Faber-Castell and many many other brands all over the world come from one and the same supplier: Schmidt Technology http://schmidt-feintechnik.de/en/schreibgeraete/produkte/index.htm

The only difference on some refills are the screw section and the length of the plastic at the end. Inside they are identical.

 

Ah! Happy to be corrected. Would definitely explain the lukewarm performance across so many brands. Also reinforces the notion that there is no value in paying the extra for the Montblanc branded refills.

 

My main point that a lot of Japanese brands offer superior inks that are actually undergoing constant improvement; my opinion is if you can fit a Pilot or Uniball refill into your pen (and you should be able to because they make all different sizes) then do not hesitate!

[meiers]

I don't have high expectations of rollerball pens and I find the Montblanc variety up to the task, i.e. adequate.

Edited April 5, 2017 by meiers

[KellenPAC]

My rollerball is my backup to my fountain pens so it doesn't get constant use. By refilling as previously mentioned it works perfectly fine when it runs out. I use the same montblanc ink as my fountain pens, no issue.

[Quill1]

I found with my Boheme that my initial rollerball ink lasted well over a year, then the second (bought in a packet of two, the first stopped working within a month, the second lasted several months and now my third over a year ! maybe random quality control?

 

Anyway, I live in London and not aware of b&m places where I can purchase, so usually end up buying over the web and therefore not really able to try out different makes, unless I purchase several.

 

From experience, does anyone know of different makes of quality rollerball refills that would fit my Boheme?

 

Thank you

[Chrissy]

Greetings from the future (six years later... I was bummed about this problem too, until this morning. Youtube just taught me that you can refill a roller cartridge like a fountain pen. You just pull out the cap in the back of the refill with tweezers and use a syringe to inject your favorite ink. One ml or less suffices. A little cumbersome but fixes the issue of them drying so quickly and you get to use your own choice of ink as well. I just did it and it's working pretty well so far. Only caveat is, if you inject too much ink it will start oozing out the front end. If that happens just suck back up some of the ink with your syringe and dab the roller ball tip with a tissue. Just don't do this surgical procedure over your office's carpet like I just did...

 

I spotted that video too, but my Montblanc RB refills seem OK at the moment so I haven't yet tried the technique.

[gregorius60]

I found that both MB and Pelikan rollerball refills do not last very long with regular use...I used both to sign many grade roster sheets as well short comments on each form and discovered that after several months the ink was drawing a progressively weaker line and eventually bled to nothing.  If you use 'official' MB and Pelikan refills, this can get expensive.  

[boilermaker1975]

@gregorius60 The Pentel Energel refills are a perfect fit for a MB rollerball and I really like how smooth they write. Plus they are much, much less expensive.

[gregorius60]

thanks!

[boilermaker1975]

@gregorius60 You are welcome. Let me know how they work out for you.

[SergeyASW]

Be carefull. Using refills that have no theads can lead to cracks in barrel. That's what happened with my MB Classic rollerball. It seems that barrel isn't desined to handle this.