Piston Fillers - Do You End Up Changing Inks Less Frequently?

[mishie]

I find piston fillers difficult to clean compared to converter pens..and I'm new to FPs so I'm paranoid about wearing out the piston by cleaning so often if I change inks....do I have a worry here..should I just ideally be sticking to the same ink for a piston filler. I only have 2 piston fillers right now...a TWSBI which I'm not as worried about as it is cheaper and I know I can completely take it apart but I also have an expensive Pelikan M400 and I worry about the longevity.

 

Thoughts? Thanks

[Zuzu]

I am rather new to piston fillers myself, but personally I find them easier to clean than converter pens. At least I need longer to clean my Lamys than I need cleaning my TWSBIs It might be because they are both demonstators though. I can't help it, but as soon as the water in the barrel is clear they 'feel' clean - and usually are when I dry the nip. There just seem to be less ink cought in the feed. When I compare it with the Lamys, even when the water in the converter is clear, the nib will still leave color on the towel >.>

 

I am not overly worried about wearing the mechanism itself though. Not sure if TWSBIs are old enough to tell how they keep up with years of use, but other piston fillers seem to survive time well enough. Overall I guess I am more worried about the rubber parts of my TWSBIs.

[Jdp2496]

From what I have heard, Pelikan has wonderful customer service and guarantees, so anything that may happen due to simple wear is probably covered.

 

Without that concern in mind, the pistons are designed to be used. I'm not sure if the Pelikan can be taken apart, but you can actually put some silicone grease on the sides of the piston to keep everything functioning smoothly and properly. Furthermore, there are some Noodler's "Eel" inks like "Blue Eel" that are actually lubricated and I understand help lubricate your pen as well as enhance the writing experience.

 

With my TWSBI I don't stick with just one ink. There should be no worry whatsoever in that regard! I actually find the piston fill pens to be very easy to clean...easier than c/c pens. The TWSBI grip section and nib actually unscrew and give you access to the rear part of the feed and the inside of the barrel. I find the easiest way to clean these is to fill a syringe with water, place it at an angle in hole to the reservoir (?) and simply expel the water. It rinses the pen quickly and you can change the ink color. Then for the nib and feed, you can actually place the syringe on the small hole of the end of the feed that inserts and do the same and it flushes it out quickly and thoroughly. The same basically goes for the Pelikan. You simply grab the nib and feed with your thumb and index finger and rotate the barrel to unscrew the nib and you can flush the pen quickly and easily.

 

I hope this helps!

[carlos.q]

I find my Pelikan piston fillers easier to clean than C/C pens of lever fillers:

[Chrissy]

I tend to find I change inks less frequently in piston fillers because they generally have more ink capacity, and so the ink lasts longer.

 

I'm opposite to Zuzu because I find it easier to clean CC fillers as I have an ear bulb that pushes a lot of water through and cleans them quickly.

 

There doesn't seem to be a quick cleaning method for piston fillers apart from moving the piston up and down a few times, then soaking the nib and feed until it dabs clean on a piece of kitchen roll.

[WirsPlm]

Yes, but some piston fillers (and some lever fillers) use nib units that are designed to be unscrewed, so those are almost as easy to clean as eyedropper pens (I hear Pelikans are like this, although Pelikan prices are outrageous right now, and I know Esterbrooks do this), the thing is that a lot of modern piston fillers don't have much higher capacity than modern cartridges so if you really want a large capacity you kind of have to go to eyedroppers pens (which I love, and which are quite easy to deal with). I've found that if I can take a pen apart (like the lower end Pilots) they're much easier to deal with regardless of which filling system they use so while I don't like piston fillers (for the cleaning issues and other reasons) I'll take a piston filler that's easy to deconstruct over a C/C pen that's been shellaced or glued together, a C/C pen that's friction fit is proably the easiest to clean (like Pilot 78Gs or Pilot Metropolitans).

[Chrissy]

I enjoyed watching the video on cleaning Pelikan piston fillers.

 

Because I'm clumsy, I have 2 observations:

 

The second thing I would have done after emptying the pen would have been to recap the ink bottle, and move it well away from the sink area so as to not have any potential for an accident with an uncapped ink bottle.

 

Also, I would have had the strainer fitting exactly into the bottom of the sink before I unscrewed the nib unit from the pen.

[Chrissy]

Yes, but some piston fillers (and some lever fillers) use nib units that are designed to be unscrewed

My piston fillers don't have piston units or nib units that can be unscrewed

[pompa]

I find my Pelikan piston fillers easier to clean than C/C pens of lever fillers:

 

I'd have to disagree with you there...for a c/c you just remove the cartridge or converter and flush the nib out with one of these. That's definitely faster than turning the filler knob, and the water only goes one way so you're not drawing the ink back into the reservoir. If you have a twist converter that can be disassembled, just unscrew the back, pull out the piston and rinse it out under the tap and you're done. Add a little silicone grease if you want to and just screw it back together. If you want to get a piston filler as clean you'll be twisting that knob for quite a while.

 

The exception would be a Noodler's Konrad. Just pull the nib and feed and unscrew the back and rinse it under the tap.

Edited May 14, 2014 by pompa

[pajaro]

Pelikans and other piston fillers with screw-in nib units are fairly easy to clean.

 

Most C/C pens today use piston filling converters. As with Sonnet as an example, the nib unit screws out of the section and the converter pulls out. It seems this is easier to totally clean, but really how much?

[carlos.q]

 

I'd have to disagree with you there...for a c/c you just remove the cartridge or converter and flush the nib out with one of these. That's definitely faster than turning the filler knob, and the water only goes one way so you're not drawing the ink back into the reservoir. If you have a twist converter that can be disassembled, just unscrew the back, pull out the piston and rinse it out under the tap and you're done. Add a little silicone grease if you want to and just screw it back together. If you want to get a piston filler as clean you'll be twisting that knob for quite a while.

 

The exception would be a Noodler's Konrad. Just pull the nib and feed and unscrew the back and rinse it under the tap.

 

I have various C/C pens and I do not find them easier to clean. But then again that's just me.

As far as turning the filler knob in a Pelikan the water does not go only one way: the water goes in when the knob is turned clockwise and goes out when the knob is turned counterclockwise. Good cleaning takes no more than three or four cycles.

Then again if the OCD kicks in, you can always unscrew the nib and flush the nib and the reservoir directly.

So... as I said, I find my Pelikan piston fillers easier to clean.

[WirsPlm]

Pelikans and other piston fillers with screw-in nib units are fairly easy to clean.

 

Most C/C pens today use piston filling converters. As with Sonnet as an example, the nib unit screws out of the section and the converter pulls out. It seems this is easier to totally clean, but really how much?

 

I find the piston converters quite a bit easier to clean because the converter can get easily seen and wiped out (or I can powerwash it with a syringe filled with water, which is hard to do with an internal piston) and the nib section can be scrubbed out, one reason I'm wary of aerometrics and lever fillers that don't have screw in nib units is that it's practically impossible to really clean them even when they soak forever because there's really no way to take a brush to all those fins in the feed (I've started to realize that the supposedly cheaper pens have a lot of things I consider features and would pay more for and the more expensive pens have a lot of things that I think are bugs and not features).

[pompa]

As far as turning the filler knob in a Pelikan the water does not go only one way: the water goes in when the knob is turned clockwise and goes out when the knob is turned counterclockwise.

That's what I mean...you draw the ink stained water of the feed back into the pen again and again, while whit the bulb syringe you just flush it straight out of the nib & feed.

I have no problem cleaning out my Pelikans either, but I do feel that if I spend the same time as it takes cleaning my Sailor C/C pens the Pelikans will not be as clean.

[KBeezie]

I find my Pelikan piston fillers easier to clean than C/C pens of lever fillers:

 

Made me nervous watching them do that the whole time with the opened bottle next to the sink the whole time (not to mention depositing ink back to the whole bottle).

 

My MontBlanc 225 if I ever needed to clean it more than just a flush back and forth of the piston can be disassembled at the section and barrel, allowing me to use a water bulb from behind the section since I can't remove the nib/feed, and I don't have to disable the piston assembly that way (but can flush the piston side normally like most pistons). I'm guessing that's not the case with most piston fillers (only other one I own is an Ero, but worse case scenario I can unscrew the nib/feed unit out of the pen and soak it).

Edited May 14, 2014 by KBeezie

[Bo Bo Olson]

Of my @ 50-60 pens, only 5 or so are C/C pens. I change inks often enough, in I don't fill them all the way, when playing with inks. I usually have 12 or so partially filled pens....two are not piston pens. One is a Waterman 52 sac pen (when empty filled), the other a Pelikan C/C Celebry with a '90's cartridge of Silver Gray in in it.

My 605 (with a 400N's semi-flex B nib in it) sitting in my desk stand needs to be refilled. Since I put a real nib on that pen, I use the hell out of it.

 

My rolled gold MB 742 (51-55) is sitting in it's velvet case, full of MB Christmas brown, the one that has a cinnamon aroma. A wonderful MB 'flexi'/maxi-semi-flex '50's F. I've decided to use up such rare inks, before Midnight calls.

 

When empty for the rest of the pens, they get cleaned and replaced with another pen from my stash.

 

One can unscrew the nib on Pelikans .and use a rubber ear syringe to speed cleaning. I do that to save wear and tear on the piston mechanism.

You still have to run clean water through the nib section; using the piston....but you only have to do that 3-4 times and not 8 if you have to clean the barrel too. The rubber ear syringe is faster...and keeps the pen fresher for more decades.

 

You do not have to fill a piston pen....I seldom do, 1/4th will do to write with a different ink.

 

You should have some 100% silicon grease on hand to lube the barrel with a rice corn size glob, every two to three years....

When your piston starts getting stiff, you will know.

 

Yes, the pistons are not made for doing more than refilling a pen...every couple of days for decades, or generations.

The way to cure any problems with use......is......to buy more piston pens.

Or don't use so many inks......but what fun is that.

 

I don't think the Twsbi is as good as a Pelikan so one should grease it every third or forth ink change...perhaps. Again when stiff grease it....but not before.

In both cases don't go AR with greasing.

 

Especially don't go AR with taking your 400 apart like it is a Twsbi, the 400 is not designed to be taken apart. One can repair it at home with experience. Taking it apart for no real reason, will cause wear problems.

 

I flinch, when I read.....after taking completely apart and cleaning my Pelikan thoroughly every time I fill, much less change ink...the thing broke. That is not up to Twsbi Quality. What a Rip Off. I only took it apart 63 times and it's broken.

That is a tad too much AR.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[Zuzu]

I'm opposite to Zuzu because I find it easier to clean CC fillers as I have an ear bulb that pushes a lot of water through and cleans them quickly.

 

This is like the third or forth thread I read someone suggest ear bulbs or syringes for cleaning - I guess one day I have actually to try it Everyone seems so happy with that methode it actually makes me curious. So far I have been battling my own laziness when it comes to cleaning though. On occasion 'mostly clean' is already clean enough for me

[GeekyGirl]

I enjoyed watching the video on cleaning Pelikan piston fillers.

 

Because I'm clumsy, I have 2 observations:

 

The second thing I would have done after emptying the pen would have been to recap the ink bottle, and move it well away from the sink area so as to not have any potential for an accident with an uncapped ink bottle.

 

Also, I would have had the strainer fitting exactly into the bottom of the sink before I unscrewed the nib unit from the pen.

 

I was thinking the same thing, about the open bottle of ink, while watching the video! Though I didn't think about the drain issue. I would put water in a small container though, rather than filling from a running tap; then rinse the nib before dipping back into the water receptacle.

[GeekyGirl]

 

This is like the third or forth thread I read someone suggest ear bulbs or syringes for cleaning - I guess one day I have actually to try it Everyone seems so happy with that methode it actually makes me curious. So far I have been battling my own laziness when it comes to cleaning though. On occasion 'mostly clean' is already clean enough for me

 

I use a blunt-tipped syringe from GouletPens rather than an ear bulb. I like that I can insert the tip of the syringe directly into the piece of the section into which a convertor or cartridge would fit. It also works well for flushing water through the convertor.

[sargetalon]

The bulb syringes work great for cleaning converters. That said, I still find piston fillers easier to clean. My method does not involve frequent piston use. If it's a modern pen, I will unscrew the nib if possible and use a syringe to flush the barrel out and repeat this until it flows clean. The nib is soaking in some water while I do this. Gets things nice and clean without constantly using the piston.

[Wolverine1]

Mishie- I have a Pelikan M100, and it is a vintage pen, made sometime around the late 1930's. It was used by my Professor's dad and then by my Professor before he gave it to me. So, it had almost 70+ years of daily service before I got it a couple of years back. I sent it to get refurbished, and it came back with new seals and the piston lubricated. Your pen will be just fine. Just use it carefully, and you are not going to wear the piston out. Even if you do, it is a minor fix.

Edited May 14, 2014 by Wolverine1