What Happened To This Con-20?

[Elusive138]

I have a CON-20 conveter that came with (and is used in) a Pilot 78G pen. It's been perfectly fine for the last year, but I was surprised today by ink suddenly streaming out of the pen.

 

Turns out the sac flattened itself (photo attached). My guess is that this forced a bunch of ink out (and all over my hands). This was my first time using it in a week, where it was perfectly fine (though I did notice a slight flattening while refilling, not quite *this* bad!).

 

It won't take any ink now. I've tried force-filling it with water, but it empties itself as soon as I remove the pressure. Seems well and truly dead.

 

Has this happened to anyone else before? Did I do something wrong? Is there anything I can do, or do I have to replace the converter?

Edited December 2, 2014 by Elusive138

[Algester]

there's a high chance the converter is really dead but since you have the 78G you can either choose to fill it as an eyedropper or get a Con-50

try to see if you can still reshape the sac and then fill it again if the former can be done see if you can still use the press bar else you might stick to use syringe filling

Edited December 2, 2014 by Algester

[graystranger]

Looks to me like the sac has a split in it. That looks like the converters Pilot includes with the Parallel pens and refers to them as cleaning converters. They can be used as regular converters too but don't look like they are as well made as the Pilot Con-20 sold by Goulet Pens.

 

Here is a photo of the Pilot Con-20 sold by Goulet. They are $4.50. As you can see, this Con-20 has the sac enclosed with a single metal plate used to press on the sac.

Edited December 2, 2014 by graystranger

[Anirban4u]

Maybe you can try this ? I tried with an ancent con-w in an attempt to learn resacking.

1. make sure the converter is washed thouroughly. (blunt syringe works best)

2. shake the converter violently to get the water out (n0 squeezing), then grab a tissue & roll it inside.

3. wait 10 mins

4. very gently blow in the mouth of the con-20.

 

Either the rubber sack will inflate, or it'll make a sound (thus confirming a rapture). If it inflates, fill it with water (squeeze now).
Does it defate back to its weird shape ?

[hari317]

Common issue. The sac gets distended/bloated when in contact with some inks. Just clean the converter and allow it to dry out for a few days, it will regain its old shape. HTH.

[Elusive138]

I can't get it to reinflate permanently. It inflates while blowing (or forcing water in with a pipette), but deflates as soon as I stop blowing/pumping. No rupture or leak in the sac as far as I can tell.

 

Only ever used Quink in this pen, nothing exotic. It's been clean and dry for a day now with no change.

 

I'm planning to get a CON-50 to replace it (soon as I can find a local source, or reasonable shipping!), but it'd be nice to know why this happened.

[hari317]

Only ever used Quink in this pen, nothing exotic. It's been clean and dry for a day now with no change.

I suggest you leave it for a few more days and see. It always regains the shape after a few days of being left alone after cleaning.

 

I suspect the sac gets bloated/elongated and restricted by the hoop, thus the pinching that you have seen.

 

It will happen again with the new converter.

 

I have seen this happen with India made quink, also Pilot Blue-Black sometimes...

[acolythe]

this has happened to all my 78 G's eventually. (5 so far) The rubber seems to get jammed under the metal and then eventually stays relatively deflated. I switch to the ?con 50 with twist action eventually. I htink its poor quality rubber and some interaction with the ink. But I would love to hear if anyone else actually knows what is up.

[OakIris]

The Con-20 holds more ink than the Con-50, (and it costs less, too!) so if you decide you need a new converter, I would go with the 20.... In the meantime, I would follow Hari's advice and see if the converter you have will reform itself after a few days of 'rest;' as a rule, Hari knows of what he speaks!

 

Holly

[Kuhataparunks]

What's the obsession with converters? They hold less ink than a refilled cartridge, and empty cartridges can like be obtained for free if you ask someone maybe on the PIF Forum. There's much less trouble in refilling a cartridge.

With this said, I can spare a converter or two if you'd like; don't bother wasting any money on one

[Elusive138]

I suggest you leave it for a few more days and see. It always regains the shape after a few days of being left alone after cleaning.

 

I suspect the sac gets bloated/elongated and restricted by the hoop, thus the pinching that you have seen.

 

It will happen again with the new converter.

 

I have seen this happen with India made quink, also Pilot Blue-Black sometimes...

 

It's back to normal now! Took half a week.

 

Thanks!

 

I suppose this gives me an excuse to switch to a different ink (I have some Lamy Black and Noodler's Bulletproof Black handy, so they're first). Hopefully it doesn't do the whole leak-everywhere-and-make-a-huge-mess thing again.

[Elusive138]

What's the obsession with converters? They hold less ink than a refilled cartridge, and empty cartridges can like be obtained for free if you ask someone maybe on the PIF Forum. There's much less trouble in refilling a cartridge.

With this said, I can spare a converter or two if you'd like; don't bother wasting any money on one

 

Ah... pen came with the converter, and they don't use any standard cartridges - postage of any empty cartridges would probably cost more than a new converter

 

I do have a pile of standard internationals refilled for use in other pens, but my current primary pens both don't take them (Lamy and this Pilot).

 

Thanks for the converter offer - I really do appreciate it - but I think I'll be fine with this one now.