Refilling Lamy T-10 Cartridges ?

[frogbaby]

i just am not a fan of the converters

 

i just took a blue t-10 and emptied it (not my favourite blue) and refilled with waterman south seas blue

 

i read that people refill their cartridges regularly but other says that they have problems because the seal eventually gives way

 

this makes sense and i would expect it to do so but wonder how many times i might be able to re-fill a cartridge and use it before throwing it away ?

 

love lamy pens ... hate their proprietary cartridges and don't much care for their puny converters

 

 

[arcadeflow]

Hard to tell. Some people see it crack in one or two uses. I believe it is very dangerous to take risks of this kind in a pen that has open ink windows. What is your problem with converters? You can syringe fill the converter too.

[frogbaby]

Hard to tell. Some people see it crack in one or two uses. I believe it is very dangerous to take risks of this kind in a pen that has open ink windows. What is your problem with converters? You can syringe fill the converter too.

they just hold so little ink compared to a t-10 and i end up getting ink everywhere

for some reason i am able to fill the t-10 more easily and cleanly

 

i wouldn't think it would crack ?

i can see the seal/opening getting looser but i don't see how it would crack ?

[Anne-Sophie]

Lamy cartridges look stronger than run of the mill short international cartridges.

 

Try to refill them by placing them upright inside a container so that you don't squeeze them.

[doggonecarl]

While I haven't experienced it myself, I have read of the cartridge cracking after just a couple uses. I would say, inspect your cartridges before you put a full one into a pen.

[arcadeflow]

they just hold so little ink compared to a t-10 and i end up getting ink everywhere

for some reason i am able to fill the t-10 more easily and cleanly

 

i wouldn't think it would crack ?

i can see the seal/opening getting looser but i don't see how it would crack ?

 

Well, you know some people has experienced it cracking, we are warning you, but it is your decision to keep using them. If I were you I would train using the converter with water in a cup or would fill it with a syringe. You can fill it, insert it, let it saturate the feed and them remove it, fill a bit more and insert again. But don't fill too much because it needs air inside.

 

We don't have experts in Lamy materials, but international cartridges are very simple and use a very soft plastic that may get loose but won't crack. Lamy has a plastic insert at the tip, which appears to be harder. It needs a lot more pressure to puncture. It was designed probably to be safe to carry and for a single use, and also to identify the ink color easily. Some cartridges are very easy to break the seal. International cartridges usually have a plastic bearing stuck at the tip, Pilot cartridges have a disc that will easily rotate and release the ink if you press it with a sharp object, and so on.

 

I am not familiar with all Lamy pens, I have only handled the Safari, and some believe that the correct way to puncture a fresh cart in it is to insert it loosely in the section, and screw the barrel in until it is close. This pressure will puncture the cartridge slowly and at a perfect angle. If this method only works with the Safari, probably Lamy doesn't believe this is the correct way, but the Safari was designed this way, and I believe it helps young people to change carts in school without much thinking.

[frogbaby]

 

Well, you know some people has experienced it cracking, we are warning you, but it is your decision to keep using them. If I were you I would train using the converter with water in a cup or would fill it with a syringe. You can fill it, insert it, let it saturate the feed and them remove it, fill a bit more and insert again. But don't fill too much because it needs air inside.

 

well, i confess i am lazy and this sounds like too much work

 

i have used and liked lamy for a long time but just wish they had: a) more interesting ink or standard cartridges

 

i could of course buy a 2000 and maybe will

 

i have 2 al-stars which i do like and will give the cartridge refill thing a fair try (based on my first attempt it wasn't too bad)

 

some people seem to have some success refilling them

 

going forward i really want to only buy pens that are piston / vacuum fill or standard cartridge compatible

 

i am not an ink connoisseur and there are plenty of nice colors in standard cartridges

Edited February 24, 2015 by frogbaby

[Mike 59]

I have refilled many Lamy cartridges, many times over, can't remember one splitting at all, but of course it could happen.

The converters are good, well designed and the piston part works very well.

They also make the Safari Vista look better too !

The only 'issue' with refilling cartridges, is the same one as with all brands;- cleaning out the previous ink.

A syringe with a 5cm needle is needed to do this, mine is for refilling inkjet printer cartridges.

I have found that once the cartridge is empty, fill it with water using a syringe, draw it out again, empty the syringe down the sink.

Refill the syringe with fresh water, fill cartridge, repeat as above about four times.

Shake the cartridge to get most of the water out.

Then leave the cartridge overnight to dry out. This works very well.

[Ste_S]

I quite like the Lamy converter. It doesn't seem to suffer from surface tension problems that some international converters do, perhaps due to the wider opening ?

If you don't want to fill straight from the bottle, syringe filling a converter or a cartridge shouldn't be any different. They both have the same opening.

 

Another option is Monteverde cartridges, made to fit Lamy pens. They're made in Austria by reportedly the same company that makes Mont Blanc ink.

 

http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/showproduct.php?brand=Monteverde&range=cartridges+for+Lamy+pens&cat=cartridges&subr=

 

A further option is there is reported cross compatibility between Parker (and thus Aurora) and Lamy cartridges and converters. Not tried it myself, but worth a shot if none of the other options take your fancy

[arcadeflow]

Monteverde makes Lamy compatible cartridges in various colors. I believe they sell a set with one of each color too. You can try them out, and maybe figure out if their cartridges are more reusable than Lamy's.

[Jamerelbe]

I've been watching this thread, but holding off on contributing, because my objection to reusing these cartridges was different: I've only tried it once, but trying to flush all the blue ink out of a blue T-10 had been a frustrating affair: even now there's a tiny bit of residual blue ink that's trapped around the top of he cartridge, where the clear plastic of the cartridge body connects to the blue 'spout'.

 

Here's the thing, though: I just took another look at the top of the cartridge (which had never been used, but I'd popped into a Safari 2 or three times empty) - and discovered that the blue plastic 'spout' has already cracked.

 

I'm surprised the OP has problems with the cartridge converter - the ones in my kids' pens work perfectly (I've just bought a couple for myself, without converters, hence the experiment with the cartridge). Maybe it's improperly seated on the pen - or maybe they got a faulty one?

 

Either way, the take-home message: I think you'll find that refilled cartridges DO have cracking problems - they're not meant to be removed and re-seated multiple times over. Then again, it may just be that my cartridge was a dud!

[pen2paper]

Not sure where your Lamy cartridges are coming from, or how they've been handled... But my Lamy carts have been refilled time and time again with no cracks or leaks since my 1st red Safari with black clip and nib was new from Lamy. Not New Old Stock.

 

I've seen no failures in recent carts. If I were to find less rigid carts you'd find me here complaining.. and contacting Lamy.

 

I use a 22 gauge 1 1/2" syringe to both fill and clean the carts by flushing with tepid/cool, not hot water. Repeatedly drawing this water out of the cart with the syringe removes the last traces of old ink.

[gammada]

I've been refilling cartridges for about six months now and so far, I've seen no problems at all. I've found them quite useful for trying new inks on my pens. Converters also work flawlessly.

[RMN]

Both Lamy and Parker have a very narrow end on the carts. To clean that you need a long needle on your syringe.

 

Put the needle all the way in, then push the plunger and you will be able to clean the whole cartridge.

Then use the same needle dry to blow-dry the cartridge.

 

 

There are converters made from the same plastic as cartridges. Basically that is not the biggest problem. Probably the initial piercing can be "traumatic". I am not sure if all the piercing needles on all brands are the same.

 

Several brands advise not to pierce the cartridge with your thumb, but place it in the barrel and then screw on the section which will pierce the cartridge safely. This works with Sheaffer, and also with Lamy. Not there is a little spacer ring on new Safaris with a cartridge in them? That is to make sure they don't pierce. Remove the ring, place cart, screw close---> pierced cartridge.

 

 

Ofcourse there is always a chance of material failure.

 

 

D.ick

[Sasha Royale]

In the days of adolescence, I would squeeze the cartridge to refill from a bottle.

After two or three times, the plastic cracked. Syringes were sold by prescription.

Since using a syringe to refill, cracking has not been an issue. Longevity depends

on the seal at the cartridge/pen interface. I can fill a Parker cartridge ten times,

before losing count. A LAMY cartridge seems similarly durable.

1. Don't switch cartridges between pens. The nipples are never exactly the same.

2. Remove and install gently to avoid excessive stretching of the seal.

3. When you feel the contact becoming "loose", discard.

 

BTW, repeatedly removing the converter will cause similar wear of it's seal.

 

MATH : 5-pack of LAMY Carts + 2-ounce bottle of ink = $22 (50+ fillings)

Converter capacity is half that of the carts. What is the condition of the piston

seal on a Z24 converter at 100 fillings ? I wager the cost of a converter vs.

cost of five carts is insignificant.

[arcadeflow]

People advocating the refilling of cartridges always claim that cartridges hold more ink. It is true, but they forget that a properly filled converter will saturate the feed while filling, that means the ink capacity is bigger than the converter volume. So, the difference might not be that big at all. In the case of Safari/AL-stars, ink safety is my "number 1 priority", I don't want anything coming out of those ink windows, so I don't recommend the use of the Z26 converter in those pens, too.

 

But people are free to do as they wish, there will always be someone claiming that they had no problems. But I would ask myself this question: why should I take the risk? I don't see people using the right converter for those pens complaining that it cracked and leaked.

[tinkerteacher]

I've been watching this thread, but holding off on contributing, because my objection to reusing these cartridges was different: I've only tried it once, but trying to flush all the blue ink out of a blue T-10 had been a frustrating affair: even now there's a tiny bit of residual blue ink that's trapped around the top of he cartridge, where the clear plastic of the cartridge body connects to the blue 'spout'.

 

After pumping flushing the Lamy cartridge full of water a few times with a syringe if there is still a bit of ink trapped at the top, try turning the cartridge upside down and tapping (don't shake) the top. Works for me for getting those last few drops out.

 

But, as others have noted the Lamy cartridges' retaining collar is made of a ridge, inflexible, prone to cracking plastic unlike the nice soft flexible plastic collars of international and Japanese cartridges, so you are taking a major risk re-using 'em in a pen with an open ink window. Though, that hasn't stopped me from doing it. Live dangerously.

[wastelanded]

I've been refilling the same two Lamy carts for three years, one of them strictly with iron gall ink, and have had no leaks. I believe the firmness of the nipple actually makes them stronger then international carts.

 

Yes, ink can get trapped under the nipple part. I flush, then fill halfway, out my finger over the opening, and shake.

 

Edited for grammerz.

Edited April 1, 2015 by wastelanded

[shea2812]

I will definitely do this. But I am not in a hurry though. Kinda like the ritual of filling ink the usual way using converter. I do carry a few FPs so there is no issue of me running out on ink.

[Sasha Royale]

Oooops ! Just noticed that I have been here before.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Sasha Royale