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Tefolim

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Parker cartridges do not work in my 626. I pushed one in there as firmly as one could, but ink did not appear at the nib even when stored nib-down overnight.

 

I took my 626 to the San Francisco Pen Show and had a few pen experts look at it. I was on the lookout for chinese-made converters to fit the pen, but ultimately was told to go to Ebay.

 

One person noticed the converter (which looks like a Platinum clone) was cracked at the nozzle, explaining the air leakage I am having. Somebody tried a genuine Platinum converter but it didn't fit.

Yeah, Ive seen that problem with delike's platinum converter clone. Whatever plastic they are using for the opening seems to be prone to issues. However, the Delike version is simply a standard international size opening. I wonder why every Chinese penmaker has to have a different size of converter, it's very frustrating.

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Parker cartridges do not work in my 626. I pushed one in there as firmly as one could, but ink did not appear at the nib even when stored nib-down overnight.

 

 

I had the same thing. As it turned the cartridge did not get opened (pierced) at all. It seems to me the nipple is too short.

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Wing Sung has finally started selling replacement converters for the 626 and several other converter sizes. According to Wing Sung, the nozzle diameter for 626 converters or cartridges is 3.2mm.

 

Here's the info in Chinese from their Taobao storefront:

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5-c-s.w4002-18660903976.27.614df20077hbJ5&id=576261421112

 

The second from the top is for the 626, second from the bottom for Sailor, and the bottom one is for Pilot pens:

 

TB2dzSLtHArBKNjSZFLXXc_dVXa_!!2031129595

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One brand, five converter sizes. The beauty of Chinese fountain pen industry.

 

The "Pilot" ones were available on eBay for some time, although they look differently. Hope the 3.2 "Parker" ones will be on eBay some time soon.

Edited by WJM
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This is good news, for me at least. If someone spots the 3.2 "Parker" converters on Ebay, please post a link here (or at least name the seller) for those of us in need of spare converters.

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One brand, five converter sizes. The beauty of Chinese fountain pen industry.

 

The "Pilot" ones were available on eBay for some time, although they look differently. Hope the 3.2 "Parker" ones will be on eBay some time soon.

 

Five ... am I seeing things I can only see four ... or something I need to know .... seriously I do want them to give five, add the 2.4mm Int'l standard would made a lineup full somewhat

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Five ... am I seeing things I can only see four ... or something I need to know .... seriously I do want them to give five, add the 2.4mm Int'l standard would made a lineup full somewhat

Along with the 2.4mm, they might as well complete the set with a 3.4mm converter because that seems to be the most popular size for student pens in China.

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Five ... am I seeing things I can only see four ... or something I need to know .... seriously I do want them to give five, add the 2.4mm Int'l standard would made a lineup full somewhat

Along with the 2.4mm, they might as well complete the set with a 3.4mm converter because that seems to be the most popular size for student pens in China.

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I have no experience with this pen but too much experience with fitting cartridges and converters to Chinese pens;-) Here is a summary, in approximate chronological order, but bear in mind that this is based on when I first encountered the pens, which may not be the order of their initial appearance in China.

 

I have a bunch of old Wing Sung pens from the original company that folded in the 1990s. Most fill with what looks like a squeeze converter, but it is glued in place. At least with this system you do not have to worry whether your ink holding device fits your pen!-) I also have some pretty old Wing Sung pens (e.g., 333) that take standard international cartridges.

 

The first oddity I am aware of is that the old Hero 50 and Wing Sung 500 worked with Parker cartridges. Why I do not know, but these pens look similar to one another, and I wonder if both are based on the same Western pen model. If so, that could explain their shared unusual cartridge.

 

Otherwise, it seemed to me that most Chinese pens that accepted cartridges took international ones. The next oddity was the Hero 359 Safari clone. For me, those have worked with the Parker, Lamy, and Hero 359-specific cartridges. It appears to me that the popularity of the 359 caused the Chinese pen industry to largely adopt the 359 cartridges as standard. For example, recent Yiren and Wing Sung pens seem to be designed for those.

 

But the next oddity is that most of these other pens do not behave just like the 359s. In particular, they often have have trouble piercing Parker cartridges, and even if you can get the cartridge in, there is often a slow leak at the open end of the cartridge. Lamy-shaped cartridges are more likely to fit on the nipple, but often do not fit in the barrel. I have not had many issues with the 359 cartridges from Hero, but then I have not done much testing of those. A while ago they were easy to find on eBay, but this morning I found only two vendors, and the only color available was blue-black. Both blue and black used to be available as well, but I was not real impressed with any of the Hero inks in cartridge form. (See #37 in the thread linked below.) A better bet if you want cartridges would be those from CHREN in a dozen colors. See #66 here.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/314342-cheap-ink-cartridges/page-4

 

Now I know you folks are all getting antsy because I am talking about cartridges and you are only interested in converters. My message to the converted is that there does not really seem to be a standard for large bore cartridges/converters. What I do with converters is to keep separate piles for international and large-bore and use trial and error to fit converter to pen. Someone with better clerical ability than I have might be able to keep each pen somehow attached to the converter that came with it, though that does not help if the converter breaks or did not fit in the first place.

 

If you do not already have a pile of assorted big bore converters, a cheap way to jump start your collection is to search eBay for

 

5pcs NEW OFFICE red new 3.4mm Big hole Fountain Pen Ink Converters

These will set you back $1.28US for five. Of course, if one of the five do not fit, the other four probably will not either. In that case you may need to build you collection as I did -- by buying a variety of cheap Chinese pens. Here you can find many options where the price of a pen with a converter is less than the going price for a converter alone.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/330996-best-cheap-fountain-pens-under-2-us/

 

You will have to chase links to find out which take large bore cartridges, but for starters most any safari clone other than Jinhaos do, as do many recent pens from Yiren or Wing Sung. I am partial to the Yiren 312 and 312A.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329580-review-of-a-colorful-yiren-school-pen-312/?hl=%2Byiren+%2B312

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For those of you disappointed with the limited color selection for the 626, Moonman just released the 100 which is available in a gorgeous brown acrylic that somewhat resembles the old Balances:

 

O1CN011xBzf2uif9ZcHzA_!!81296406.jpg

O1CN011xBzf39qCZGzVAD_!!81296406.jpg

4 colors are available:

O1CN011xBzf2QuqXp9HFt_!!81296406.jpg

 

The only thing that keeps me from buying one is that they only come with Schmidt fine nibs which are not as versatile as JoWo or Bock.

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Wow, TruthPil. Those photographs depict the Moonman 100 as an attractive pen in distinguished materials. Looks like they’re priced in the mid-30 dollar range on eBay.

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Wow, TruthPil. Those photographs depict the Moonman 100 as an attractive pen in distinguished materials. Looks like they’re priced in the mid-30 dollar range on eBay.

 

Yeah, they are a good price considering the materials being used. I'm just a little bumbed that they are only available with a Schmidt #5 Fine nib.

I also wish they didn't have all the metal stuff in the section which I feel steals some of that beautiful acrylic's thunder.

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For those of you disappointed with the limited color selection for the 626, Moonman just released the 100 which is available in a gorgeous brown acrylic that somewhat resembles the old Balances:

 

O1CN011xBzf2uif9ZcHzA_!!81296406.jpg

 

(…)

 

 

Damn it. And me thinking I was cured from that ‘just only one more pen’ syndrome. You just made me buy one (the brown one) :-) :-/

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Damn it. And me thinking I was cured from that just only one more pen syndrome. You just made me buy one (the brown one) :-) :-/

Fpn is the most dangerous place to try and cure oneself haha.

 

I'm still fighting myself really hard to avoid getting the brown one. I've wanted a pen in that material for quite some time. I just keep telling myself somebody will make another model in the same pattern but with a more interesting nib. On the other hand, I have this well-founded fear that Moonman will discontinue these once they run out of material, as so many other small Chinese pen companies seem to do.

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For those of you disappointed with the limited color selection for the 626, Moonman just released the 100 which is available in a gorgeous brown acrylic that somewhat resembles the old Balances:

 

 

Yesterday I was a no. Today I went for a brown. :)

 

Found a nice comparison pic among taobao purchaser comments.

 

O1CN0124ALY5IlBG5ZxDl_!!0-rate.jpg

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Yesterday I was a no. Today I went for a brown. :)

 

Found a nice comparison pic among taobao purchaser comments.

 

[photo snipped]

 

Great picture find! I ended up going for a dark rose. This picture has reassured me that I didn't make a bad choice. (I was also a no yesterday. What a difference a day and a few dollars makes.)

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I will resist this temptation , I will resist this temptation, I will resist this temptation ... OK if its important it had to be said twice, thrice

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The dark rose and brown really have a vintage look to them. Great colors.

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