Pilot Con-70 Is Driving Me Nuts

[prodo123]

Hey all,

 

I'm trying to take this thing apart for thorough cleaning. As most have noted it's not easy to unscrew the metal hood from the converter the first time around. Some CON-70 have it simply screwed tight, but mine seems to be glued in place.

 

The problem is that the glue won't give no matter what I do.

 

It's doing a hot water bath for 15 minutes now. The water started right below boiling and now it's only slightly hot. No luck. I've also used everything I could get my hands on to get a firmer grip (cling wrap turned out to be the strongest) but all I got were blisters on my fingers. I could try a lighter as a last resort but I'm afraid it would deform the plastic and discolor the metal.

 

Is there anything else I can try?

 

*edit

 

I managed to take it apart. There was a ridiculous amount of what smells like super glue.

 

Edited September 30, 2018 by prodo123

[Lloyd]

Please give an update on the rest of the process.

[Mulrich]

This is why I quit using the con-70; I was never able to fully clean it.

I now just use the squeeze converter (con-20?) since it holds almost as much ink and can be fully cleaned in seconds.

[akrohn2010]

I just got used to the ink residue - like patina on a cast-iron skillet.

 

But I agree: it's not worth the hassle if you have a CON-20.

[minddance]

My con70 is washed and dried and stored.

 

It probably has some ink residue somewhere in it.

 

I will not use this convertor anymore.

[Morphling27]

The con-20 is my favorite of the ones available. And it holds a serviceable amount of ink.

 

I'm still lost why the higher end Namikis use the abomination that is half of what Pilot offers in a converter. My Yukari Royale in black urushi is a $1,000+ pen has a two-bit converter system. All the Yukari series should be eye dropper too, I mean the Emperor only?

[XYZZY]

My first and second fountain pens were Pilot Kakunos, both with CON-70s. It's the only Pilot converter I know, but frankly I like them better than the more traditional piston on threaded shaft. I haven't tried to take either of them apart yet, though. The reason why...

 

I find that the blunt syringe needle that I use when cleaning happens to be close to the same diameter as the tube in the CON-70. When cleaning I just butt the needle against the tube, squirt water, and repeat until it runs clear. I'm certain I've got a little water left up top, but at that point it's clear and I'm not worried about a little water getting into the ink.

 

I do keep thinking of taking it apart just to see the mechanism, but I keep finding other things to do. And I can't think of a grippy material laying around the house that would let me hold it securely enough to get it apart.

 

So how did you finally get it apart? 20 minutes in hot water? Or something else? If it really is super-glue then maybe it needed a sharp whack?

[BaronWulfraed]

 

Eeek -- I was expecting just the URL to show up, not the actual YouTube player...

Edited October 3, 2018 by BaronWulfraed

[alanshutko]

 

I find that the blunt syringe needle that I use when cleaning happens to be close to the same diameter as the tube in the CON-70. When cleaning I just butt the needle against the tube, squirt water, and repeat until it runs clear. I'm certain I've got a little water left up top, but at that point it's clear and I'm not worried about a little water getting into the ink.

 

 

 

I do that, but then I shake it and more color comes out. So I do it again. And again. And just when it seems fine, I let it start to dry, only to see dots of color. The converter works well for holding ink, but I'm coming to the conclusion that I can't make drastic ink changes in them.

[XYZZY]

[CON-70 video]

 

Thanks for posting that.

 

Last night I got around to it. I've almost disassembled the CON-70. I'm stuck at the part where the paperclip is used in the video. I'll continue on the next rainy day, not because I need to, but for the general principle of the thing.

 

Side Note: An in-sink hot-water spigot that instantly puts out near-boiling water (like made by Insinkerator) is awesome. Not just because you you can quickly make tea, but because you can hold a CON-70 underneath it for a few seconds to loosen the glue.

 

Since my last post to this thread I bought a three-pack of CON-40s. I'm using one of those in the Kakuno. It's indeed easier to clean, but since my baseline in fountain pens was the CON-70 my brain is thinking of the CON-40 as "easier" and not the CON-70 as "harder". The main reason I'm using the converter there, though, is that I use that pen for trying different inks. I like to ink up the pen and write for a while (i.e. not just dip it), but having a CON-40 instead of CON-70 helps ensure that I can move on to a different ink after a couple of days and not a whole week :-) In other words, smaller is better.

Edited November 1, 2018 by XYZZY

[Ardakilic]

I never heard good feedback about con-70. I currently syringe fill the cartridges and so far I'm happy with the outcome.

[minddance]

I never heard good feedback about con-70. I currently syringe fill the cartridges and so far I'm happy with the outcome.

One might hear positive feedback if one watches some Youtube videos.

[ElinMS]

The one good thing about the CON70 is the ink capacity. Other than that, I barely tolerate it because I like the Custom 74 pen enough to put up with the converter. I have only one Pilot pen and I'm shying away from others due to the poor converters, especially the CON40 which is now the only other option. I'd prefer not to mess with cartridges.

 

Pilot: you make great pens. Please make great converters, too!

[Driften]

The one good thing about the CON70 is the ink capacity. Other than that, I barely tolerate it because I like the Custom 74 pen enough to put up with the converter. I have only one Pilot pen and I'm shying away from others due to the poor converters, especially the CON40 which is now the only other option. I'd prefer not to mess with cartridges.

 

Pilot: you make great pens. Please make great converters, too!

 

 

You can always get a Pilot 92 which is piston fill or an 823 which is a Vac filler. I enjoy both of those pens. No cartridges or converters needed for them... If you have a nib in the 74 that is not available in the 92 it's an easy friction fit swap between them.

 

Not disagree with you on Pilot needing to make better converters. I do like the con-40 better than the early model con-50's I had. The con-20 works fine but you can't see ink levels in it. Then there is the con-70 with all of the cleaning issues talked about here.... I don't have one of those any more.

[TheDutchGuy]

On 11/11/2018 at 1:24 AM, ElinMS said:

Pilot: you make great pens. Please make great converters, too!

 

I concur.

 

 

Walked over to Appelboom to get a new one. €17. I’ll pass, thanks.

 

[Karmachanic]

Con 50s work for me.

[loganrah]

The CON70 is by far the best converter on the market. Learn to use a syringe to clean when you need to and, more importantly, stop trying to get it cleaner than it needs to be and you will be much happier. The problem isn't the converter, it is the obsession with spotless cleanliness (ironically at the expense of being happy to break open the thing you are trying to clean).

[Harold]

1 hour ago, loganrah said:

The CON70 is by far the best converter on the market. Learn to use a syringe to clean when you need to and, more importantly, stop trying to get it cleaner than it needs to be and you will be much happier. The problem isn't the converter, it is the obsession with spotless cleanliness (ironically at the expense of being happy to break open the thing you are trying to clean).

The meaning of "cleaner than it needs to be" is different for each individual depending on how often they switch inks and how drastic the colour difference between their chosen inks is.

 

I'd rather have a Platinum converter that I don't have to break into because it has a threaded sleeve. The CON-70 could easily have been designed similarly with cleaning and user serviceability in mind, yet it wasn't; that's just lazy design and there is no excuse for it. Screw threads are not a futuristic technology.

[Ron Z]

2 hours ago, loganrah said:

The CON70 is by far the best converter on the market. Learn to use a syringe to clean when you need to and, more importantly, stop trying to get it cleaner than it needs to be and you will be much happier. The problem isn't the converter, it is the obsession with spotless cleanliness (ironically at the expense of being happy to break open the thing you are trying to clean).

 

This...  You can buy industrial syringes with fat blunt needles that work very well for cleaning out converters, with lots of flow.  I also tend to think that pens really don't need to be squeaky clean, with all of the ink removed. I've had many pens come through where the nib and feed were pulled so often for cleaning that they're now loose.

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, Ron Z said:

I also tend to think that pens really don't need to be squeaky clean, with all of the ink removed.

 

Then how do you ensure maximum purity of a commercially available ink as supplied, if you don't just see a pen as a writing instrument for capturing written (or drawn) information content, but actually want to explore and/or review a particular ink for exactly what it ‘is’? It can't hurt the ink or the project to try to make the equipment as free of contamination from other testing-by-doing sessions or runs as possible. To me, the equipment is ultimately as consumable as the ink and paper; and if wearing out a converter and having to replace it is about the magnitude of one's concern, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

 

3 hours ago, Ron Z said:

I've had many pens come through where the nib and feed were pulled so often for cleaning that they're now loose.

 

I do that to my relatively cheap Sailor (especially the low-end, clipless Fude De Mannen) pens all the time; and yes, I've already ‘wrecked’ a couple of them that now barely keeps the nib and feed in place. That's why I just order more of them when I see them on discounted offer on Amazon. After all, they're just tools.