Do Cartridge Filler Pens Have Only One Feed Channel??

[OCArt]

Letizia Iacopini's marvelous website, Tenpen, has an article entitled "The cartridge - Why is it despised" in which she says:

"Technically speaking, the main difference between a cartridge filler and a piston/lever/button filler is the feeder. Traditional feeders have two channels, to allow ink to flow  to the tip of the nib and air into the barrel. This delicate balance of air/ink exchange represents the essential magic which makes a traditional fountain pen write.

Cartridge fillers have simplified feeders, with only one channel, to lead the ink to the tip of the nib. There is no need of air inside a cartridge."

She later says:

"In terms of quality of writing, most fountain pen lovers would say that the flow of a cartridge filler is not as satisfying as the flow of a piston filler but this is only partially true and again, biased by the old time prejudices.

The flow may be less rich and the line on paper may result slightly drier but, actually, it is a minimal difference which is sometimes hardly noticeable."

 

I have no reason to doubt the above but I don't understand how the flow of ink from a cartridge converter would need to be any different than from a piston filler as the later is simply a larger version of the former. Can anyone please explain or verify that the feeds are different?

 

[Lithium466]

- That sounds wrong. I never really examined in details the feeds of my various cartridge pens but I remember several ink channels. Pilot feeds for ex.
- I didn't think cartridges were despised, other than some snobby fountain hobbyists 

[arcfide]

It's wrong information. Fountain pens require air/ink exchange regardless of the ink storage method. All workable feeds require some way to achieve this, and most use at least two channels for the ink and air. Additionally, feeds are drier now as a rule simply because pen makers have become better at making the pens write without excessive wetness that might lead to burping or otherwise throwing ink around when it isn't wanted. Traditional feeds were not as good at keeping ink in the pen, and this made them more likely to leak, burp, and drop ink due to changes in air pressure and just overall movement. This did have the effect of making them very wet. Traditional classic inks (as opposed to modern boutique inks) are less likely to have particles in them which could block a feed compared to older inks carried over from the dip pen era which required wetter pens anyways. 

 

So, no, that information isn't generally correct. 

[OCArt]

@arcfideThanks for the reply and info. The line "There is no need of air inside a cartridge."  sure sounded wrong as I can't see the pen functioning if the flow of ink created a vacuum in the cartridge.

[inkstainedruth]

Given that most of my c/c pens now have converters on them, that article on Tenpen DEFINITELY didn't seem right. 

And even the pens which CAME with cartridges?  They're not filled to the brim even if brand new out of the box -- there is still a little bit of space in the cartridges and I don't think it's ALL from evaporation through the plastic....

As for Lithium466's comment about cartridges being "despised"?  I don't like them because they just end up in landfills and are IMO too much of a PITA to refill.  But I used cartridges [Quink Permanent Blue] for several years before learning about bottled ink even being a thing, and before it became nigh near impossible to FIND anything but Quink Black, Quink Blue-Black or (shudder) Quink Washable Blue cartridges around here.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

Of course cartridges are despised by those not born rich....they are horribly $$$expensive compared to a normal bottle of ink...like 4001, Herbin, DA, R&K. I think it takes 5-6 cartridge boxes to fill a 30ml bottle of ink....that would cost at least 4-5 times that price in a cartridge.

 

I do admit, cartridges saved any and all fountain pen companies form going under. Low cost, very high profit.

 

From when cartridges first came in, as a working man's kid...(my first pens were lever, and like all my pens stolen)...I was always in debt for those who could afford cartridges....and BP's were not like today cheap....even stick refills were expensive...an ink cartel.  Jotter refills cost as much as a common ballpoint.

 

Once I ended up with 10 refil stick package for 10 cents and had a years worth of ink. Never saw that deal again. I could afford  a big nickle candy bar, and or  dither between an 8 oz Coke or a 10oz Pepsi.

And I was lucky to get a dime a week allowance.

Eventually I was saved from the ink cartel's tyranny, by the Bic.

 

With MB, GvFC, Cd'A and better Japanese inks....that may fact be obsolete...but I have no idea what those inks cost as cartridges.

95% of my ink buys are bottles. Not  MB, GvFC, Cd'A and better Japanese inks, who are out of my price range.

[Ron Z]

She's dead wrong.  Some feeds have only one channel, others two, and often a deeper air channel depending on the manufacturer.  Size of the channels varies too.  And no air into the cartridge?    A lack of air, or insufficient air ,back into the cartridge is the major cause of pens being balky and quitting in the middle of a line.  Many of the modifications that we do to feeds to increase flow are based on the need to get more air back into the cartridge.

 

There are many modern piston fillers that use the same nib units that their lever fill or cartridge fill relatives use.  A modern twist converter is essentially a removable piston filling unit.

 

She should read the articles on pen design.....

[Mercian]

I too dislike cartridges; for the reasons already cited by Ruth and by Bo Bo, but also because the plastic from which they are made is gas-permeable, so they are not viable as a mechanism for hoarding one’s precious ink for the long-term 😢

 

That said, I do recognise that they undoubtedly have a place.
If one needs the convenience that they offer - e.g. is a school pupil or university student, or on a business trip and so cannot carry/use bottled ink - they are a great invention.

And most cartridge pens can also accept converters for use in situations (at home, or at one’s own desk in one’s office) that suit the use of bottled ink.

 

But the claim that Cartridge fillers have simplified feeders, with only one channel, to lead the ink to the tip of the nib. There is no need of air inside a cartridge." is not only utter hogwash, it is ‘lazy journalism’ too.

 

One need only take a brief look at the Parker website. It bruits their pens’ two-channel feed system. All modern Parker pens are cartridge fillers!