Thank you, Tim, for the video. Yes, I have used my ink syringe to get more ink into the converter. It still doesn't hold that much ink though. The cartridges do hold a bit more ink, so I usually refill an empty cartridge. But I truly wish that Pilot would "re-engineer" the converter to hold more ink.
Great video! I do not own a Vanishing Point (yet), but when I first fell down the fountain pen rabbit hole I saw this trick and have been using it ever since. It’s the only way I fill and clean the converters/cartridges. Thank you for the tutorial.
Brian Goulet did a very detailed video on this subject about a month ago, including a strategy that not only fills the converter but also primes the feed. (And no syringe is needed.)
I love the pen but I hate the converter. I just filled it today and it took time trying to get as much in as possible. Using a syringe would be so much better. Thank you for the tip. I'll have to order and syringe.
It is actually not the issue of the con-40 converter, Pilot VP is not very good at converter filling because the way the nib unit is designed. The feed and internal collector has a certain volume. So when drawing ink with nib pointed downwards, the air in the feed and collector is trapped, will float to the top, i.e. into the converter. This is true for all piston converters or integrated piston fillers. It is just that the small size of con-40 meant the volume of air is roughly 1/4 of the that of the converter, whereas for pens like Lamy 2000 or Pelikan it is 1/10 of the ink capacity. For Pelikan, actually because the collector is exposed underneath the nib, outside of the section, the actual air to get trapped is even less. You are never going to get the trapped air out if the nib is pointed downwards. So you have to point the nib upwards to expel it out. The main issue with pilot vp is that the breather hole, where air or ink gets sucked in is located at the base of the nib/feed, a good few centimetres up from the tip. And it is a long (albeit slim) nib. It is an extremely inefficient design for filling from bottles as the whole nib needs to be fully submerged, which pretty much means the bottle has to be sufficiently full, or you may never be able to draw up ink. Compare this with a Lamy 2000 or Parker 51, where the breather hole is close to the tip of the pen. Same goes with Pelikan, where most air and ink is drawn in from the front half of the nib/feed assembly. This Pilot VP nib unit design really killed the usefulness of filling VP the conventional way of sucking ink directly from a bottle.
I have the Pilot vanishing point Decimo in pearl white with a spare nib unit and converter inked. I have a Medium 18k Rhodium plated nib, which writes like a broad and a 18k Rhodium plated stub which is my favourite, although positioning of the nib at the correct angle is imperative. It's not my only Pilot, I have a Pilot Metropolitan with a B stub nib, my first ever fountain pen, and a Pilot Custom heritage 912 with the falcon Rhodium plated gold flex nib. Flex heaven with the Con 70 converter, which holds an impressive amount of ink, much needed when flexing the nib.
Hi Tim...I have used that technique to refill plastic cartridges...Pilot green for example. It works pretty well but, as you say, don’t be too aggressive on the amount of ink you draw from the bottle. I learned the lesson by over filling the plastic cartridge. Caution is the right word. I also have an older Pilot Namiki with a silky smooth gold medium nib. It has the rubber bladder that you squeeze in order to fill it. Doesn’t hold much ink, and I haven’t figured a way to maximize the filling process. Boy oh boy, does it really write like a dream though...best from Kansas City...Joe M.
I use a fine needle nose tweezer to take the disc out of cartridges and refill them with a syringe to ensure a healthy ink capacity on most my pilot pens.
Great tips! I’ve been using a syringe to refill disposable cartridges for a little while now. (I love bottled ink, AND love the ease of use of cartridges) 🤓
If you are going to use a syringe, why not just refill a cartridge? The cartridge holds more ink. In fact I think the pilot cartridge is one of the best in the market for refilling due to its wide opening. I don't use a syringe, I just carry ink in a 10ml plastic bottle with an integrated eyedropper. To top up ink, I just pull out the cartridge, stick the eyedropper head into the cartridge opening, carefully squeeze a few drops of ink into the cartridge, and put the cartridge back into the nib unit. No extra tools, no mess, and the bottle is small enough to always go with me on trips. If you are going to use the con-40 converter, you can still fill it to full. You have to understand why it appears that you can never get over 2/3 full following the instructions: this is because as long as the nib unit is empty of ink, there is air in the feed, and when you draw ink this air gets sucked into the converter. Because the converter has tiny capacity, this air takes up a significant portion of the volume. It does not help that the breather hole is located very high on the nib unit, and if you fail to fully submerge it, a lot of air is going to be drawn into the unit in the process, making the problem worse. And because air floats, once inside it does not come out as long as you have the nib pointed downwards. You can repeatedly move the plunger up and down, but in the best scenario you are still going to have the air volume the same size as the feed capacity trapped in the system --- I.e. 1/3 to 1/4 of the converter volume. Once you understood the cause, solution is easy: you need to get the trapped air out, you do this by pointing the nib unit up, and slowly turn the converter nob to squeeze every bit of air out. You need to do it slowly and ideally tab the unit regularly to make sure ink goes down and air goes up. Once no more air bubbles come out and you see ink coming out of the breather tube, re-point the nib unit downward into the ink bottle, making sure the breather hole at the base of the nib is completely submerged in ink, and draw more ink into the converter. This time you will get a full fill. My advice, do the first method with an eyedropper bottle (super convenient for travel). It takes much less time to fill and creates much less mess. To me, the main issue with filling using a converter for the pilot capless/vanishing point isn't actually the con-40 converter, but the location of the breather hole on the nib unit, it is way too far at the back, it requires the bottle to be quite full, or it is just going to draw air.
Just fill the cartridge… it’s easier, and besides: those little metal balls swirling around the converter annoy me. They sound too loud! Could’ve been plastic balls, would do the same job. I just use syringe- it is way cleaner. I can empty, clean, dry and refill a fountain pen using my syringes and not a single ink stain on my hands. ;-)
Appreciate your opinion. Syringes are usually used to refill cartridges, which is why I have one. The technique works well, however, and puts much more ink in the CON-40 converter than the usual twist-knob method.
Thank you, Tim, for the video. Yes, I have used my ink syringe to get more ink into the converter. It still doesn't hold that much ink though. The cartridges do hold a bit more ink, so I usually refill an empty cartridge. But I truly wish that Pilot would "re-engineer" the converter to hold more ink.
So do I!
I refill the Pilot empty cartridges too. And I have one or two at hand to ensure I always write with a Pilot Capless (Vanishing Point)
Great video! I do not own a Vanishing Point (yet), but when I first fell down the fountain pen rabbit hole I saw this trick and have been using it ever since. It’s the only way I fill and clean the converters/cartridges. Thank you for the tutorial.
Glad it helped!
Brian Goulet did a very detailed video on this subject about a month ago, including a strategy that not only fills the converter but also primes the feed. (And no syringe is needed.)
Didn’t know that. I’ll have to watch it.
I still like this vdo. Thx.
I love the pen but I hate the converter. I just filled it today and it took time trying to get as much in as possible. Using a syringe would be so much better. Thank you for the tip. I'll have to order and syringe.
It is actually not the issue of the con-40 converter, Pilot VP is not very good at converter filling because the way the nib unit is designed.
The feed and internal collector has a certain volume. So when drawing ink with nib pointed downwards, the air in the feed and collector is trapped, will float to the top, i.e. into the converter. This is true for all piston converters or integrated piston fillers. It is just that the small size of con-40 meant the volume of air is roughly 1/4 of the that of the converter, whereas for pens like Lamy 2000 or Pelikan it is 1/10 of the ink capacity. For Pelikan, actually because the collector is exposed underneath the nib, outside of the section, the actual air to get trapped is even less.
You are never going to get the trapped air out if the nib is pointed downwards. So you have to point the nib upwards to expel it out.
The main issue with pilot vp is that the breather hole, where air or ink gets sucked in is located at the base of the nib/feed, a good few centimetres up from the tip. And it is a long (albeit slim) nib. It is an extremely inefficient design for filling from bottles as the whole nib needs to be fully submerged, which pretty much means the bottle has to be sufficiently full, or you may never be able to draw up ink. Compare this with a Lamy 2000 or Parker 51, where the breather hole is close to the tip of the pen. Same goes with Pelikan, where most air and ink is drawn in from the front half of the nib/feed assembly. This Pilot VP nib unit design really killed the usefulness of filling VP the conventional way of sucking ink directly from a bottle.
I have the Pilot vanishing point Decimo in pearl white with a spare nib unit and converter inked.
I have a Medium 18k Rhodium plated nib, which writes like a broad and a 18k Rhodium plated stub which is my favourite, although positioning of the nib at the correct angle is imperative.
It's not my only Pilot, I have a Pilot Metropolitan with a B stub nib, my first ever fountain pen, and a Pilot Custom heritage 912 with the falcon Rhodium plated gold flex nib.
Flex heaven with the Con 70 converter, which holds an impressive amount of ink, much needed when flexing the nib.
That is a very respectable number of Pilot pens and nib choices! I’m a little envious.
I have been using that technique for awhile
Hi Tim...I have used that technique to refill plastic cartridges...Pilot green for example. It works pretty well but, as you say, don’t be too aggressive on the amount of ink you draw from the bottle. I learned the lesson by over filling the plastic cartridge. Caution is the right word. I also have an older Pilot Namiki with a silky smooth gold medium nib. It has the rubber bladder that you squeeze in order to fill it. Doesn’t hold much ink, and I haven’t figured a way to maximize the filling process. Boy oh boy, does it really write like a dream though...best from Kansas City...Joe M.
Thank you for watching, Joe. Stay warm!
I use a fine needle nose tweezer to take the disc out of cartridges and refill them with a syringe to ensure a healthy ink capacity on most my pilot pens.
A very good technique!
Thank you so much. I’ve only used this method to refill cartridges
Great tips! I’ve been using a syringe to refill disposable cartridges for a little while now. (I love bottled ink, AND love the ease of use of cartridges) 🤓
Same here.
Thanks, TIm for this useful tip!
What a beautiful sample of the Carbonesque model.
Thanks for the video!
I always used ink cartridges from Pilot. Now I can change up inks more often.
That is the easiest approach,and Pilot makes terrific ink cartridges. I do wish there were more color choices.
@@Truphae Like Irushizuku cartridges?
Love your videos Tim! Your presentation is too notch.
You are very kind. Thank you!
I wouldn’t admit that it took me a long time to figure this out.
What is the size type of syringe you use there are so many on the market not sure which one to get.
You’re dismissed, have a great day 😂😂 I refill cartridges for mine. Lasts about a month for me with light daily usage.
If you are going to use a syringe, why not just refill a cartridge? The cartridge holds more ink. In fact I think the pilot cartridge is one of the best in the market for refilling due to its wide opening. I don't use a syringe, I just carry ink in a 10ml plastic bottle with an integrated eyedropper. To top up ink, I just pull out the cartridge, stick the eyedropper head into the cartridge opening, carefully squeeze a few drops of ink into the cartridge, and put the cartridge back into the nib unit. No extra tools, no mess, and the bottle is small enough to always go with me on trips.
If you are going to use the con-40 converter, you can still fill it to full. You have to understand why it appears that you can never get over 2/3 full following the instructions: this is because as long as the nib unit is empty of ink, there is air in the feed, and when you draw ink this air gets sucked into the converter. Because the converter has tiny capacity, this air takes up a significant portion of the volume. It does not help that the breather hole is located very high on the nib unit, and if you fail to fully submerge it, a lot of air is going to be drawn into the unit in the process, making the problem worse. And because air floats, once inside it does not come out as long as you have the nib pointed downwards. You can repeatedly move the plunger up and down, but in the best scenario you are still going to have the air volume the same size as the feed capacity trapped in the system --- I.e. 1/3 to 1/4 of the converter volume. Once you understood the cause, solution is easy: you need to get the trapped air out, you do this by pointing the nib unit up, and slowly turn the converter nob to squeeze every bit of air out. You need to do it slowly and ideally tab the unit regularly to make sure ink goes down and air goes up. Once no more air bubbles come out and you see ink coming out of the breather tube, re-point the nib unit downward into the ink bottle, making sure the breather hole at the base of the nib is completely submerged in ink, and draw more ink into the converter. This time you will get a full fill.
My advice, do the first method with an eyedropper bottle (super convenient for travel). It takes much less time to fill and creates much less mess. To me, the main issue with filling using a converter for the pilot capless/vanishing point isn't actually the con-40 converter, but the location of the breather hole on the nib unit, it is way too far at the back, it requires the bottle to be quite full, or it is just going to draw air.
Just fill the cartridge… it’s easier, and besides: those little metal balls swirling around the converter annoy me. They sound too loud! Could’ve been plastic balls, would do the same job. I just use syringe- it is way cleaner. I can empty, clean, dry and refill a fountain pen using my syringes and not a single ink stain on my hands. ;-)
If you will fill up your pen with a syringe.. use a cartridge instead a converter That video is BIG NOSENSE.
Appreciate your opinion. Syringes are usually used to refill cartridges, which is why I have one. The technique works well, however, and puts much more ink in the CON-40 converter than the usual twist-knob method.