Cartridges For New Hero Pen

[Fermion]

Hi folks. Long time lurker here.

 

I recently acquired the Hero pen shown below. In the past, some of my Hero pens have taken either Parker (mostly) or international standard sized ink cartridges. But for whatever reason, the pen below seems to have a size that seems cartridge incompatible.

 

Does this mean I can only use "regular" ink with my pen? The number on the pen says it's Hero 386-1.

 

I have included pictures of other cartridges for size comparison. Any thoughts/pointers would be great!

 

Edited May 18, 2013 by Fermion

[mhguda]

You do not say or show that the converter belongs in your pen, but I'm assuming it does. And it does seem narrower over almost its whole length than any of the cartridges, so it looks like that may be your problem, although it's surprising the short international cartridges (the Mont Blancs here) do not fit. But it's easy to see why the Parker cartridge does not fit; the opening is much wider than all the others, to fit the Parker's wider nipple. From the looks of it your pen's converter has a longer neck and it may also be narrower than the standard cartridges.

But I don't really see why that would be a problem - you are then free to use all the bottled fountain pen inks, a much greater selection than that available in cartridges.

Good luck, and I hope this helps!

[Fermion]

Thank you for the response! Sorry, yes, the converter does belong to the pen (I'd placed the cap above, thinking that would help, hahahahaha).

 

I guess I could just use regular ink -- but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing another "category" of cartridges that would fit my pen. Ah well, it was a rather inexpensive $5.95 eBay splurge.

[Nonsensical]

I've found that international short cartridges fit with a little force...probably worth trying with a used cartridge first, though.

[Fermion]

This may seem like a silly question, but do the lengths also not matter?

 

I can try and wedge a smaller international cartridge inside, but was thinking that even so, it would be vertically "short". Or does it not matter because it's going to be held in place?

[mhguda]

Friction should hold it at the nipple, so it does not matter that it is too short to touch the end of the barrel.

You have to make sure it sits snugly and does not come off.

[Fermion]

Ahh, I see! Good to know, thank you (and in hindsight, it makes perfect sense).

 

I've always assumed that both the fit in the neck and the length mattered. You learn something new everyday!

Edited May 18, 2013 by Fermion

[Flounder]

It may simply be manufacturing tolerances being a bit out. For a while I thought my Kaigelu 316 simply could not take cartridges, but it was just that the cart nipple made things a very, very tight fit (tight enough to cause radial cracks at the mouth of the converter. Your converter resembles in shape the cheapo international carts without the step in the body.

[circlepattern]

Shame that Hero does not sell cartridges, that is because Chinese inks are super inexpensive, I got 30 ml of hero ink for like 2 dollars.

[Kugelschreiber]

Shame that Hero does not sell cartridges, that is because Chinese inks are super inexpensive, I got 30 ml of hero ink for like 2 dollars.

 

 

There are four or five listings for Hero carts on ebay. I got some free from a seller and found they didn't offer the best flow.

[Nonsensical]

Shame that Hero does not sell cartridges, that is because Chinese inks are super inexpensive, I got 30 ml of hero ink for like 2 dollars.

It's even cheaper here in China. I pay around...$0.50 for 50ml of ink. It's a pity that the nicer Chinese inks never get exported.