Transporting Con-50 Converter (Filled) Vanishing Point

[patrickpapadopulos]

Hello. I apologize if this is the wrong location to post this question.

 

I have a Pilot Vanishing point with a Medium nib. I like to work in locations that would make refilling my pen from a bottle difficult and messy.

 

Unfortunately by the mid afternoon my pen has run dry. I have an extra Con-50 converter and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for transporting this extra converter filled with ink (so that it doesn't leak everywhere).

 

Any thoughts or additional ideas will be warmly received!

 

If this is the incorrect place to post (I'm a newbie) please point me to the right location.

 

Thanks!

[jar]

Cartridges are your friends.

 

Welcome home. Pull up a stump a set a spell, but forget the filled spare converter idea.

Edited November 6, 2013 by jar

[WirsPlm]

The only good way to carry a filled converter is in a pen (always a good idea to have a spare in any case), or if you don't want to carry a backup I'd switch to cartridges (make sure to flush the pen thoroughly after emptying it so the inks don't mix). If you don't want to use Pilot ink, Pilot cartridges are easy to empty and refill with a blunt-nosed syringe.

 

You could try the CON-20 converter, it has more capacity than the CON-50, although filling it is a bit trickier (it's a squeeze filler, needs to be filled slow and squeezed several times, or filled with a syringe like a cartridge), and isn't clear so it's hard to judge remaining ink. I don't know if that would completely solve the problem, but at least your pen would go for a bit longer.

Edited November 6, 2013 by WirsPlm

[heymatthew]

I agree with Jar on this one. Get some cartridges.

 

You might be able to somehow seal a converter with a small amount of wax. Go to a drugstore like CVS or Walgreens and near the ear care section, they sell wax that you can mold to fit your ear to block out water (I know because I had chronic ear infections as a kid and we had a small stash of it at all times). It's soft enough that you could probably mold it around the end of the converter, but is definitely water/liquid tight. I probably wouldn't go shoving it up into the mouth of the converter as you may never get it out. I'd just roll out a piece of it and sort of wrap the end of the converter and seal it around the body. I would make sure the part at the end of the converter near the mouth was thick enough that the converter wouldn't "cookie cutter" its way through and leak. Additionally, I'd try and find vial of some sort that will hold the converter in case it does leak.

[AndrewC]

You can buy a Visconti portable ink well. Used, you can find them around $50. You could also get some of the Nalgene vials people use to send ink samples to one another. I suppose, since the nib unit is thin, any of the sample vials will work, as long as it is tall enough. Use plumbers/teflon tape to seal and keep in a plastic bag in case of leakage. You could even set up 3-4 bottles and keep them in a metal tin such as the one Altoids come in. Trying to secure a full converter such as the ones for VPs is a risky business. Cartridges are your best bet as already pointed out if you do not carry extra ink. Of course, you could view this as perfect justification to buy a new pen.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

You are fortunate to have a Pilot. It is possible to easily refill and seal Pilot cartridges the original way. What I used to do was use the Pilot Con-20 converter which holds a bit more ink than the Con-50 and a cartridge filled with the same ink I had in the pen. You can take an empty Pilot cartridge, and gently squeeze the tip and tap, and the sealing disc will fall out. You can then refill the cartridge, and tamp the sealing disc back into position. Use an unopened cartridge as a reference of how deep to push the sealing disc. You don't need to use wax or anything special.

 

Here you can see the disc in place in the mouth of the cartridge

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3099/3163483265_557a9023af_b.jpg

 

Here you can see a cartridge that is unopened, and an unopened cartridge with the disc removed

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7321/10709392253_649f2bba1b_b.jpg

I hope that helps!

 

Dillon

[New_Falcon]

I also use the CON-50 converter but in my Falcon.

 

Options that I have considered in the past is to just carry a little Nalgene bottle of ink and fill when needed, do as Dillon suggests, or have a little eyedropper filled with ink and use cartridges. The carts are about twice the volume of the CON-50 and they have such a wide opening that you can use an eyedropper to refill them.

 

Dillon thanks for the excellent photo's, nicely supports your explanation and clear photographs too.

[WirsPlm]

Just as a warning, Dillon's explanation makes that sound much, much easier than it actually is. To do the reseal-able Pilot cartridge thing, you're going to need several tries to get the sealer out, and often it's just not going to want to come out at all (it's one of those things that may be easy once memorized, but until then is pain). This is not a simple (the overall steps sound simple, but the overall steps for anything sound simple at a high enough level) process nor is it easy until you've done it many times, and deal with ink like this is always going to be messy.

Edited November 6, 2013 by WirsPlm

[New_Falcon]

To get the little disc out, I just used some tweezers. Putting it back in, I just pushed it down using the end of a chop stick.

[ziptrickhead]

Instead of trying to get the disk out, you can just find some rubber or cork and cut yourself a stopper. I love the Pilot cartridge design because they're super easy to refill with an eyedropper and the huge opening makes them much easier to close up.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The trick to get the disc out every time is to look at the position of the disc and squeeze the cartridge with your fingers parallel to the flat surfaces of the disc and tap it out. It should get really easy the more you do it. I can do all the time now in a few seconds. To get it in, I use a chopstick or other wooden stick with a very flat end that fits nearly exactly in the hole (this prevents the disc from turning when you push it in). Round bamboo chopsticks with the ends sanded flat work really well. If you are fancy, you can place something along the length of the chopstick as a stop so that you can set the depth of the disc the exact same way each time in one stroke.

 

Step 1-pinch the mouth of the cartridge gently with your fingers like this. Make sure the disc and your fingers are positioned in this way, or it won't come out as easily.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/10713386873_49fe8c26ef_b.jpg

 

Step 2-Tap or shake and the disc will just fall out

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3750/10713186444_b62d60087d_b.jpg

 

Step 3- Fill the cartridge

 

Step 4- take your flat ended bamboo stick and another cartridge as a reference and push the disc back in

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7375/10713207296_204b4afe26_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/10713189494_5e40ce9faa_b.jpg

 

The finished product-a sealed cartridge, with your favorite ink! I've too many favorites, that's why the cartridge is empty

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5529/10713191234_e55abfd6fd_b.jpg

I hope this helps. It only took a 2-3 seconds before the disc fell out of the cartridge onto my computer. The whole thing was done in under five minutes.

 

Dillon

Edited November 6, 2013 by Dillo

[AndrewC]

My hat's off and thanks to you Dillons for the photos and lesson about refilling the carts. Well done, and I learned something new. Very cool.

[tedd]

That is rather cool to refill a Pilot cartridge that way. I am going to have to give it a try.

 

I don't travel often, and when I do, I usually don't take a fountain pen with me. I may take one with me to work, but that's about it. Most of the time they stay at home. A travelling ink pot or a small vial for holding ink would be a good for this, as many have suggested. I carry ink cartridges if I know I'm going to be carrying a fountain pen for a while. It's more convenient for me that way.

[discopig]

Thanks for the information about refilling pilot cartridges, this will be really handy.

[Inkling13]

Hi,

 

The trick to get the disc out every time is to look at the position of the disc and squeeze the cartridge with your fingers parallel to the flat surfaces of the disc and tap it out. It should get really easy the more you do it. I can do all the time now in a few seconds. To get it in, I use a chopstick or other wooden stick with a very flat end that fits nearly exactly in the hole (this prevents the disc from turning when you push it in). Round bamboo chopsticks with the ends sanded flat work really well. If you are fancy, you can place something along the length of the chopstick as a stop so that you can set the depth of the disc the exact same way each time in one stroke.

 

Step 1-pinch the mouth of the cartridge gently with your fingers like this. Make sure the disc and your fingers are positioned in this way, or it won't come out as easily.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5493/10713386873_49fe8c26ef_b.jpg

 

Step 2-Tap or shake and the disc will just fall out

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3750/10713186444_b62d60087d_b.jpg

 

Step 3- Fill the cartridge

 

Step 4- take your flat ended bamboo stick and another cartridge as a reference and push the disc back in

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7375/10713207296_204b4afe26_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2860/10713189494_5e40ce9faa_b.jpg

 

The finished product-a sealed cartridge, with your favorite ink! I've too many favorites, that's why the cartridge is empty

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5529/10713191234_e55abfd6fd_b.jpg

I hope this helps. It only took a 2-3 seconds before the disc fell out of the cartridge onto my computer. The whole thing was done in under five minutes.

 

Dillon

I was just going to suggest this. Of all the catridges made today, I love Pilots for the fact that they can easily be refilled by this method, AND resealed. I would say that this is the least messy of all the options. Just be careful not to crush the cats, as the seal, even on new carts, is not shock proof. Just like how pinching can get the disk out when it's empty, it can do the same when it's full, and you can guess how much of a mess that may be.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Inkling13

[Koyote]

Pilot puts their very nice ink in cartridges. Although I am not a cartridge user generally, I do use them in my VP. It just seems right for such a practical jotter of a pen.

[heymatthew]

I'm becoming more and more open to the idea of refilling cartridges. It really only makes sense as using a converter eliminates a significant portion of your ink reservoir, especially for a pen like a Namiki (or Pilot, now) Falcon. Why lose all that extra volume to a twist knob when you can fill it with ink in a reusable plastic cartridge? You can get the cartridges from lots of places for very little money. Makes a lot of sense, really.

[Yaniel]

Assuming you won't be using an entire second con-50 convertor worth of ink during the second half of the day, then you will probably be fine using a single cartridge as they hold a lot more ink than the con50 and won't need to bother with sealing them, unless you want to have some prepared for the various days of the week.

[Andyroo]

I'm going to have to write like mad and empty a few carts, just to try this method out!

[Bigeddie]

I'm going to have to write like mad and empty a few carts, just to try this method out!

 

I feel like this too... but all of my pilot cart pens are fine nibs and it will take a long time. Is this a valid excuse to buy that C74 with a music nib that I have been looking at?!