Ink Flow With Con-70

[I.M.]

Has anybody got a quick simple trick they use to combat air bubbles interrupting flow when using Pilot's Con-70 converter? If I had known beforehand about this little habit I doubt I would have bought this converter, I would have carried on syringe-filling empty cartridges instead. So any tips will be much appreciated

Edited July 28, 2014 by I.M.

[tarheel1]

Haven't you posted about this already? I have never had any issues with the Con70 nor have I heard anyone else have issues. I pump it slow and make sure it is completely full then give it a few extra pumps.

[I.M.]

No, I haven't posted about it already. I'm not talking about having difficulties filling the converter, I'm talking about air bubbles completely stopping the flow of ink in the middle of writing, which is very annoying. The only way I've managed to get the ink flowing again is by shaking my pen as if I'm holding a pen-sized cocktail shaker. It happens several times per filling, and it's not just with one ink either.

 

So I'm hoping somebody has a little trick to either get the ink moving quicker again, or ideally to prevent the problem occurring in the first place.

[migo984]

I never have this problem. I'm curious. Doesn't shaking the pen vigorously cause the ink to "froth" in the converter, thereby exacerbating the problem?

[I.M.]

Trust me, it's not the shaking that starts it. The ink doesn't get frothy. It's one big air bubble that forms below the plunger. When I start writing there are no visible bubbles. I write, and several lines later the ink flow stops, and I'm forced to stop writing. It's not a problem with the pen either, the pen's brand new and worked fine with a cartridge. And once I've managed to dislodge the air bubble, the ink isn't frothy.

Edited July 28, 2014 by I.M.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I haven't had trouble with this particular converter, but I do know exactly what you mean. I have several pens (not just with this converter) in which air bubbles collect at the top of the feed instead of drifting up through the reservoir the way they are supposed to.

 

My solution has been to pick and choose my inks. Some inks are just more viscous. Noodler's Black is the greatest villain in this regard. What I do is put Noodler's Heart of Darkness in these particular pens instead. That is the easiest solution I've found. Others involve tapping, flicking, or inverting the pen. With screw converters like the ones in my Edison pens I can screw the piston down to force ink down to the feed and air out the nib. But, honestly, the easiest thing was just to use different ink in pens that don't cooperate.

 

Just out of curiosity: what ink are you using and what pens does it work well in?

[Algester]

ahh the air bubbles on the Con-70 among other converters this is one of the problems of the pump type converter needless to say the only thing I do is to shake the pen a little then pump a few more times there is also the fact it's quite a hard converter to clean hence I'm looking for CON-50s which considering we dont have a local Pilot FP supply chain is more of an arduous task than it should... I should have bought one when I was in Japan... :X

Edited July 28, 2014 by Algester

[I.M.]

So far I've used PR Midnight Blues (although I think I used that in an empty cartridge), Edelstein Onyx and MB Einstein. I've not come across this problem when using these inks in other pens (which include TWSBI 540s, TWSBI Mini, TWSBI Micarta, Parker Sonnet Mk1, Pilot Prera, and a Lindauer Kaiser which is actually made by Regal). The pen I'm using the Con-70 in is a Custom 74.

 

I'm glad to find somebody who's familiar with this problem in general, even if not with the Con-70 in particular. And yes, if it were a screw-type converter I would be twisting the piston to expel the air. I don't dare push the button when there's ink in the converter.

[Algester]

So far I've used PR Midnight Blues (although I think I used that in an empty cartridge), Edelstein Onyx and MB Einstein. I've not come across this problem when using these inks in other pens (which include TWSBI 540s, TWSBI Mini, TWSBI Micarta, Parker Sonnet Mk1, Pilot Prera, and a Lindauer Kaiser which is actually made by Regal). The pen I'm using the Con-70 in is a Custom 74.

 

I'm glad to find somebody who's familiar with this problem in general, even if not with the Con-70 in particular. And yes, if it were a screw-type converter I would be twisting the piston to expel the air. I don't dare push the button when there's ink in the converter.

I know I cant shake the ink out well I could remove it from the pen and use a syringe to make a proper check on the ink but that's a hassle but other than that I just keep pumping it up until I see no more bubbles then the day after the bubbles trapped in the converter settle down I use mine on a Custom Heritage 91

 

but if ever I'll get some Parallel pens and then look for CON-50 converters at the same time if ever FPN-P finds a time for another goulet pen group buy

Edited July 28, 2014 by Algester

[RMN]

This surprises me. Because the CON70 has the pump mechanism inside, this should break up the forming of airbubbles. That is why Monteverde and Parker put a little ball in their converters and MB a spring-coil.

 

I have never experienced this with my CON70 converters in 3 different pens. I DO have problems with airbubbles in my Waterman, Conway Stewart and other brands.

 

Only explanation I could come up with is the use of a very viscous ink.

 

 

D.ick

[bardiir]

I've had tha same Problem with my Lamy converter - now there is a Ball bearing in it to break the Ink free. It's big enough to now fall through the opening, but also big enough to seal it so by itself it would make the issue worse, but I carved little channels into the opening ring on the inside so the ball doesn't close the opening completely now. Never had flow issues due to airlock since.

[napalm]

It's all about how the ink wets (or not) the material that the converter is made from. If a plastic CON-50 or CON-70 doesn't suit your ink, you can try the CON-20 which is made from a different material. If it still doesn't work, use a different ink.

[I.M.]

I guess I'll be experimenting around until I find an ink that does work with the converter, or reverting to manually filling empty converters. I've not got a ball bearing to put in there, and I doubt I would even if I did have one. And I certainly won't be carving channels into it, because I've got a strong hunch I'd not get the converter to fill at all afterwards (loss of vacuum).

[mtraug11]

I agree that this may be an ink issue. I have tried Diamine Twilight, Waterman Blue-Black, and Noodler's Black in my Custom 74 with CON-70 converter and I, too, experienced the stoppage of inkflow with Noodler's Black....not with the other 2 inks. Just a minor annoyance, a couple of flicks of the finger against the body and the ink flows again. It never has stopped flowing while writing.

[Zanshin]

My CON-70 makes the ink froth as well, although not to the extent of bubbles causing flow problems, Gentle shaking or tapping the converter does nothing to get rid of the bubbles. I've used it mainly with Diamine and Iroshizuku but most recently it has Herbin's Lie de The and that doesn't seem so bad.

 

I find my Falcon tends to get refilled with the same ink more than any other pen because the CON-70 is such a pain to clean out. The capacity is its only saving grace.

[tarheel1]

No, I haven't posted about it already. I'm not talking about having difficulties filling the converter, I'm talking about air bubbles completely stopping the flow of ink in the middle of writing, which is very annoying. The only way I've managed to get the ink flowing again is by shaking my pen as if I'm holding a pen-sized cocktail shaker. It happens several times per filling, and it's not just with one ink either.

 

So I'm hoping somebody has a little trick to either get the ink moving quicker again, or ideally to prevent the problem occurring in the first place.

Strange swear I saw something almost identical. Maybe was on a different forum. I thought I 2 old explain how I filled it to get rid of the bubbles. Sorry you are having problems with it. I have had several con 700 and never had a problem with them. It really sucks when you have problems. Have you contacted pilot to see what they said? It might be because of the inks I use that I don't have problems. Good luck and hopefully you get it fixed.

[Algester]

well just saying that it froths up with Iroshizuku with CON-70 but not some thing that stops ink flow....

[arcadeflow]

In the recent years, Pilot changed CON-50. It now has a metal piece inside to avoid air bubbles/ink stuck at the top of the converter. It is probably a problem caused by modern inks, which made Pilot change an old converter after decades. I imagine the same thing could be happening with CON-70. As a lot of people said, trying different inks might solve the problem. If it was possible to disassemble this converter and insert some moving piece to break the bubbles, it would probably "fix" the problem like the new CON-50 does.

Edited July 29, 2014 by arcadeflow

[Algester]

the CON-70 can be disassembled but it takes quite a lot of elbow grease for the first... ahem...

[I.M.]

I think the 'moving piece' would end up falling out when inking up, or it would have to be something pretty large which would likely get in the way of the plunger when filling.

 

Thanks Tarheel for your suggestions and wishes. Out of curiosity which inks do you use?