Ink Flow With Con-70

[tarheel1]

I have bottles of iroshizuku, sailor, and Edelstein. I currently have a sample of De Atramentis Bach in my 912 with a con70. I have some Diamine samples I will try in a couple days.

Edited July 29, 2014 by tarheel1

[I.M.]

I've not tried any of my Iroshizukus in this pen yet, but I've been using the Edelstein Onyx and getting these flow problems. Have you used the Onyx too?

Edited July 29, 2014 by I.M.

[tarheel1]

No only topaz.

[Oranges and Apples]

A picture of what you are trying to convey would be nice.

[I.M.]

That's a little difficult O&A because first of all I haven't got a digital camera, and secondly the bubble is hidden. It forms below the plunger well hidden by the metal parts holding the converter in place.

[Algester]

let's just say it looks like if a bubble wrap plastic was shoved into a transparent tube analogy how does that sound... having seen it in person that is what I can tell

[discopig]

I've tried many inks in both of my CON-70 converters and I can't get any of them to produce bubbles.

[I.M.]

Maybe I've got a dud converter then. I've just inked up with Diamine Denim so I'll be waiting to see if that brings better results....

[Algester]

all things considering no air bubbles form when it only filled with water... :X but most of my inks will make TINNY TINY air bubbles inside the converter

[I.M.]

I've tried many inks in both of my CON-70 converters and I can't get any of them to produce bubbles.

Are there any blacks among them? I'm now looking for a good darker black (not Noodlers') to use in this pen.

[Oranges and Apples]

Hm, strange. I've reread the thread and it's entirety and I cannot figure out what you are trying to say. I do have two Pilot Custom 74s in the demonstrator finish which have been constantly inked since 01/31/2013 and cannot imagine what you are experiencing.

[I.M.]

I'm happy to hear that you aren't having the same problem that I am

[dspeers58]

I have not had good luck with Con-70 converters. They tend to be hard to fill, and then, as the converter empties, I do also, get some skipping and troubles with flow. I have a couple of them and pretty much give up and use carts with a syringe.

[AtomicLeo]

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 have the same problem with the CON-70 in a Pilot Metal Falcon. I do not recommend pushing the button. I ruined a pair of shorts doing that with PR Burgundy Mist.

[AtomicLeo]

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

 

I have the problem and if you find a solution, besides changing inks or using a cart, I would love to hear it!

[Ste_S]

I've had this exact same problem with a Lamy converter. A large air bubble sits over the feed, and won't rise to the piston end of the converter unless you shake the pen.

 

I don't think it's ink related. Using Montblanc Royal Blue, I've had the air bubble move around like a spirit level. On another fill the air bubble sits over the feed until the pen is shaken.

 

I've had some success with trying to sort it. Invert the pen with the nib pointing upwards, shake to move the air bubble under the feed. Twist the piston slowly to force the air out, stop when ink starts coming out the feed, Twist the piston slowly back down again to bring air back into the converter. Check to see if the air is free flowing, if not repeat until air moves freely in the converter.

[ajoffe]

I only just saw this. I experienced the same problem with my CON-70. As far as I can tell, the problem isn't air bubble formation, it's a problem with ink adhering to the plastic sides of the converter. This causes the ink to stick to the converter rather than flow downward to the feed. There are two ways to address this problem.

 

First, you can change the composition of the ink. You can add a surfactant to the ink to lower the surface tension, which will aid the ink in successfully flowing downward to the feed. If this doesn't appeal to you, you can test out different inks and hopefully find one which behaves better with the converter.

 

Second, you can change the type of converter. I ended up doing this, as I had the same problem with a number of different inks. I opted to switch to the CON-20 and haven't had the problem since. The sac material of the CON-20 (rubber?) doesn't have the problem of ink adherence that some plastic converters have. If I remember correctly, I didn't have any problems using refilled cartridges either. Of course, with either of these options, you will be sacrificing ink capacity.

 

I hope this helps.

[bvs]

I have the same problem of ink sticking to the converter and causing the pen to stop writing until given a solid shake.

 

Any ideas?

[Algester]

change ink... the CON-70 is picky about ink viscosity I currently have my CON-70 loaded with Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi works fine if I can get my micro crack in the section fixed from the heritage 91... being that my country barely has Pilot customer support its a tall dream...

[RMN]

Basically every converter has ink sticking to the walls, and will form airbubbles. The good thing with the CON70 is that the pump-mechanism acts as a surface-tension-breaker, so a shake is enough. With other converters you have to screw the piston up and down a few times.

 

 

D.ick