Pilot Con-40. Why?

[A Smug Dill]

I clean my Con70 in minutes. I have no idea what y'all are doing).

Some of us take 'clean' to be a 100% condition. If after the cleaning procedure of several minutes, the CON-70 is left filled with fresh clean water on the inside and soaking in a warm bath on the outside for a few hours – say, in the tank of my temperature-controlled ultrasonic cleaner – and then vigorous shaking, or a three-minute cycle in the ultrasonic cleaner, brings out any colour at all into the water inside the CON-70, then we don't consider the initial cleaning procedure to have cleaned the converter properly of ink after all.

 

With a 'standard' Sailor or Platinum converter, the metal collar around the rotary piston can be easily unscrewed, and the converter disassembled into the clear cylinder (with a wide opening allowing full access to its inner surface, for scrubbing with something like a q-tip if required or desired), piston, end-plate, rotary 'knob' shaft and the metal collar for thorough cleaning.

[ink-syringe]

Some of us take 'clean' to be a 100% condition. If after the cleaning procedure of several minutes, the CON-70 is left filled with fresh clean water on the inside and soaking in a warm bath on the outside for a few hours – say, in the tank of my temperature-controlled ultrasonic cleaner – and then vigorous shaking, or a three-minute cycle in the ultrasonic cleaner, brings out any colour at all into the water inside the CON-70, then we don't consider the initial cleaning procedure to have cleaned the converter properly of ink after all.

 

With a 'standard' Sailor or Platinum converter, the metal collar around the rotary piston can be easily unscrewed, and the converter disassembled into the clear cylinder (with a wide opening allowing full access to its inner surface, for scrubbing with something like a q-tip if required or desired), piston, end-plate, rotary 'knob' shaft and the metal collar for thorough cleaning.

 

 

I guess. I don't know. My milage varied I guess.

 

I take the blunt tip syringe. Fill it with water. Put the blunt tip in the opening of the converter. Blast the water in there. I do this a bunch of times. Then I do it a bunch more while holding down the button and that allows water to get in behind the pump seal. I don't know about perfect but I am pretty darned picky and as far as I can see this gets the thing remarkably clean in no time at all.

 

If you soak the Con70 in hot water and have some grippy pad you can sometimes get them apart. First time is tough but after you have broken the seal it is then easier. I have taken mine apart and don't think it gets all that much cleaner that way then just the blunt tip syringe pressure hose power blast method.

 

Also, i usually fill a pen a few times with the same ink and additional have a spare con70 to rotate in so I don't have to wait till it is dry.

 

I find none of this bothersome or difficult at all. & unlike Sailor converters I have never had a Pilot leak out the back piston or button knob. I love the con70. Great piece of kit.

[amateriat]

Did I like the old Con-20 converters? Yes. Do I have a problem with the fact that my new Decimo came with a Con-40 converter? No. The Decimo (with its F nib) is still on the first fill, and I've been using the pen for a couple of weeks now.

As for filling a converter with a syringe.... Why? I tried filling a pen with a syringe through the nib one time and it was a major PITA (and my grandparents' old dresser now is permanently stained with Noodler's Kung Te Cheng). If the ink in a bottle or vial is too low to adequately cover a nib to fill it directly, just pull the converter and fill it from the bottle or vial, then reinsert the converter in the pen.

Yeesh. What is the problem with people? All this handwringing for pretty much no reason. You don't like the capacity of a converter? Go buy a piston filler pen. Or a vintage pen like a Parker Vacumatic or 51 that has a way bigger capacity. This all sounds like a "First World" problem.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: And if you're worrying about keeping the nib clean? Get a vintage (working) Sheaffer Snorkel. But understand that you're still going to have to flush the entire nib and feed when you change inks, because that's just how feeds work....

Whew...shows how far out of the loop I've been. Didn't even know about the change-up in available Pilot converters.

I have all three converters prior to the CON-40: a CON-20 installed in a Pilot Penmanship (which, ironically, I purchased to use as a quasi-dip-pen); a CON-50 that arrived in a new matte-black Vanishing Point that Pilot sent me last week in lieu of repairing the damaged-by-moi VP I sent them over a month and a half before (gotta love Pilot for that); and a CON-70 that came in a clear-barrel Custom 74 with a B nib that I never really got on with and am looking to sell (inked only once, inquire within). Never had any issues with any of the above converters, and in the case of the 20 and 50, understood their relatively limited capacity...which is why I also have a pair of Custom 823s as my Main Axe writers.

Edited December 29, 2018 by amateriat

[amateriat]

 

Whew...shows how far out of the loop I've been. Didn't even know about the change-up in available Pilot converters.

 

I have all three converters prior to the CON-40: a CON-20 installed in a Pilot Penmanship (which, ironically, I purchased to use as a quasi-dip-pen); a CON-50 that arrived in a new matte-black Vanishing Point that Pilot sent me last week in lieu of repairing the damaged-by-moi VP I sent them over a month and a half before (gotta love Pilot for that); and a CON-70 that came in a clear-barrel Custom 74 with a B nib that I never really got on with and am looking to sell (inked only once, inquire within). Never had any issues with any of the above converters, and in the case of the 20 and 50, understood their relatively limited capacity...which is why I also have a pair of Custom 823s as my Main Axe writers.

 

[ink-syringe]

For the record the con20 holds a pretty good amount of ink. it's only the conjob50 and conjob40 that are small.

 

 

People don't like the conman20 cause it is too old school, has a sac and no ink window but I am a big user of vintage pens so the 20 is no problem for me.

 

squeeze it.

Edited December 31, 2018 by ink-syringe

[bass1193]

For the record the con20 holds a pretty good amount of ink. it's only the conjob50 and conjob40 that are small.

 

People don't like the conman20 cause it is too old school, has a sac and no ink window but I am a big user of vintage pens so the 20 is no problem for me.

 

squeeze it.

 

Also, +1

 

Never had a problem with any pilot converter. The con20 (or conman20 ) is a great compromise because you can use it to saturate the feed and then top it off with a syringe if you really need the extra quarter ml or whatever

[ink-syringe]

word up.

 

he con20 (or conman20 ) is a great compromise because you can use it to saturate the feed and then top it off with a syringe if you really need the extra quarter ml or whatever

[amateriat]

Duplicate post (sorta)

 

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by amateriat

[A Smug Dill]

I do like the idea of the CON-40 being almost entirely transparent, since neither the -20 or -50 are terribly useful in this regard.

The CON-50 will certainly allow you to see how much ink remains (unless you obscure the clear tube from view, using the long metal collar of a Pilot Capless nib, electricians' duct tape, etc.). Pilot has long marketed Prera demonstrators as being ideal for showing off the colours of Iroshizuku ink, and it used to package CON-50 converters inside Prera demonstrators (but not opaque Prera models), so obviously the manufacturer (and its marketing department) thinks the CON-50 is good for that purpose.

[amateriat]

The CON-50 will certainly allow you to see how much ink remains (unless you obscure the clear tube from view, using the long metal collar of a Pilot Capless nib, electricians' duct tape, etc.). Pilot has long marketed Prera demonstrators as being ideal for showing off the colours of Iroshizuku ink, and it used to package CON-50 converters inside Prera demonstrators (but not opaque Prera models), so obviously the manufacturer (and its marketing department) thinks the CON-50 is good for that purpose.

 

[Puts down tea, goes upstairs, inspects Vanishing Point] Yep, point taken: any converter put into a VP leaves you essentially in the dark regarding ink level. Kindly ignore my previous musings.

[Raysclim]

On 12/10/2018 at 10:48 PM, penzel_washinkton said:

Honestly, I don't see how CON-40 is better in anyway to the CON-50.

 

Advantages of the CON-50 over the CON-40:

- Smoother screwing piston mechanism

- Can be filled almost to the brim

- Personally like the agitator than the ball type in CON-40

 

Advantages of the CON-40 over the CON-50:

- Jacksh*t, okay if you insist, more see through (hooray?)

 

Really hope Pilot release a new converter in the near future that is a larger capacity version of the CON-50.

Also, I hate cleaning the CON-70 just for your information

Totally agreed , CON40 have design flaw, it suck just 30%-40% to the converter everytime.  I change back to CON50 and could not be happier.