Pilot Con-B Converter?

[XYZZY]

I just noticed that Goulet is selling the "CON-B", the squeeze converter from the Metropolitan. Has that ever been sold separately before?

 

I never really considered that converter as an alternative since buying an entire Metropolitan to get one isn't worth it. But at $6 that's a different thing completely. I wish it was clear, though: I want to know how much ink is left both when writing and when cleaning.

[Taverius]

As far as I know it wasn't ever properly sold - it was something you could ask for if you had a vintage pilot and occasionally they would begrudgingly allow you to have one.

 

Should make those people, and twist converter haters, a little happier at least.

[ridiculopathy]

Is it the same thing as the CON-20?

[ehemem]

Is that the converter that is meant for cleaning and flushing the pen? Not sure (if it is) that it was meant to hold ink...

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the info, XYZZY! I noticed a couple of days ago that the sac on my Metropolitan converter seems to have suddenly gone sort of flabby. Can't tell if it somehow got detached from the end where the converter attaches to the feed, or if there's an issue with the ink currently in the pen, or both (the ink is some vintage Sanford Pen-It Blue Black, and I've been wondering if it's an IG ink that is separating, or has been reconstituted, or what -- okay, it was only half of a really small bottle, and I think I paid maybe a buck for it; but that's also why I tried it in a cheap pen.

I had thought about taking photos of the converter and posting to the repair forum, asking how difficult it would be to replace the sac. But if these really are actual converters, and not just for flushing (the way ehemem fears) this would certainly solve a lot of problems.

I'm going to give up on the ink for now, and try flushing the pen out this weekend. But if that doesn't work well, at least I have appear to have a ready solution.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Driften]

Is it the same thing as the CON-20?

 

 

Not at all. The con-20 does have a sac but is inside a metal frame. The con-20 is a much higher quality item then the con-b.

[dan in montreal]

 

Not at all. The con-20 does have a sac but is inside a metal frame. The con-20 is a much higher quality item then the con-b.

 

The only difference is the metal sleeve. It's the same sac, it fills the same way, with the same result. I've been using a few for years in several pens with no problem whatsoever. A little cheaper? Perhaps. Much lower quality? No.

 

I positively hate the con-40, so I'm glad these are back on the market.

[Driften]

 

The only difference is the metal sleeve. It's the same sac, it fills the same way, with the same result. I've been using a few for years in several pens with no problem whatsoever. A little cheaper? Perhaps. Much lower quality? No.

 

I positively hate the con-40, so I'm glad these are back on the market.

 

 

I don't think a con-b would hold up in a Vanishing Point, where the con-20 will. No matter.. it will hold more ink than a con-40 or 50.

 

Use what you like.

[inkstainedruth]

According to the Goulet Pens website, they can be used in a Vanishing Point. I've queried them to see if the converter will work in a smaller pen (like my Decimo) and also in the super-skinny Saturn that was apparently made just for the Korean market (which apparently has a Con-20 converter already in it).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: It just occurred to me that I probably still have the protector cap which goes over cartridges in VPs and Decimos. Wonder if that will fit over one of the Con-B converters.... I didn't think to ask that. Don't have an answer for my other question on the page for the Con-B yet (GPC apparently doesn't post the question until they have an answer).

Edited March 14, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[A Smug Dill]

... the protector cap which goes over cartridges in VPs and Decimos. Wonder if that will fit over one of the Con-B converters....

 

 

Nope.

[ehemem]

 

 

ETA: It just occurred to me that I probably still have the protector cap which goes over cartridges in VPs and Decimos. Wonder if that will fit over one of the Con-B converters.... I didn't think to ask that. Don't have an answer for my other question on the page for the Con-B yet (GPC apparently doesn't post the question until they have an answer).

 

 

Uh, no, you do not want to do that. The "protector cap" will make the nib assembly too long if you attempt to use it on any converter. It is for cartridges only...

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I actually tried last night and the protector cap doesn't fit over the back of my (now dead) Metropolitan converter. So it's a moot point.

Still no response from Goulet Pens as to whether the Con-B will actually work in a smaller pen like my Decimo. I am half considering pulling what I've been told is a Con-20 out of the Pilot Saturn and seeing if it will fit, the next time I flush the Decimo out (the Saturn has other issues, like a leaky collar, and it only cost me about ten bucks so no great loss if it becomes a parts pen).

I'm not overly enamored of the Con-40 converter that came with the Decimo, but it *does* work. And with an F nib I'm getting reasonably good mileage out of a fill even if it's not as full as I'd really like. Just not overly enamored of the cost of Con-20s on the Bay of Evil either....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Driften]

It's easy to refill cartridges which have the best flow and capacity of the options.

[Karmachanic]

CON-20s are available at a reasonable price from aliexpress.

[dan in montreal]

Ruth, I just tried the squeeze converter like the one that comes with the parallel pens (looks to be the exact same as the con- and it fits just fine in my Capless even though it's around 2mm shorter.

If you do not like the con-40, and you don't want to spend a fortune on a discontinued con-20, the con-b should be a good option.

 

Also: on the Jetpens site, when searching con-b compatible pens, the Vanishing Point / Capless models come up.

[sirgilbert357]

It's easy to refill cartridges which have the best flow and capacity of the options.

 

 

This is exactly what I do. The nib on the VP/Decimo is so long that it gets hard to fill from an almost empty bottle anyway. So I just fill a cartridge with a syringe and be done with it. It's about as fast as using a converter and I don't have to wipe off my nib when I'm done. Easy.

 

Plus, if you refill the cart before you write the pen dry, you get the ink in the feed plus what is in the cart, which = +/- 1.0 ml. That's plenty for a long writing session...

[inkstainedruth]

 

I went ahead and bought *one* of the "Metropolitan" converters from the guy on eBay. Because that's the priority at the moment -- to replace the dead one from my Metropolitan. I only bought one (I considered getting a second one if it worked on the Decimo -- and it still isn't clear that it will) because at the moment I've got the Con-40 on the Decimo, a replacement Con-40 for my husband's probably sadly abused VP, and the Con-20 on the Saturn, which of course has other issues, and may end up as a parts pen sometime in future.

Oh, and just for the record, I did finally hear back from someone at Goulet Pens -- and was told that the Con-B will fit on a Decimo. And that the Con-B is a more "universal" converter than a Con-20. (Which I'm taking to mean that it would work on pens which normally take a Con-70, which does NOT fit on all Pilot pens -- since that's mostly the three converters Pilot makes....) Whether it will actually work well with a click pen remains to be seen....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Edited March 16, 2019 by Bobje

[bobje]

A number of posts have been deleted from this thread for breaking this fundamental FPN rule.

 

“Meta-discussion, i.e., discussion of each others' skill or ability to debate, and personal criticisms is not allowed and will be removed. Members discuss a subject, not the skills in discussing such a subject.”

[Kumachan]

Thanks for the info, XYZZY! I noticed a couple of days ago that the sac on my Metropolitan converter seems to have suddenly gone sort of flabby. Can't tell if it somehow got detached from the end where the converter attaches to the feed, or if there's an issue with the ink currently in the pen...

 

The bladder converter on my Pilot Metro also went "flabby" and wouldn't draw up ink after about nine months of daily use, as well. I am equally baffled as to whether it was the ink (Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, yeah, I know), technique drawing up ink (seems like a fairly straight forward process) or over use. Guess I'll be cleaning the pen and replacement bladder converter every two weeks from now on, instead of the one month maintenance as recommended by Pilot.

[ehemem]

 

The bladder converter on my Pilot Metro also went "flabby" and wouldn't draw up ink after about nine months of daily use, as well. I am equally baffled as to whether it was the ink (Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, yeah, I know), technique drawing up ink (seems like a fairly straight forward process) or over use. Guess I'll be cleaning the pen and replacement bladder converter every two weeks from now on, instead of the one month maintenance as recommended by Pilot.

 

 

It might not be the ink or lack of cleaning/flushing. Back in the early '90s, Pilot had some sort of problem with the sacs in the CON 20S: the sacs would go flabby and herniate after about 6 weeks of use in my experience. I mentioned this to the distributor to see if it was something I was doing wrong or what, and he told me that Pilot was aware of the problem, that it was a materials issue, and that the company was working on it. The CON 20s I got subsequent to that didn't have that issue, and I have not had that problem since with any of my Pilot pens that have a CON 20 in them. So perhaps you got an old converter or Pilot is having the same problem again...