Benu Converter ?

[essayfaire]

So I should have known better.  I bought a Benu Euphoria because it was so beautiful, in spite of being the wrong size and wrong weight for me.  I had it engraved without having tried it, so there was no going back.  (For those of you who hate engraving, no one else would even notice as I had the clip engraved and not the body).  I was so distracted by the light.  It sparkles!  It glows in the dark!  I made sure to get a Benu I could post....

 

I didn't like how it wrote, so I got it ground, which improved it, but I would have ordered a larger nib size to begin with had I planned on grinding it.

 

Now that it has been made usable, I find that the international converters I have on hand don't seem to be playing nicely with it.  I've given up for the moment and put a Herbin long cartridge in, but the pen really calls for colors I have in bottles but not cartridges.  

 

This may be the rare pen of mine that I put in a display case to remind myself to listen to my gut and not talk myself into purchases because I want them to work, even though I know they will not.  It sparkles!  It glows in the dark!

 

Anyway, has anyone successfully using an International converter with a Euphoria?  I think Goulet claims you can ink dropper them too.  I haven't tried that yet, either.

[mizgeorge]

My Euphoria came with a standard Schmidt converter, and this works perfectly. 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, essayfaire said:

Anyway, has anyone successfully using an International converter with a Euphoria?

 

The Benu Euphoria has a #6 Schmidt nib, and uses a “standard large international size converter”, according to the product listings on Benu's website. Surely a Schmidt K1 or K2 would fit and work perfectly in the pen?

 

There is otherwise no “international standard” that is either truly international (and adopted by Japanese and Chinese manufacturers with their own brands, being major sources of fountain pens in the landscape of the hobby today), or truly standard across even Schmidt's own line of converters; the Schmidt K5 may not fit into pens (such as Faber-Castell Essentio) that will take a K1 or K2. Even a converter with the same inner diameter as “international standard” converters at the mouth may not fit all pens that have a connector (or post, or nipple) of that diameter, on account of the thickness of the converter's wall at the mouth; but I don't recall ever seeing “international standard” being cited for defining the entire geometry of the mouth (or port) of the converter, much less all the other parts further up.

 

Anyway, that's why I have a whole bunch of Schmidt K2 and (rebranded) K5 and K6 converters on hand for “international standard” — because there is no such thing, I'm afraid.

 

1 hour ago, essayfaire said:

I think Goulet claims you can ink dropper them too.

 

Benu's website says you can.

 

Why do some people keep referencing or citing Goulet's website, as if it was an authoritative source, instead of checking straight with the manufacturers' websites first? Especially when Goulet is certainly among those retailers who still can't get it right that Pilot (including Pilot Corporation of America) does not have or distribute a model called Pilot Metropolitan; there is only Pilot MR Metropolitan Collection, and the model is Pilot MR. I don't care what it was known as when the model was first released; all US retailers have had years to align themselves with what the official regional distributor for Pilot in the US calls the pen. Maybe it's where people are used to looking, and maybe it's handy to have information about different makes and models all accessible in the one ‘place’ at one's fingertips — but then, I thought that ‘place’ was called the Internet, aided by various search engines.

[Karmachanic]

8 hours ago, essayfaire said:

I find that the international converters I have on hand don't seem to be playing nicely with it.

 

What does "don't seem to be playing nicely " mean?

N.B. I don't own a Benu.

[essayfaire]

13 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Surely a Schmidt K1 or K2 would fit

I did try a Schmidt, and it didn't seal properly.  I'm not sure which one it was.  Perhaps the problem is I am trying "standard international converters", whereas you referenced "large international converter".  

13 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

There is otherwise no “international standard”

I know.  I also tried one I took out of a JinHao c/c that takes normal cartridges. Didn't try any of my proprietary ones, for obvious reasons.

13 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Why do some people keep referencing or citing Goulet's website, as if it was an authoritative source, instead of checking straight with the manufacturers' websites first

I can't speak for others, but the reason I cited it in this instance was that, for whatever reason, I was unable to access the Benu website.  I tried multiple times.  Gave up and duckduckgoed a search about the converter, which is how I came across Goulet's info.  Though I don't think of Goulet as authoratative, I do consider them a reliable source.

 

 

6 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

What does "don't seem to be playing nicely " mean?

They don't fit properly into the nib unit; some of them I can attach, but then they leak.  I currently am using a Herbin long cartridge, which is why I always keep a few cartridges on hand even though I prefer the inks available in bottles in general (with the exception of the Sailor Jentle Black cartridges!).

 

I managed to successfully multiquote from two different posts here; good way to start the day!

[mizgeorge]

If it's any help, the one I'm using is a Schmidt K5. It needs to be seated fairly firmly, but stays in place perfectly - and this is a pen I clean fully and reink pretty regularly.

[A Smug Dill]

17 hours ago, essayfaire said:

 I also tried one I took out of a JinHao c/c that takes normal cartridges.

 

Jinhao pens (predominantly) use cartridges and converters with 2.6mm bore, which is the more common of the two Chinese quasi-standards. If you jam an “international standard” cartridge or converter into a Jinhao pen, usually one of two things will happen: the port (i.e. “mouth”) on the detachable ink reservoir splits at the lip (which may not be obvious to the user when the reservoir is detached, as opposed to stretched around the ”nipple” on the nib unit, or — more typically in the case where there is a metal ring around the outside wall of the port — the inner diameter becomes permanently and irreversibly distended, so that next time you use it in a true “international standard” c/c-filled pen, the fit will be imperfect and loose. I've ruined “international standard” converters that way before, and made them other than “international standard” on account of having an inner diameter (at rest) of more than 2.4mm, irrespective of whether they still retained the Schmidt, Faber-Castell or Pelikan branding.

 

So, I'll always assume that, when people say they used or tried an “international standard” converter, it isn't one that has ever been used in a Chinese-branded pen (or even some Japanese-branded pens, e.g. Daiso), and it isn't one bearing a Chinese brand name such as Jinhao or Wing Sung.

 

A virgin Schmidt (K1, K2, K5, or K6) converter is as close to “international standard” as you'll get. My recommendation is to always keep a bunch of them around as consumable items that can be damaged or compromised with repeated use. If a new Schmidt converter doesn't work, then there is a problem with the nib unit, including possibly but not necessarily its connector or “nipple”.

[gerigo]

I am a bit perplexed by your question. I have 5 Benu's and they all came with converters. They work really will converters as well as I have not had problems with any of them.

I believe you purchased directly from Benu themselves? Most retailers have asked Benu to include a converter with their stock.

[A Smug Dill]

33 minutes ago, gerigo said:

I believe you purchased directly from Benu themselves? Most retailers have asked Benu to include a converter with their stock.

 

If purchased new (directly from Benu, or from an authorised retailer), it should come with an international standard converter, as supplied by the manufacturer.

 

[essayfaire]

On 1/5/2022 at 3:24 AM, A Smug Dill said:

If purchased new (directly from Benu, or from an authorised retailer), it should come with an international standard converter, as supplied by the manufacturer.

I'm sure it did, but because I wasn't happy with the nib I removed it before mailing it off to the nib meister.  I'm usually very good about labelling and separating all the pen paraphernalia, but for some reason I can't locate the one that came with the pen.

On 1/4/2022 at 10:24 PM, A Smug Dill said:

A virgin Schmidt (K1, K2, K5, or K6) converter is as close to “international standard” as you'll get. My recommendation is to always keep a bunch of them around as consumable items

Good idea, thanks.  Maybe I should actually get a variety - I also may be guilty of having forced too much with "international" Chinese converters over the years, having believed that there was a standard. 

[essayfaire]

I found my Benu converter! Yay!

 

And, thanks to @A Smug DillI now have a collection that I'm hoping will help me avoid too many converter problems in the future! 

[amberleadavis]

I think you received solid advice!

 

BTW, these are my new favorite conversters:

https://www.ospreypens.com/collections/converters/products/copy-of-osprey-converter-threaded-without-spring

[essayfaire]

1 hour ago, amberleadavis said:

I think you received solid advice!

 

BTW, these are my new favorite conversters:

https://www.ospreypens.com/collections/converters/products/copy-of-osprey-converter-threaded-without-spring

Thanks for the tip!  Any reason in particular?

[amberleadavis]

The openings are large when I use my pens that have huge feeds - I found that not all converters can keep up with the demand.  They were also very well crafted.