There's a much cleaner version of the 2nd method: 1. Start filling the pen partially, but do NOT fully retract the piston. You only need to fill the feed and a little bit of the converter. 2. Invert the pen, then retract the piston the rest of the way. This will pull the ink out of the feed and cause it to fall into the converter so it won't leak when you expel the air. 3. With the pen still inverted, expel the air until the bit of ink starts coming out of the feed. 4. Dip the pen in the ink again and fill the pen the rest of the way. That should result in a full or near-full fill without wasting ink or making a mess. This also works very well for getting complete fills on a lot of other pens (especially piston fillers) and it's very good for filling pens before taking them on a flight because it makes it easier to have a fill without an air bubble.
Sorry, I'm new to FPS. I just have a question. So, you can't bring FPS in a plane? What problem will it cause if I bring them? Is it because of the air pressure?
@@eriebear1 nah what they do on a plane is they pressurize the cabin so what you are breathing is air and not the lack thereof. it's fine. Nothing will happen.
I've circumvented this process two ways. First, I've abandoned the converter in favor of reusing cartridges over and over, by refilling them with a tuberculin syringe (1.0 cc syringe, available from sources online). You can use inks of different colors if you thoroughly rinse the empty cartridges first. Alternatively, you make your own converter by using another 1.0 cc syringe, cutting it to size to fit the barrel of the pen. A sharp pocket knife word as does an Exacto knife. You'll need to shorten the plunger unit by cutting it to fit the barrel of your pen. If the syringe doesn't fit into the feed, you can remove a small portion off the end of the syringe. You may have to do this several times until the inside diameter of the end of the syringe fits the outside diameter of the feed. BE SURE that your homemade converter isn't too long. If your filled converter exceeds the length of the pen's barrel, you'll get ink overflow when you screw the barrel back into the feed section of the pen. If that happens, your fingers will look like you just made a RUclips video for fountain pen aficionados.
Thank you so much for this! I was getting really tired of only being able to fill up a couple drops of ink, especially since this is for my daily writer. I got a (safe) full fill, so thank you!
The syringe method is great but makes the converter redundant. Just use a cartridge - there is more capacity and it is less fiddly. However for on the fly filling it's not ldeal.
Thank you for the video! I regret the Pilot Lucina that I bought recently, I am not using that much because of this converter. Any Pilot that requires this converter, is out of my list.
Very useful, thanks. I can't find con-50 converters anywhere for sale and I only have a few of the squeeze converters, so I've definitely been that guy getting frustrated at a measly con-40 fill far too often. I think I'll try these tricks but almost certainly the syringe would be the way to go. Perhaps there's a hybrid approach: twist fill in the standard way several times, pull the converter, then top up with the syringe. Maybe this would give a tiny amount more as it would then have filled the feed (as well as acting as a flush operation). The best way would be for Pilot to restart production of con-50 or even make a con-60. Surely there's enough folks out there that the company could sense our feelings about the con-40.
@@brianneholzendorf8227 Yes, the only pens I own that can take the CON-70 are a dozen Kakunos. They're ideal for that pen as they not only have a decent capacity but they also add a little weight, making the pen feel better in my hand.
Thank you so much! Most easiest and clearest way I have found to fill my Vanishing Point pen. I'm a little inky but I think I now have the technique so next time it should be better!
As soon as I saw this was a 10 minute video on filling a Pilot Con 40 I knew I came to the right place, because that's how long it took me to fill mine to only about 2/3 of the way... hahaha. i flet conned out of my 8.99 or whatever the heck it was I paid for that thing.
I do a mix of 2 methods. I usually fill from the nib and twist the converter to saturate the feed and partially fill the converter. Then I remove the converter and fill it the rest of the way with a syringe. Not too much though to avoid burping. I use to only fill with a syringe but it takes a little while for the pen to start writing and the converter goes down a bit while saturating the feed. I usually use the same ink for a while so when the converter gets low I just take it out and fill it with the syringe again.
Got the Pilot Petit 1 recently and the cartridges are different from the Kakuno. How would you go about refilling the cartridge with ink? Would it be a good idea?
What about a fourth option? I am in a fountain pen group on Facebook and someone recommended taking that ring and the steel balls out completely and he said he has done this with all his con40 converters and has never gone back. Says that the converter acts like any other converter after this. Problem is, I am scared to do it as where I live it is hard to find these converters. I was wondering if you have heard of this method and if you have tried it?
if you are able to fill the con-40 converter to the level in the video about how much writing can you do say with a Pilot Prera medium nib pen? I like the look of the cream one especially but I am worried that it won't have much writing capacity.
Thanks. I rather like Pilot pens overall but was always frustrated by the dinky ink supply (I'm talkin' to you, Vanishing Point). I'm inclined to try a hybrid of your methods since I recently bought some pen syringes to refill cartridges: "fill" as usual (to prime the feed etc), THEN use the syringe approach to "top it off". If you only use the syringe, part of your effort to get a good fill will go straight to the feed.
There's a much cleaner version of the 2nd method:
1. Start filling the pen partially, but do NOT fully retract the piston. You only need to fill the feed and a little bit of the converter.
2. Invert the pen, then retract the piston the rest of the way. This will pull the ink out of the feed and cause it to fall into the converter so it won't leak when you expel the air.
3. With the pen still inverted, expel the air until the bit of ink starts coming out of the feed.
4. Dip the pen in the ink again and fill the pen the rest of the way.
That should result in a full or near-full fill without wasting ink or making a mess.
This also works very well for getting complete fills on a lot of other pens (especially piston fillers) and it's very good for filling pens before taking them on a flight because it makes it easier to have a fill without an air bubble.
Few possible ink filling solutions, #2 of what not to do :) Thank you Jeremy Yap for sharing your wisdom
you are an amazing man, thank you. got a perfect fill because of this!
My man.
This guy fountain pens
Sorry, I'm new to FPS. I just have a question. So, you can't bring FPS in a plane? What problem will it cause if I bring them? Is it because of the air pressure?
@@eriebear1 nah what they do on a plane is they pressurize the cabin so what you are breathing is air and not the lack thereof. it's fine. Nothing will happen.
I've circumvented this process two ways. First, I've abandoned the converter in favor of reusing cartridges over and over, by refilling them with a tuberculin syringe (1.0 cc syringe, available from sources online). You can use inks of different colors if you thoroughly rinse the empty cartridges first.
Alternatively, you make your own converter by using another 1.0 cc syringe, cutting it to size to fit the barrel of the pen. A sharp pocket knife word as does an Exacto knife. You'll need to shorten the plunger unit by cutting it to fit the barrel of your pen. If the syringe doesn't fit into the feed, you can remove a small portion off the end of the syringe. You may have to do this several times until the inside diameter of the end of the syringe fits the outside diameter of the feed. BE SURE that your homemade converter isn't too long. If your filled converter exceeds the length of the pen's barrel, you'll get ink overflow when you screw the barrel back into the feed section of the pen. If that happens, your fingers will look like you just made a RUclips video for fountain pen aficionados.
Thank you so much for this! I was getting really tired of only being able to fill up a couple drops of ink, especially since this is for my daily writer. I got a (safe) full fill, so thank you!
I re-ink the disposable cartrige with a seringle with neddle. Best regards from Brazil.
You should do a video on what pens are good for shimmering ink. Ones that you can take the feed out of and really clean it out.
The syringe method is great but makes the converter redundant. Just use a cartridge - there is more capacity and it is less fiddly. However for on the fly filling it's not ldeal.
Yea, that's a good point. I have spare converters and find cartridges to be a pain to clean, but cartridges refilling is always a good idea.
Thank you for the video! I regret the Pilot Lucina that I bought recently, I am not using that much because of this converter. Any Pilot that requires this converter, is out of my list.
Very useful, thanks. I can't find con-50 converters anywhere for sale and I only have a few of the squeeze converters, so I've definitely been that guy getting frustrated at a measly con-40 fill far too often. I think I'll try these tricks but almost certainly the syringe would be the way to go. Perhaps there's a hybrid approach: twist fill in the standard way several times, pull the converter, then top up with the syringe. Maybe this would give a tiny amount more as it would then have filled the feed (as well as acting as a flush operation). The best way would be for Pilot to restart production of con-50 or even make a con-60. Surely there's enough folks out there that the company could sense our feelings about the con-40.
Your pen must not fit the con70? Because that’s ideal, I think. More ink, easier fill... I do wish more pens fit with the con70!
@@brianneholzendorf8227 Yes, the only pens I own that can take the CON-70 are a dozen Kakunos. They're ideal for that pen as they not only have a decent capacity but they also add a little weight, making the pen feel better in my hand.
Thank you so much! Most easiest and clearest way I have found to fill my Vanishing Point pen. I'm a little inky but I think I now have the technique so next time it should be better!
As soon as I saw this was a 10 minute video on filling a Pilot Con 40 I knew I came to the right place, because that's how long it took me to fill mine to only about 2/3 of the way... hahaha. i flet conned out of my 8.99 or whatever the heck it was I paid for that thing.
I’m glad my pens work with the larger con70, this would drive me BONKERS!
I do a mix of 2 methods. I usually fill from the nib and twist the converter to saturate the feed and partially fill the converter. Then I remove the converter and fill it the rest of the way with a syringe. Not too much though to avoid burping. I use to only fill with a syringe but it takes a little while for the pen to start writing and the converter goes down a bit while saturating the feed. I usually use the same ink for a while so when the converter gets low I just take it out and fill it with the syringe again.
Got the Pilot Petit 1 recently and the cartridges are different from the Kakuno. How would you go about refilling the cartridge with ink? Would it be a good idea?
What about a fourth option? I am in a fountain pen group on Facebook and someone recommended taking that ring and the steel balls out completely and he said he has done this with all his con40 converters and has never gone back. Says that the converter acts like any other converter after this. Problem is, I am scared to do it as where I live it is hard to find these converters. I was wondering if you have heard of this method and if you have tried it?
if you are able to fill the con-40 converter to the level in the video about how much writing can you do say with a Pilot Prera medium nib pen? I like the look of the cream one especially but I am worried that it won't have much writing capacity.
Thanks. I rather like Pilot pens overall but was always frustrated by the dinky ink supply (I'm talkin' to you, Vanishing Point). I'm inclined to try a hybrid of your methods since I recently bought some pen syringes to refill cartridges: "fill" as usual (to prime the feed etc), THEN use the syringe approach to "top it off". If you only use the syringe, part of your effort to get a good fill will go straight to the feed.
Yes that works. Or you can simply buy and refill pilot cartridges. You’ll get more capacity than the con40 or con50
Very very good video! The best and easy in in refill matter!!!
This was great .. thanks!
yea, this converter sucks
Instead of all these messy escapades just buy a pen with a better ink capacity, TWISBI GO.
amen.