A question for fellow cartridge refillers

I had a small disaster at a meeting last night. While handling too
many objects at once my Kaweco Sport,
(https://secure7.nexternal.com/shared...RowID=922&All=)
which I'd posted and which I was holding by the cap while handling a
microphone in the same hand, fell out of the cap and onto the table. I
immediately examined the nib for damage; luckily, it hadn't fallen on
the point. But after writing with it for only a few more lines it
began to skip badly, the way it does when it's out of ink. Having
refilled the cartridge before the meeting I knew it wasn't running
dry.

Upon unscrewing the barrel of the pen I found that the cartridge had
separated itself from the nipple that feeds the ink to the nib, and
the cartridge was really stuck down in the bottom of the barrel.

I had to use a BIC Crystal ballpoint pen to make notes for the rest of
the evening.

The question is: is there a limited lifetime to the short
international cartridges? Do they tend to lose their grip on the
nipple after several refillings? Do others have the experience of the
cartridges giving up? The drop was maybe six inches.

Also, has anyone else ever had this problem with the Kaweco Sport? I'm
actually thinking of bringing a second fountain pen along with me on
these meeting nights now. I've always been very concerned about loss
or damage to my fountain pens, but maybe I need to risk two at a time
these days.

I'm planning to try to cut down the cartridge that failed last night
as a sort of backstop so that even with a shock the cartridge can't go
anywhere. I had to mess up the cartridge to get it out of the barrel,
so I don't think it's usable anymore.

"R. Paul Martin" wrote in message
...

The question is: is there a limited lifetime to the short
international cartridges? Do they tend to lose their grip on the
nipple after several refillings? Do others have the experience of the
cartridges giving up?

Probably, but I've been refilling cartridges (short, long, Pilot, Parker,
Waterman) for about 3 years now and the only one I had to replace was a
Pilot because I decided to pry out the seal and pinched it out of shape in
the process.

I'm planning to try to cut down the cartridge that failed last night
as a sort of backstop so that even with a shock the cartridge can't go
anywhere. I had to mess up the cartridge to get it out of the barrel,
so I don't think it's usable anymore.

I'm not acquainted w/ your pen - does it allow you to put a second short
cartridge in the barrel as a spare or switch to long cartridges? Many do and
if so, it would eliminate your having to create a backstop.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 01:51:01 GMT, "Bluesea"
wrote:


"R. Paul Martin" wrote in message
.. .

The question is: is there a limited lifetime to the short
international cartridges? Do they tend to lose their grip on the
nipple after several refillings? Do others have the experience of the
cartridges giving up?

Probably, but I've been refilling cartridges (short, long, Pilot, Parker,
Waterman) for about 3 years now and the only one I had to replace was a
Pilot because I decided to pry out the seal and pinched it out of shape in
the process.

So you've never had one spontaneously come off or come off with only a
little bit of shock? Again, it's possible that I underestimated the
force that disengaged the cartridge.

I'm planning to try to cut down the cartridge that failed last night
as a sort of backstop so that even with a shock the cartridge can't go
anywhere. I had to mess up the cartridge to get it out of the barrel,
so I don't think it's usable anymore.

I'm not acquainted w/ your pen - does it allow you to put a second short
cartridge in the barrel as a spare or switch to long cartridges? Many do and
if so, it would eliminate your having to create a backstop.

Unfortunately, no. It's too small for that. This is why I'm probably
going to have to make a makeshift backstop. Bit of a design flaw in
the pen, I'd say.

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 01:25:01 GMT, R. Paul Martin
wrote:


The question is: is there a limited lifetime to the short
international cartridges? Do they tend to lose their grip on the
nipple after several refillings? Do others have the experience of the
cartridges giving up? The drop was maybe six inches.

I'm fairly sure they will wear out after a while. I switch out the
cartridge after 5 or 6 refills. I can buy a six pack of Pelkin ink
for less than 3 bucks and the art store where I get most of my ink
sells "No Name" ink cartridges or left overs from shorted boxes 12 for
a dollar, so there's no shortage of empties to refill. The ones that
have failed on me the most are the long Parker 45 style. I think the
larger opening makes a difference.

I'm planning to try to cut down the cartridge that failed last night
as a sort of backstop so that even with a shock the cartridge can't go
anywhere. I had to mess up the cartridge to get it out of the barrel,
so I don't think it's usable anymore.

Instead of cutting one down, which may prove difficult to cut to the
right length, if it's too long it may stress the seal and leak. See if
you have an old clicker ball point around. Use the spring from the
clicker to backup the cartridge. You will probably have to stretch it
to make it longer. Or, check at your local hardware store to see if
they have a selection of "soft" springs that will fit the bill. You
can clip them to length. The end caps on the carts are heat sealed and
are pretty solid so I don't think they would punch through.


Good Luck
Radarman

"R. Paul Martin" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 01:51:01 GMT, "Bluesea"
wrote:

"R. Paul Martin" wrote in message
.. .

The question is: is there a limited lifetime to the short
international cartridges? Do they tend to lose their grip on the
nipple after several refillings? Do others have the experience of the
cartridges giving up?

Probably, but I've been refilling cartridges (short, long, Pilot, Parker,
Waterman) for about 3 years now and the only one I had to replace was a
Pilot because I decided to pry out the seal and pinched it out of shape
in
the process.

So you've never had one spontaneously come off or come off with only a
little bit of shock? Again, it's possible that I underestimated the
force that disengaged the cartridge.

No, I have to pull on them to get them off. I gently twist as I pull.
Nothing spontaneous like what you experienced. I didn't use that Pilot cart
that I deformed, but tossed it because it was obviously warped.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

radarman10 wrote:
:On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 01:25:01 GMT, R. Paul Martin
:wrote:

:
:The question is: is there a limited lifetime to the short
:international cartridges? Do they tend to lose their grip on the
:nipple after several refillings? Do others have the experience of the
:cartridges giving up? The drop was maybe six inches.

:I'm fairly sure they will wear out after a while. I switch out the
:cartridge after 5 or 6 refills. I can buy a six pack of Pelkin ink

beaucoup de la snippique

I've got some (Pelikan, I think) I've refilled a dozen times or more.
I'm sure they wear out eventually, but as long as they seem to fit
snugly onto the nipple I figure they're all right. I don't think I've
ever had one disconnect as the OP's did; could be it hit just right to
pop the cart loose.

--
Al B. Wesolowsky o Unlike J. W. Hardin, my foolish moves
o have been many.
Boston University o ---Michael Murphey

R. Paul Martin wrote:

I had a small disaster at a meeting last night. While handling too
many objects at once my Kaweco Sport, (snip)
Upon unscrewing the barrel of the pen I found that the cartridge had
separated itself from the nipple that feeds the ink to the nib, and
the cartridge was really stuck down in the bottom of the barrel.


Taking Nathan's Tardif's suggestion, I removed the cartridge from my
Kaweco sport rollerball and filled the whole chamber with ink. Then I
sealed it with some sealant. It's not a daily user but it's in rotation
and I haven't needed to refill it in months.

Do you think maybe you could do it with your fountain pen too?
If so, I'd buy the matching blue fountain pen or maybe the aluminum
version fountain pen.

Nancy

Here's a nice coincidence... I refilled my first cartridge last week and
had composed a question about whether it was likely to leak. Finally I
decided just to wait to see what happened, and never posted the question.

So... thanks for asking, Paul. And for everyone's responses.

--John
Registered Linux User #291592

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:33:03 -0500, (Nancy Handy)
wrote:

R. Paul Martin wrote:

I had a small disaster at a meeting last night. While handling too
many objects at once my Kaweco Sport, (snip)
Upon unscrewing the barrel of the pen I found that the cartridge had
separated itself from the nipple that feeds the ink to the nib, and
the cartridge was really stuck down in the bottom of the barrel.


Taking Nathan's Tardif's suggestion, I removed the cartridge from my
Kaweco sport rollerball and filled the whole chamber with ink. Then I
sealed it with some sealant. It's not a daily user but it's in rotation
and I haven't needed to refill it in months.

Do you think maybe you could do it with your fountain pen too?

I don't think that wold be practical. I have to refill that pen
somewhere between every couple of weeks, or every few days, depending
on the amount of use it's getting. Having to put a sealant around the
nipple would be quite a bother to do so often. I have cut the
cartridge that was in it down and it's now a backstop. It should
prevent the active cartridge from disengaging.

Interestingly, I looked at my Kaweco Sport "metallic" pen (basically
the same pen with a different plastic that's supposedly more appealing
to some) and it has a little, brass insert in the bottom of the
barrel. I don't think this would prevent the cartridge from
disengaging, but it would definitely prevent it from getting jammed
down into the bottom of the barrel.

R. Paul Martin wrote:

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 16:33:03 -0500, (Nancy Handy)
wrote:

R. Paul Martin wrote:

I had a small disaster at a meeting last night. While handling too
many objects at once my Kaweco Sport, (snip)
Upon unscrewing the barrel of the pen I found that the cartridge had
separated itself from the nipple that feeds the ink to the nib, and
the cartridge was really stuck down in the bottom of the barrel.


Taking Nathan's Tardif's suggestion, I removed the cartridge from my
Kaweco sport rollerball and filled the whole chamber with ink. Then I
sealed it with some sealant. It's not a daily user but it's in rotation
and I haven't needed to refill it in months.

Do you think maybe you could do it with your fountain pen too?

I don't think that wold be practical. I have to refill that pen
somewhere between every couple of weeks, or every few days, depending
on the amount of use it's getting. Having to put a sealant around the
nipple would be quite a bother to do so often.

The two of you are talking about different pens, and the same tricks
will probably not work for both.
Nancy - somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but in my experience you can't
leave the cartridge out of a cartridge *fountain* pen and fill the whole
body of the pen with ink - the fountain pen ink delivery system won't
allow it. (I've tried it in another pen, and the nib very quickly began
to spew large amounts of ink.)
Paul - it wasn't the cartridge nipple that was to be sealed, but the
body threads of the pen, filling the entire huge pen body with ink. On
the "Ink roller pens", which use fountain pen ink and are not built like
ordinary rollerballs, you can do this, and it works fine, giving several
weeks' worth of ink at least. If you like the idea of a rollerball type
of writer that uses fountain pen ink and lasts for weeks on a fill, it's
worth a try.

David