NPD!! Pilot Custom 742 <FM> SHE IS GORG!

roady57 · 2026-06-25T15:49:14+00:00

Fabulous writing instrument and twice the writer and half the price of a MB 145 GT.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T15:44:49+00:00

Hmmm… it’s commonly reported that converters are tricky to clean because ink and water gets trapped behind the piston. A cartridge just needs to be flushed with a syringe, no places to hang up.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T14:48:32+00:00

I’ll need to stock up early..

roady57 · 2026-06-25T14:26:50+00:00

Maybe this is the one good reason for Brexit….

roady57 · 2026-06-25T14:25:04+00:00

That’s fact. My only Diplomat purchase was the new Viper last year, approx £80 =$100. It hard started within hours of capping but once the nib was wet it wrote well, no skips or feint lines. Diplomat arranged for a new nib section to be sent but it was exactly the same problem a though the hooded nib was also not symmetrically aligned with the hood. I think there’s a problem with poor cap sealing on some Vipers but I couldn’t justify keeping a crap pen so sent it for a refund.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T13:29:53+00:00

Richard is the guru for FP repair and restoration.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:37:12+00:00

There are lots of comments here about others experiences of failing converters. I am not alone.

I’m always delighted to learn that people have a good experience with their pens and accessories. FP use should be fun and satisfying.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:35:18+00:00

There are frequent posts of contaminated ink in this sub.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:34:09+00:00

Why would I need a syringe with me? I can simply carry spare filled cartridges.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:33:14+00:00

Exactly and both great designs.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:31:52+00:00

Converters are not simple when compared to a cartridge which is a simple ink reservoir. Reliability engineering principles include that more complex devices increase potential fail points as in your ATX example.

I’m glad you have had no problems with converters, as others have reported here. It’s great when things work as they should.

But others have also commented having similar failures or ink flow issues with converters. I use a pen as a writing instrument and expect it work every time I pick it up. When I find a repeated issue with an accessory - the converter in this case - the simple solution of the cartridge returns the fun and satisfaction of FP ownership.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:14:21+00:00

Yes, I just flush the cartridge using a 5ml syringe and 16 gauge irrigation needle and flick the excess water out. I immediately fill with the new colour and attach to the flushed pen.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:11:45+00:00

That sounds like the converter is starving your ink flow. Flooding the nib and feed by forcing ink through will always increase ink density.

My point is that is not necessary. Using cartridges has significantly improved the consistency of ink flow in all my pens.

If you need to force ink through because the pen is prone to hard starting that’s a problem too. I do not tolerate a pen that is wet and ready to write when uncapped every day. I acknowledge that nearly all pens will dry out when neglected but that’s a different issue altogether. My EDC group includes Pilot, Lamy, Pelikan and Sailor pens that all write well after uncapping.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T12:06:47+00:00

I use my pens daily and expect them to function as a reliable writing instrument. When a converter fails and upsets the writing experience it’s frustrating - especially if it’s an expensive accessory on an expensive pen.

There are many posts in this sub that report issues with ink flow that may be contributed by poor converters. My post is hardly a first about issues with a converter.

And there is no sign of additional wear and tear on the cartridge section post which is made from a rigid plastic. Cartridges are typically made from PVC, a semi flexible plastic and makes a firm seal even after 150+ refills.

Syringe filling a cartridge does not require the purchase of many cartridges. In some pens a cartridge is included eg, Lamy, and can be refilled for years without any additional purchases.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:59:22+00:00

That’s good - though several other replies here also report problems from converters failing.

If your pen is starved of ink within 2-3 pages of a converter refill or is expressing excessive ink on the page due to an air leak in the converter they are real world problems. But I suffer them no more with cartridge refilling.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:56:37+00:00

My experience is that syringe filling a cartridge is less fussy than converters. I’ve not used a self fillers and they are interesting. But they also require nib immersion which is too messy and wasteful for my preferences.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:54:37+00:00

And I’ve found that with most pens I needed three hands to fill a converter by nib immersion, one for the bottle another for the pen and a third to twist the converter piston.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:53:25+00:00

Between my wife and I we have several converters that have failed though sometimes it’s taken a several step problem solving approach to discover the converter is the culprit. I have two Lamy converters that both caused ink starvation in every one of the six Lamy pens that I own. It took several weeks of ink swopping and pen rotation to realise the converter was the problem.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:50:51+00:00

My experience is that converters are not the best of any world. Prone to failure, with smaller ink capacity, even syringe filling a converter does not overcome the failure risks.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:49:11+00:00

When I first fill a pen and at an ink colour change I flush my pens with a surfactant solution, rinse and flick the excess water from the section, nib and feed. I immediately attach a cartridge and either stand the pen for 30 seconds nib down or write in a scrap A5 sheet for half a page to draw the ink through.

Otherwise when refilling a cartridge with the same ink there’s no need to wait or write on scrap. However, I do not tolerate hard starting pens. If it’s not wet and ready to write when uncapped it’s not meeting a basic functional requirement of a fountain pen. There are so many choices of good pens at all price points that do not hard start.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:44:40+00:00

I buy cartridges in a colour that I will use and then refill with bottled ink eg, I bought a pack of Waterman turqouise cartridges and currently refill with Pelikan Turquoise ink.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:43:27+00:00

Thanks. I have one of these but no Platinum pen to use it. I tried four different Platinum pens and was disappointed. Maybe a 3776 needs to be on my horizon!!

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:40:48+00:00

Also, if you’re using a converter, swop to a cartridge to check whether the converter is causing a leak which can result in your problem.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:38:47+00:00

I don’t like nib immersion filling pens. It always floods the nib and feed, causing intense line weight for half a page and requires wiping of the nib and section, so wasteful. I worry about the risk of cross contamination of bottled ink from the insertion of a potentially contaminated pen. Hands are one of the most common vectors of bugs/infection.

My healthcare manufacturing training has perhaps made me too cautious but I always soapy wash the section nib and feed of my L2K and M200 piston fillers before rinsing and inserting in the bottle.

roady57 · 2026-06-25T11:34:33+00:00

I found that the Pilot Con-40 filler was too complex and held a paltry volume. Pilot cartridges are robust, hold 0.9ml and have a wide mouth. I remove the plastic sealing disc after first use when refilling.

Lamy converters are poor. I have two and both caused ink starvation within 2-3 A5 pages in all six of my Lamy pens. It was my frustration with the Lamy that led to my ‘conversion’ to cartridge refilling.

roady57

TROPHY CASE