Cross refill - varying lengths?

[Carl Fisher]

So this one threw me for a loop at a recent show. I always change the refill for a fresh one in front of the customer so they see they are getting a new refill and also know how to change it on their own.

I started to change the refill and was shocked when I couldn't screw the refill into the transmission because the tip was so far extended that it bottomed. WTF? Embarrassed, I dug into my stash and pulled out another refill and everything was fine going forward.

So I dug through my supply and found that I have 3 completely different sized Cross style refills in my box of replacements.

125.6mm
118.9mm
115.6mm

The 115.6mm seems to be the "normal" refill size, or at least it's what I have the most of. So where did these other refills come from? I only ever order Private Reserve in bulk but did some strange kit refills get mixed into my supply?

Along the same lines, is there any way to tell a Private Reserve refill from a kit refill in the Cross style? NONE of mine have any markings at all which can get frustrating to keep them separate.

 

[sbell111]

So this one threw me for a loop at a recent show. I always change the refill for a fresh one in front of the customer so they see they are getting a new refill and also know how to change it on their own.

I started to change the refill and was shocked when I couldn't screw the refill into the transmission because the tip was so far extended that it bottomed. WTF? Embarrassed, I dug into my stash and pulled out another refill and everything was fine going forward.

So I dug through my supply and found that I have 3 completely different sized Cross style refills in my box of replacements.

125.6mm
118.9mm
115.6mm

The 115.6mm seems to be the "normal" refill size, or at least it's what I have the most of. So where did these other refills come from? I only ever order Private Reserve in bulk but did some strange kit refills get mixed into my supply?

Along the same lines, is there any way to tell a Private Reserve refill from a kit refill in the Cross style? NONE of mine have any markings at all which can get frustrating to keep them separate.

Are you absolutely sure that the plastic end was pushed all the way onto the metal shaft?

I know that refils have some tiny variation in size (length and width), but I couldn't imagine that variation to be 10mm.

 

[Carl Fisher]

I have the 3 variations next to me right now and the plastic doesn't budge. I actually found 3 refills in my supply that were in the same range as the longest one. The middle one seems to be fluke.

 

[rd_ab_penman]

You will find that the a majority of the knock offs of the original Cross refills can vary in length and and a lot of times are not the same length as the original Cross refill.
I have and original Cross refill the I always compare to the kit refill for correct length prior to installing the transmission.

Les

 

[sbell111]

I just can't imagine there being that much variation. Did you figure out where you were getting the long ones from? I would give them a call and 'describe the problem'.

 

[MarkD]

I have run into this before but it's been awhile. If I remember correctly, I found that the Private Reserve refills I purchased were longer than the refills that came with the kits.
In my case they didn't bottom out but the refill extended a lot farther than the refill that came with the kit.

 

[sbell111]

I definitely wouldn't be buying them any longer.

 

[edman2]

Just encountered this yesterday. A package of 10 refills bought from one vendor had 9 standard length refills and one was 1/4" longer and stuck out the end of the pen even in the closed position. I think it's a quality control issue.

 

[sbell111]

10% defective is waaaaay too high.

 

[darrin1200]

I have the 3 variations next to me right now and the plastic doesn't budge. I actually found 3 refills in my supply that were in the same range as the longest one. The middle one seems to be fluke.

Have you pulled the plastic end off and measured the actual refill? Maybe the hole in the plastic is plugged or not deep enough.

 

[Carl Fisher]

I haven't yet. I may fiddle around with it this weekend and see if there is a reason for it.

 

[Carl Fisher]

It's the plastic. The metal tube is the same length on all of them, but the plastic is either plugged or not drilled as deep.

 

[darrin1200]

That's great. While it is a PIA, its an easy fix.

You could keep a bunch of plastic caps from used up refills. That way when a problem one shows up, just grab a new cap.

I just checked all mine and they appear to be good.

As for identifying kit refill/PR refill. My blue PR's are marked but the black ones aren't. I can't find any other visual indicator to tell the difference. Personally, when I right with both, I can't tell the difference. Unlike the parker Easyflow 9000 which is a huge difference from stock. But in those, if I compare the Schmidt-PR branded refill to the Schmidt branded one I don't feel a huge difference. Just my 2¢.

Glad you sorted the problem.

 

[Carl Fisher]

I can't feel the difference in the PR refills either, but I prefer to at least give a fresh "full" refill vs the kit refills which have been known to run dry right out of the gate.