Gel cell pens write inconsistant

[Paul Downes]

I have made and sold some gel cell pens, (jr. gent, baron) and have experianced frequent intermittant ink flow with the pens I test drive for quality checks. (If the pens had a prostate I would be taking them to the doctor pronto!) Do any of you turners experiance this problem? I hate to sell a product that doesn't perform well 99% of the time.
I can get the ink to flow again by removing the gel cell and squeezing the tube, but that only works for a while and then the pen skips or quits writeing again.
I don't think a customer would be happy having to mess with this kind problem.

 

[RONB]

I buy Uni-ball refills for them.Have not had good luck with the kit refills either.

 

[gerryr]

Is this "gel cell" pen something new?

 

[redfishsc]

I think the ones Paul is referring to are the standard Schmidt 888's.


Paul, you aren't the only one. The black-plastic 888 is a piece of trash. EVERY rollerball I sell gets either a Pilot G2 or a Uniball 207. Either will fit (the G2 seems to fit better than the Uniball but it's really not a big deal). Both of them write better.


Now, if you want the Cadillac, order the "Schmidt Steel" from CSA. It is a steel-cartridge version, also called the 5888. It writes a LOT better than the 888.

But, for less than half the price, I use the G2's and 207's which write nearly as good.

 

[gerryr]

If he's talking about the Baron, he isn't referring to Schmidt rollerball refills. The Baron uses a Hauser, not a Schmidt. There is a world of difference between Hauser and Schmidt. The Hauser refills are junk. I replace every one of them with a Schmidt 888, which is identical to the 5888 except for the metal housing. I can't begin to count how many rollerballs I've sold with Schmidt 888 refills in them and not one single customer has ever complained, and several of them are repeat customers. I tried Pilot G2 refills a long time ago. They didn't fit right and they also didn't write well, leaving a lot of ink blobs. This came up a few months ago and the consensus then was the Pilot G2 refills were not very good.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Paul,
the two pens mentioned have two different refills coming with the kit initially. You are right for the Hauser refills coming with the Barons - they are crap. The Schmidt refills, however, are a great refill and I like to change the bad Hausers for the Schmidt. Both Schmidt refills, the plastic 888 and the metal tube 5888 are, as I believe, equally good (the only difference is the tube material; size, ceramic roller ball and ink filling is the same).

I actually tried and get a larger Schmidt buy going, but due to too little interest, I had to cancel it.

If you do a search here, you will find that the refill issue comes up about every month, once for the ball points and another time for the rollerball refills, and I always try to chime in here. I have sold many pens and have tried a lot of refills, especially for the rollerballs.
My experience is that both the Pilot and Uniball refills that get so much good reviews, do smear a bit and write not a consistent line on paper (intermittent ink flow as you said) - at least on the paper I write mostly on - simple note pads, note books and the like.
A small amount of ink collects close to the end of the writing point and then uncontrolled gives you a large blob on the writing line. If I ever have the time (and I am in the mood), I will take some pictures showing these accumulations of ink on the writing end.

BTW, there is now another refill on the market, another great German brand name: Schneider. These refills can be had from our own Penworks!!

 

[Woodlvr]

I sold a couple of Barons to one customer and he would like an ink refill for it if possible, is it possible to replace the rollerball with an ink refill? Thank you guys for the valuable info that you giving us.

Mike

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by Woodlvr
<br />I sold a couple of Barons to one customer and he would like an ink refill for it if possible, is it possible to replace the rollerball with an ink refill? Thank you guys for the valuable info that you giving us.

Mike

Define what you mean by an ink refill? If he just ran out of ink and needs a replacement, a Uniball 207, Pilot G2, or Schmidt 5888 will fit.



As far as comments on the difference between the Schmidt 888 and 5888, I personally see a <b>drastic</b> difference between them. Nearly every 888 I have tried began skipping and scratching less than a page or two into taking notes in class (heavy duty writing for sure) but the 5888 does not, and writes with a much more "lubed" feel to it. Maybe I was just getting the reject 888's and got a really good 5888 by coincidence, but that is unlikely. I dunno!

 

[Rudy Vey]

Originally posted by redfishsc
<br />

Originally posted by Woodlvr
<br />I sold a couple of Barons to one customer and he would like an ink refill for it if possible, is it possible to replace the rollerball with an ink refill? Thank you guys for the valuable info that you giving us.

Mike

Define what you mean by an ink refill? If he just ran out of ink and needs a replacement, a Uniball 207, Pilot G2, or Schmidt 5888 will fit.



As far as comments on the difference between the Schmidt 888 and 5888, I personally see a <b>drastic</b> difference between them. Nearly every 888 I have tried began skipping and scratching less than a page or two into taking notes in class (heavy duty writing for sure) but the 5888 does not, and writes with a much more "lubed" feel to it. Maybe I was just getting the reject 888's and got a really good 5888 by coincidence, but that is unlikely. I dunno!

Maybe they were very old, long stored refills.
Believe me, there is no difference between the two Schmidt refills, only the tube material (ink, writing ceramic ball, fill amount is identical). I had a lot of contacts with them, and one thing I remember was that these refills are at least good for a year. Schmidt normally produces order related, i.e. all orders are freshly produced.
No idea how long your supplier stored them before you get them.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Originally posted by redfishsc
<br />

Originally posted by Woodlvr
<br />I sold a couple of Barons to one customer and he would like an ink refill for it if possible, is it possible to replace the rollerball with an ink refill? Thank you guys for the valuable info that you giving us.

Mike

Define what you mean by an ink refill? If he just ran out of ink and needs a replacement, a Uniball 207, Pilot G2, or Schmidt 5888 will fit.



As far as comments on the difference between the Schmidt 888 and 5888, I personally see a <b>drastic</b> difference between them. Nearly every 888 I have tried began skipping and scratching less than a page or two into taking notes in class (heavy duty writing for sure) but the 5888 does not, and writes with a much more "lubed" feel to it. Maybe I was just getting the reject 888's and got a really good 5888 by coincidence, but that is unlikely. I dunno!

Maybe they were very old, long stored refills.
Believe me, there is no difference between the two Schmidt refills, only the tube material (ink, writing ceramic ball, fill amount is identical). I had a lot of contacts with them, and one thing I remember was that these refills are at least good for a year. Schmidt normally produces order related, i.e. all orders are freshly produced.
No idea how long your supplier stored them before you get them.

 

[Woodlvr]

My question was not very clear. What I am asking is if it is possible to put a ballpoint pen refill in the Baron and make it a ball point instead of a rollerball? My customer really likes them and is considering them as christmas gifts for some of his employees. TIA.

Mike

 

[Randy_]

You could use the Parker refill (BP or Gel) but you would have to make a little spacer because the Parker refill is a little shorter than the the other refills. A piece of 1/4" dowel cut off to about 9/16" should be about right.

Onliest problem is that folks might loose the spacer when changing refills. You could glue the spacer in the pen; but then you would loose the option of using the other size gel cartridge if you ever wanted to switch back.