Pilot V7 Pen With Cartridge

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Timothee Cazares

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Aug 5, 2024, 12:52:27 AM8/5/24

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Underno circumstances are fountain pen ink cartridges a good value. The cost per milliliter is higher than with bottled ink, and there is the added waste of a bunch of little plastic cartridges laying around.

Would you be surprised if I told you that in three* of my priciest pens I regularly use ink cartridges? Why? Two reasons: 1. I want to use these pens, and this allows me to use them more, and 2. I found ink in cartridge form that I love.

Pilot announced the launch of their Iroshizuku ink cartridge lineup in early 2022, and after a few delays in their worldwide release, they have arrived. 12 of the 26 stock colors are available in packs of 6 for a whopping $12.50 per pack. Each cartridge holds 0.8ml, putting the cost at two dollars and sixty cents per milliliter. Compare that to the 50 ml Iroshizuku ink bottles, which track at right around fifty cents per milliliter, and you realize how ridiculous they are.

Like I said, there is no narrative that makes these a good value. Except one. How many milliliters of unused ink is sitting in a bottle on your shelf? Is it better to spend $25 and use 25% of it, or spend $12.50 and use 100% of it? There are a lot of ifs, ands, or buts in that statement, but we all want to use our stuff more. Smaller and less cost-effective may work in certain situations, as silly as that sounds.

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All of my cart/converter pens are pilot, and recently I found that the design they use with the plastic disc that is pushed out of the way to open the cartage, makes it incredibly easy to refill, and re-seal the cartridges. Being a college student I really want to fill a few with my own inks to carry around with me. But when i used the cartridges that came with my pens, i threw the little discs away without even thinking about it.

I know my only solutions is probably just to buy a 4 or 12 pack of pilot cartridges and either use them or pour the ink out so that i can use my own. I just hate the idea of wasting ink, and i really dont want to wait to go through a few of them so that i can refill them, so I was just wondering if anyone knows where i can get a few empty pilot cart's with the plastic discs in them.

I do use converters, I have a con 40 for my Vanishing Point, and the horrible squeeze one for my Metro. I just want to be able to take extra ink with me without having to fill from a sample vile or bottle for the days that i'm out longer, or the times that I won't be home for a few days. I'll probably just end up getting some black Pilot cartridges. I know i could just bring multiple pens with me.

You could put the ink from the cartridges into a sample vial or two, then you don't waste it. And if you don't like any of their colors, you could always do a PIF or otherwise give the sample vial(s) away.

Good tips. I have an open pack of cartridges for my VP which I'll never use -- some of the worst ink I've ever used is that Pilot Blue Black -- but I thought the idea of carrying around a cartridge as an emergency backup in my car would be a good idea. Maybe I should try dumping the ink and refilling. I wish Pilot would sell empties for that purpose. But I guess I can understand why they wouldn't.

Not at all. All of Pilot's cartridges are sealed with are a round plastic disk that gets spun/pushed aside to release the ink. All you need to do is fish out that disk, wash and dry your cartridge parts, fill with ink and reset it with something at the original depth, and you are all set.

I actually use hot glue to reseal standard international cartridges. I put a dab on some tin foil and wait for it to cool (so as not to damage the cartridge) but still be malleable enough to get into the hole and sufficiently cover the mouth. Then I just take the foil with the hot glue, press it into the cartridge, wait for it to harden, then peel off the foil. It's sort of like a wine cork and it keeps it sealed and leak-free. When I take off the hot glue, it keeps its shape and I can stick it (like a wine cork) into another cartridge I need to seal. Useful and reusable. ?

For Pilot carts, you don't need to go through all the troubles of making a makeshift cap for the cartridges though. They come with one. Every one of them comes with a cap. Just need to know how to use it.

For my Pilot Metro pens, I too find that I like refilling the nice long cartridges rather than using the squeeze sack.

I would like to give you two options I use, rather than carrying many cartridges and sealing them, I would like you to consider the squeeze bottle, and the small pipettes:

Option 1:

1.) I go to my local Art Supply warehouse store in Fullerton, CA. There is a section for bottles of all types and sizes. I like to get the 1oz squeeze bottle with tip. These cost you the low low price of .50 cents and you can carry large amounts of your favorite inks. The screw cap is sure to prevent leakage when tightly closed.

2.) Another option is to carry your ink bottles with you or in small plastic screw top jars, if you do not want applicator tips, and to also carry a small pipette, which can be cheaply purchased from your local Harbor Freight or Daiso.

Hi, so I'm completely new to fountain pens and this is my first pen. It's brand new and I'm using the ink that came with it but whenever I try to write with it the ink just won't flow. I'm not sure if I did something wrong in the setup or its the pen itself. Does anyone know how to get the ink flowing?

It sometimes takes a while for the ink to flow from the cartridge to the nib. Stand the capped pen upright with he nib down and come back in a few hours. If the problem persists give us another shout.

I presume you are using a cartridge, yes? Are you sure you put the cartridge in far enough to puncture the top? Sometimes you have to press quite hard. You should feel a dull 'thpnk' when you put the cartridge all the way in. Not sharp enough for a click, but a definite sensation that something has slotted into place. That's the puncture of the top of the cartridge.

Oh, Radioclub. I'm so sorry you are having this problem and with your first pen too! Please know that in general fountain pens are trouble free and a joy to use. Just out of curiosity what kind of pen is it and what ink are you using??

Wow, Metropolitans are known to be trouble free. Can you try another cartridge? I don't use P{lot cartridges but isn't there a disk of plastic or a ball bearing that seals the cartridge? Is this obstruction gone?

Yes, do try another cartridge or the converter. Meanwhile give the nib section a good soak in water with a tiny bit of dish washing up liquid. Try to foresee or blow some of this soapy water through the section to clean out any manufacturing gunk that may be in there. Do this several times and then reassemble and try the pen again.

Hello radioclub. I'm also relatively new to fountain pens, so this might not be helpful, but I just want to corroborate your ink-starved experience. Out of the 8 pens I have, I met similar problems with 2 cartridge/converter pens.

The first time, it was very frustrating, as I did everything I could think of. Rinsed everything multiple times, including with the nib completely disassembled. Tried squeezing the cartridge to force the ink out. Nothing worked. (Forcing the ink out by squeezing the cartridge did produce ink out of the tip, but after a few sentences, it would dry up again.) Finally, I took a good look at the feed in its inked-up state, and where the ink saturation stopped, I noticed a fin that was not parallel to the other fins. So I straightened it out carefully, rinsed everything again, and used a very thin tool to wipe away any dust particles between the fins and channels. The problem went away, but I'm still not completely sure what the original cause was.