Pilot Fountain Pen Ink Converter Screw Type (CON-40)

I bought this for my Pilot Metro, and it has done wonders for me. If you're having the same issues I was, this will solve your problems. (Details at bottom if you're interested.)Pros: NO LEAKING, can see ink level, easy to use*Cons: None yet:)Indifferent: relatively small capacity, but I'm getting about the same amount of time between fills as the squeeze converter. Nothing noticeably different.; I can hear the metal balls moving around sometimes, but it isn't distracting and it's quite soft. I don't hear them when writing -- only when i flip to pen over or set it down or something*I've seen where many people are having issues filling it all the way. You have to fill it, push the extra air back out, and then fill that leftover space again. Goulet has a good video explaining itI've had my metro for several years, and I've always used to squeeze converter that came with it. It leaked TERRIBLY -- so much that I stopped using the pen for a while and ended up buying a different brand pen. I scoured the internet for ways to keep the converter from leaking into the pen barrel and subsequently all over my hands, and I never found a solution. The common consensus is the squeeze converter doesn't have a tight seal, so it leaks. I bought this converter and BOOM problem solved.

Really good for shimmer inks, the little stainless steel mixing balls do a good job keeping the shimmer particles mixed in the ink. Have it in my Kakuno with an ink heavy on the shimmer (Diamine Pride from Cult Pens) and it works wonderfully. Absolutely no clogs in the feed/nib. Wish all fountain pen companies put them in their converters- looking at you Kaweco! 😬

This converter is a big part of the reason why I bought a Pilot Elite (E95S) pen. Until the CON-40 became available the only ink converter that would fit that pen was the CON-20 and I don't like "aero" type squeeze aspirated bladder converters. I've had my eye on the Pilot Elite (E95S) pen for quite a while, I really like the style and the pen has mostly stellar reviews, at least from people who know what they're talking about regarding fountain pens. But I did not want to be saddled with a CON-20 converter so I didn't buy the pen until I became aware of the CON-40 converter and had verified that it actually fit that pen by a question posted and answered here on Amazon.This converter has only been available in the US for a relatively short time. It is made with Pilot's usual high degree of quality in manufacturing. It's even a little cheaper than the CON-20 in most offerings. Some people prefer an "aero" type squeeze actuated converter so bear in mind this is a personal preference on my part. If you want to know why I don't like them, ask in the comments and we'll have a conversation about that.It fits the Pilot Elite (E95S) pen very well but you have to pull the converter to see how much ink is in it. This is an aspect of the pen not the converter, the pen is made so that this converter sits too deep in the section to see the ink chamber. That isn't a major difference from the CON-20 because you can't see how much ink is in the CON-20 due to its opaque bladder. Either way, you cannot visually ascertain how much ink remains in the reservoir by looking at it but at least with the CON-40 you can remove the converter and see what ink is left.You cannot use the other two screw and plunger type converters (the CON-50 and CON-70) in a Pilot Elite (E95S) pen, they do not fit.I keep writing "Pilot Elite (E95S)" because there are TWO designations for the same pen. The "Elite" is a pen that ships directly from retailers in Japan and the "E95S" is the pen you can buy from American retailers. They're exactly the same pen, the one from Japan has "Elite" on the cap and the one you can buy in America has a cursive "E" on the cap. There was some sort of trademark conflict with the name "Elite" because another pen manufacturer had already trademarked the name "Elite" on a different model pen in the US. So Pilot had to rename the "Elite" to the "E95S" in order for American retailers to sell it. It all seems a little silly to me and merely adds to confusions but that's the way it is. Incidentally you can buy a Pilot Elite from a Japanese retailer for about half the price of a Pilot E95S from an American retailer -- Even though they are exactly the same pen that comes off the exact same line in the exact same factory made from exactly the same materials of exactly the same quality in Japan. FYI, Pilot does not sell to Americans directly, you have to go through either a Japanese or an American retailer.I'm very pleased with this converter and the pen I put it in. I expected no less from a Pilot product and had done my due diligence on both pen and converter prior to purchasing either. I've never gotten a Pilot product that was a lemon so I didn't mind the "risk" of buying from a foreign retailer. An American retailer will provide the full gamut of customer and warranty service that may not be available from a foreign retailer that doesn't even speak English fluently. At half the price I was willing to put up with that but you need to think about it if you're considering obtaining something from a foreign retailer. It's a serious hassle trying to deal with returns and warranties when the item has to be shipped internationally for those things. I don't anticipate that will be an issue and it is highly unlikely I will need to interact with the Japanese retailer of this pen on any level.Pilot is phasing out the CON-50 and the CON-20 to bring in the CON-40 because it fits more pens in the Pilot line. The CON-40 holds the same amount of ink as the CON-50 so the claims that it's smaller and holds less ink in reserve are incorrect. (I see one of those claims in a review here on this item.) The ink capacity of a CON-40 vs. a CON-20 is moot, with a squeeze bladder converter you seldom get it completely full without a lot of extra effort and mucking about so in real world applications the CON-40 holds as much or more ink than most people can get into a CON-20.Pilot has ceased manufacture of the CON-20 and CON-50 converters.There is still a LOT of stock around of the CON-20 and CON-50 model ink converters so if you're in love with one of those, buy it before all that stock is depleted. Pilot is continuing to produce the CON-70 for the foreseeable future so if that's a converter that fits a pen you own it will still be available for quite a while.The CON-50 is known for being "noisy" because of the ink agitator/surface tension reducer inside the reservoir being a comparatively chunky cylinder of metal. The CON-40 does not have this problem, the agitator is/are two small metal balls that replaces the metal cylinder in the CON-50 and it is much quieter. With the converter full of ink and shaking the pen vigorously I can barely hear those two balls rattle around, I cannot hear them at all in normal use of the pen. This might make the CON-40 appeal to those who take issue with the noise that a CON-50 generates.This is a very good, high quality converter that lives up to Pilot's high standards. It's "new' so like anything there will be some people that think it is a step backwards but I cannot see how that can possibly be so. The converter has been re-designed from the older models and overcomes several liabilities that the older models exhibit without any loss of functionality or suitability and it is at least as good quality-wise as the converters it replaces. It's also attractively priced, at least here on Amazon.

It's hard to imagine that a battle can rage over a tiny plastic device that holds a few drops of ink, but such is the nature of online conversation today. And such is the turf war over the merits and lacks of the Pilot CON-40 Converter.Pilot is a Japanese company that makes highly respected, top-quality pens and pencils. Their Pilot and Namiki fountain pens are regarded as some of the best available. Ink cartridges and converters for Pilot fountain pens are—sadly—proprietary, which means you can't use other brands' cartridges and converters in your Pilot. However, with a converter, you are not limited to inks made by Pilot, so you can fill the converter with inks from any brand.Pilot make four converters:* CON-20 - Very small, thin, squeeze-sac converter you press and release to suck in ink* CON-50 - Small, with a screw-piston to suck in ink* CON-70 - Large, with a button-filling system to suck in ink* CON-40 - Intended replacement for the CON-50, and which is slightly thinner, meaning it should work in all Pilot fountain pensWhile the CON-20 fits in just about every Pilot fountain pen, the CON-50 and the CON-70 do not. For instance, the CON-50 is slightly too wide for use in the Pilot Cavalier, in which the CON-40 fits perfectly.The pros and cons of the new screw-piston CON-40:PROS+ Works both in pens that would take the CON-50 and those that could previously take only the CON-20+ Contains metal bearings that help agitate ink, especially useful for the increasingly popular shimmer inks that contain metallic particles+ Beats the CON-20 for convenience and performance, since you can clearly see the ink level in the CON-40, and it fills more easily and assuredlyCONS- Rattles, caused by the agitator bearings, which annoys some users- Holds a fraction less ink at capacity than the CON-50- Fills less full (some have reported) than the CON-50For users who prefer Pilot's slimmest pens, the CON-40 is a big improvement over the CON-20, which I found annoying to use. I'm glad Pilot decided to make the CON-40; so for me, there's little not to like about this newest converter. That said, some fans of the CON-50 feel the CON-40 is a big step backward.In other words, it's all in your perspective based on which Pilot fountain pens you prefer.