The Parker pen range has been one of the leading options for ballpoint, rollerball, and fountain pens around the world for decades and the brand still see strong sales while growing their marketshare in multiple areas. Due to the popularity and the absolutely huge user base of Parker pen range, we see more and more questions spread over a wide range of topics each month.
One of the more frequently asked questions that we have noticed being asked more recently is based around how to put ink cartridge in Parker fountain pen. Due to seeing so many people reaching out with this question as well as the proprietory design of the standard Parker ink cartridge we have decided to publish our own dedicated article on the subject.
Our hope is that no matter what model you are using from the Parker fountain pen range, our article will be able to help you quickly and easily insert the official Parker Quink Ink Refill Cartridge as well as a few third-party alternatives that we will cover later in the article. We know that the proprietory design of the Parker cartridge may be a little daunting for some people as they are scared they may damage their pen but the process really is very simple and straightforward.
How To Put An Ink Cartridge In Parker Fountain Pen
First up, we are going to be going over how you are able to fit the official Parker Quink Ink Refill Cartridge to your fountain pen as it is the most popular ink cartridge used with Parker fountain pens at the time of writing by far. Although there are instructions both on the box of the cartridge as well as in the user manual that comes with them, some fountain pens from the Parker range are slightly different to the one in the user manual.
First and foremost, you have to unscrew the barrel of your Parker fountain pen to separate the section, feed, and nib so you are able to have easy access to the cartridge mount. This is a simple process as Parker pens all use the standard twist to separate barrel design so you are able to do this stage with minimal effort being required.
Keep in mind that, once the barrel, section, and nib are all de-built, it is common for them to roll around if left on a flat surface so we would recommend that you try to put them in an empty glass or something that will stop them from rolling around while you fit the cartridge. This is a common yet easily avoidable cause of damage to pens and it only takes a couple of seconds to ensure that the de-built parts of your pen will not roll around and potentially break from a fall or go missing.
Next up, take your Parker ink cartridge and hold it flat in your hand horizontally, you will notice that one end of the ink cartridge is wider than the other and the wide end will have a plastic mounting unit on it. This wider end with the mounting unit is the end that will be mounted to the pen, not the narrow end that we see some people presume.
Insert the wide end of the ink cartridge into the section of your Parker fountain pen and this is the part of fitting the ink cartridge to the Parker fountain pen range that most people seem to worry about. The cartridge is built to last so has a robust build quality and people seem to worry about applying pressure to get it seated correctly in the section of the pen.
You will have to apply some force to get the cartridge to seat in the section as required for optimal ink flow but there is no need to worry as this is totally normal and by design. You will feel the end of the cartridge give way as it seats to the section when you apply pressure and this is when you know that the ink cartridge is mounted to your fountain pen.
This is due to the feed mount in the section of the pen having to physically break through the blue or black plastic mounting unit on the cartridge to get access to the ink. We have seen some reports of people presume that this is not meant to happen and that they have accidentally ruptured their ink cartridge and that it may potentially leak but with the proprietory design of Parker ink cartridges, this is totally normal and nothing to worry about.
Parker Third-Party Cartridge Compatibility
Although the official Parker Quink Ink Refill Cartridge does have a fair price tag associated with it and is in wide circulation, the lack of ink color options available with the cartridge has lead some people who use Parker fountain pens to look for third-party ink cartridges that are compatible with their pens.
As we have mentioned, the Parker fountain pen range all use the standard proprietory Quick cartridge design that is longer than the vast majority of other fountain pen cartridges on the market right now. Although this does rule out the majority of third-party cartridge options, there is hope as both the Aurora ink cartridges and the Levenger ink cartridges can fit most Parker fountain pens.
This does open up the Parker fountain pen range to additional ink colors but as neither of these ink cartridges have been specifically designed to work with the Parker pen range, it can be a little bit of a pain to get them to connect to the feed in your pens section. The Aurora ink cartridges do tend to fit better as they have a very similar shape to the official Parker cartridge design and although the Levenger cartridge does take some effort to get it to mount, it can work.
Syringe Refilling Cartridges
Although the majority of people will tend to just use the Parker cartridge convertor with their fountain pen if they want to use inks other than the standard blue and black, some people do like to refill their empty Parker Quink Ink Cartridges using a syringe with the ink color that they want to use.
This is a quick and easy method to let you take advantage of a number of third-party inks such as the very popular Noodlers range that has a huge color range for their inks allowing you to use pretty much any color you could ever want with your Parker fountain pen. To refill your ink cartridges using the syringe method we would recommend that you put a little flush solution into the cartridge and then leave it overnight first.
Although you can use water, a flush solution has been specifically designed for use with ink and can ensure that your cartridge is totally clean from the previous ink prior to refilling it. You then simply take a fountain pen syringe and fill it full of the ink that you want to refill your ink cartridge with, put the needle end into the cartridge and expel the ink into the cartridge and then remount it to your Parker fountain pen.
As we touched on though, this process is a little drawn out for most people involving too much faff so the majority of people will simply use the Parker cartridge convertor and just draw the ink of their choice into the converter via the piston. Although the initial cost of the cartridge convertor is a little higher, the time is save you is well worth it in our opinion.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over how you put an ink cartridge into your Parker fountain pen to a close. As we touched on above, the official Parker cartridges do need a little pressure to get the feed on your Parker fountain pen to break through their mounting unit but this is intentional and totally normal. There is no need to worry about the process and once you get the hand of how you put the cartridges into the pens the process is quick and easy to do.
