Is the cartridge coming with Preppy really too short to reach the back of the barrel? Never seen that in a fountain pen and looks unnecessarily risky design. I am wondering if the vendor sent me the wrong cartridge.
Does it look like the cartridge around pic 7 of this listing? That looks to fill the barrel pretty well, but Platinum has been known to sell adapters to make international short carts work. That said, a decently made pen should be fine with the friction fit between the cart and feed/section assembly. Think of all the pens that have room for two short carts, and what would happen if someone threw away their empty and didn’t replace it.
@Stopwatch1986 Why do you need it to reach all the way to the back of the barrel? As far as I’m aware, very few (if any) cartridges actually do that.
Interesting. All of mine hit the back. I always thought that was meant to push the cartridge in and secure it there. The neck may be tight but a long cartridge can’t possibly move. Eg I notice Lamys are sold with a removable ring that stops you fully tightening the barrel by accident and breaking the seal of the cartridge that come’s with the pen. I don’t see why designers would choose not to secure their proprietary cartridge like that, unless they want to be able to design shorter models and use the same cartridges.
@Stopwatch1986 Ah, you’re right about the Safaris! Most cartridges are made to fit inside as many pens as possible, so there aren’t many that work that way. The way they fit is strong enough that it takes a fair amount of force to dislodge it, at which point I’d be more concerned about the state of the pen than if the cartridge has been knocked loose.
@Stopwatch1986 I’m sure there were/are some Parkers that did it too, now that I think about it
All my pens that take two international cartridges back-to-back do that too, otherwise they would rattle if you shook them.
Yes, mine is the same as the one in the photo. I am sure the amount of friction is sufficient. Like Lamy and others I just couldn’t see the benefit of losing the extra support point but it may be that Platinum want to be able to design short pens and use the same cartridges.
