CCR Copic Quick Tip Refilling Copics

[@gaylesanders936]

Thank you so very much for showing us how to maintain our Copics. I enjoy watching you create. 😊

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

Thanks Gayle!

[@danieljamesbinderystu2968]

Hello there, iam here because there is a HUGE problem with copic sketch markers... and there is only 1 video available on KZbin about this GIGANTIC FLAW with the sketch series. Iam actually a full time professional artist and Bookbinder and I literally own every copic marker made, in every style and every color available. I have all 358 sketch, 180 ciao for travel, 214 classic that I have to use in their airbrush system ( the classic chisel nibs are larger than sketch, and they hold more ink ) and I even have all 36 wides and their anniversary sets that are discontinued. I use my copics for rough rendering and sketches to plan out for paintings or pieces in lightfast mediums. I use the copics to choose color schemes and sketch in sketchbooks. I even bought copics factory clear acrylic display cases from an art store that was closing down. I baby my markers, never drop or mistreat them, they never are in sunlight and I refill by weight. I usually go through each different type of copic style marker every 3 months to refill, clean and change nibs. I have a HUGE PROBLEM WITH COPIC SKETCH CAPS THAT KEEP CRACKING ON THE INSIDE OF THE CAP ON THE CHISEL SIDE CAP!!! every 3 months when I get to the copic sketch ( all 358 ) to refill and clean... I find ATLEAST 10-15 caps ( ALWAYS ON THE CHISEL SIDE, never on the brush side cap!! ) that have micro cracks inside the chisel side caps! Sometimes I'll even find 20 chisel side caps with micro cracks inside the caps! Iam beyond angry and infuriated, it is just throwing money down the drain.... and I've already spent over 8 thousand dollars on all of the copic markers, so iam stuck with this insanely exspensive investment!! I have all 358 colors of the refill inks too! So iam stuck and I have to keep taking caps from my duplicate color copic sketch markers... to replace the caps on all of my 358. 2 years ago I had 120 copic sketch duplicates, now I only have 12 duplicate sketch markers.... because I have to either replace the color if I had that color, or sacrifice one to take the caps from it, to replace others! So I steal the caps from the duplicate, take the nibs out and soak them in alchemy to clean them and use them as replacement nibs... then trash a perfectly good marker barrel filled with perfectly good ink... in the trash! Iam fed up with always finding newly cracked caps every 3 months I go through my 358 copic sketch markers! Every time, I find 10 to 14 more newly cracked caps! Even if I don't touch my copic sketch markers for months and months.... they just sit in a factory copic display case in my art studio that is temperature controlled and cover windows... I find 10-15 more cracked caps! I've looked on the internet about this issue ( only with the chisel nib side, copic sketch caps.... never any of their other marker styles ) and I can't replay find anything about it... besides the copic website that automatically blame you for mistreatment or rough handling of your markers! I've look all over and I never find anyone addressing this HUGE ISSUE! I always find tons of people that have the same exact issue tho! Most people don't know about this problem and issue, because these cracks are microscopic and extremely hard to see inside the caps. I literally suck on the end of the cap gently to find these cracks. If the marker is already dried out, I throw it out... because it can't be saved or fixed. So I'll take the one good cap off it and take the color cap off, to save the cap for when I run into this issue again in a few months! I reached out to copic Japan and never get a response! I reached out to copic usa and I got a message basically blaming me for dropping my markers on the floor, mistreatment of them, incorrect store and blah blah blah!!! I responded back telling them that iam a professional artist and I have their factory display cases, I baby my markers, I clean my markers, I use a scale to refill my markers, I take of them extremely well because I make a living with my investment in them! Then they never responded back again!! Iam beyond mad and frustrated with this extremely bad issue!!! Nobody that I talk to that has this same exact issue ( a ton of people ) can figure out why this is happening, how this is happening?!?! I've tried everything to prevent this from happening, and yet... every 3 months, I find a new 10-15 different colors with cracked caps on the inside of the chisel side caps!!!! I've tried taking the color caps off the top of the cracked cap, and I filled the entire inside hollow of the cap ( not where the marker tip rests.. on the reverse inside) with hot glue, and then I seal the top color cap back on the cap.... the tip still dries out because the cap doesn't seal from that micro crack on the inside! Iam at my wit's end with this issue! But iam absolutely stuck with it after spending THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!! alot of copic owners have this problem, but they don't realized their markers dry out because of this terrible problem! Like I've already many times, it's never on the brush nib side caps... ITS ALWAYS ONTHE CHISEL SIDE! and they are these tiny tiny micro cracks inside the caps! And it doesn't matter how new your marker is... its completely random! Does anyone know how or why this is happening?! Please, if anyone has figured out this terrible problem and issue... please let me know, so I can stop throwing tons of money in the trash LITERALLY. Thank you and have a great day

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

Sorry that you are having this issue. I have had a couple do this but not nearly the number you are experiencing. Contacting Copic directly is probably your best solution. There is a group of admin here in the US or you could go straight to Japan. If I can help find link or contact let me know.

[@danieljamesbinderystu2968]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom thank you for the reply, i don't know how to stop this from happening... I've tried EVERYTHING! I have already tried reaching out to Copic Japan. Actually I've send well over 15 emails to them ( I just checked ) and they haven't ever responded back. I've tried reaching out to Copic USA 4 times now, and they only responded to my very 1st email that explained this huge issue with the caps cracking. They basically blamed me for dropping my markers, mishandling them, leaving them in sunlight and hot weather... then just said " replace the defective marker with a new one " well I replied backcthat iam a full time professional artist and that I baby my markers! I even bought their factory display cases from an old art shop! That I clean them routinely, that I refill by weight and that they are always in a climate and temperature controlled- State of the art Art studio and Bindery! They have never been dropped or mishandled, matter of fact... nobody is allowed to touch them but me, A PROFESSIONAL ARTIST. I mean, it's like an insanely bad joke at this point... and Iam beyond frustrated, mad and upset all at once! I honestly don't know what to do? I reached out to people on a message board, and they are all experiencing the SAME EXACT PROBLEM!!!! and they are all asking me if I know how to stop it from happening?!?! It's literally throwing money ( alot of money in my case!!! ) in the trash! Many people that own copics and aren't professional artists, or crafters with experience, or adult colorists with experience... they have absolutely no clue about this GIGANTIC FLAW and problem. They just see that their marker is magically dried out, and pump it full of ink again...over and over and over again. These cracks are so small and microscopic, most of the time you can't physically see it with your eyes. You have to literally suck gently on the end of the cap to see if it will hold suction... and if it doesn't, you now have found another crack! And even alot of artists like myself, that use their markers all the time...and yourselves, are constantly refilling and don't notice it right away. But now I know it's happening all the time, I have to obsessively go through my entire 358 Copic sketch markers to find all the cracked caps, and swap the caps from my duplicate colors... just to save all of the 358 colors! It's absolutely crazy, I literally had 120 duplicate Copic sketch markers alittle bit over a year and a half ago... and as of a few nights ago when I wrote you a message.. I have no duplicates left now! Because I had to keep stealing their caps to replace on my 358. It's never ending, in a few weeks I'll go through them again and find another 10 - 15 markers! This last time I did it ( a few days ago ) I found 5 cracked caps in the 1st 40 markers I checked!! Now that I've sacrificed all 120 of my duplicates and have none left... now I will have to buy brand new markers to replace all the cracked caps!!!! And it's exactly what Copic wants! It's the only reply they have ever given me! So again... I dont know what to do?!?! Iam stuck with this huge investment that was supposed to " last a lifetime " and yet I find atleast 10-15 markers with newly cracked caps every couple of months! So in desperation, iam reaching out to many professional Copic users as I can. And so far, they are all having the same exact issue...and have absolutely no answers on how to stop this, how to fix this and how to stop bleeding money from this! You are actually the only one that has responded back and said it doesn't happen as much. It honestly makes me extremely frustrated!! And I apologize, iam definitely not saying any of this towards you at all... I just want this to stop and I don't know what to do about it either. I've TRIED EVERYTHING... including trying to fix them myself with filling the reverse side with the color cap taken off, and filling the entire inside of the cap with hot glue. I tried taping the entire chisel side cap onto the marker... it still dries out! I've tried heating the point of a bookbinding needle and welding the crack if I could see it from the opposite side... doesn't work! I tried filling the caps with shoe goo... doesn't work, I've tried reaching out to copic Japan and Copic USA... doesn't work, they just placed the blame on me!!! Even after I explained who I was, what I do for a living and how much money I've spent on their ENTIRE RANGE OF PRODUCTS... with I own literally all of their markers ever made ( well over 8 thousand dollars) so yeah, iam upset and mad... and out of options at this point! The only thing I haven't done, is putting them on blast across the internet. Which is the only avenue I have left... unless someone can find a fix, or how to stop it it from randomly happening, randomly but CONSTANTLY!! ??

[@SomeRandomArtist415]

Thank you for pointing this out. I inspected the caps on the 3 dried out copics I have and the cracks are there, exactly as you described. I had been refilling one and wondering why the hell it wasn't responding well. I don't use them that often either. I might have to switch to Ohuhu.

[@danieljamesbinderystu2968]

@SomeRandomArtist415 I found out how and why this happens, and how to stop it as well. I did a lot of research, testing, and keeping track of everything. Before I opened my own studio, I was a chemist for Dow Chemical Company for 14 years. So testing stuff is right up my ally. This problem always happens on the one side of the marker. These micro cracks always happened on the chisel end/side of my markers. Out of the 700 some of my copic sketch markers I have, only 1 marker had cracks on the brush side... BUT that is because I used to smack the caps with my palm to make sure they close tight. And I heard it crack. So the difference between the brush and chisel nibs is night and day. The brush is hand.ade with a small fiber spine, with a micro-foam cap over the spine. The chisel nib is 💯% made of compressed fibers. Copic makes these nibs fit very snug. So when you fill up the markers with alcohol ink, the alcohol ink soaks deeply into those.fiber chisel nibs, and the alcohol in the ink helps uncompress the fibers over time. The ink soaks the nib, and it causes the fiber nib to expand, and it presses the marker into the insides of the caps, causing micro cracks in the caps. I've reached out to copic, and they want nothing to do with my help, so f**k them then, lol. I am ready pissed about the down sizing of the inks! Anyways, I also found that the cavity that the chisel nibs sit in the marker is also oblonged. They aren't a perfect circle. So if you remove the chisel nibs from the chisel side and turn them 90° ( a quarter turn ) so the chisel nibs face the other direction like a cross would ie: + the chisel nibs slips in that way much less tight. It has room for that expansion and doesn't press the inside of the caps anymore! So after the big task of doing this to all 700+ and some of my copic sketch markers... I have NOT had a single cap get those damn micro cracks! It has completely stopped this from happening, and it's been over a year or so since I've found this out! So take all your sketch markers and turn the chisel nibs 90°. It does a bit awkward, but the caps still fit over the nibs, and I quickly got used to having my sketch markers configured this way. Hope this will help you and many others out! I've told others as well on other people's pages... and they have thanked me tremendously. Cause copic sucks and they didn't want to answer me or help us out with this. I did this all on my own. So do that, and if you remember to let me know how you made out with doing my tip down the road, that would be great. If not, no biggie. Have a good one 👍

[@SomeRandomArtist415]

@@danieljamesbinderystu2968 Wow. Thank you again for all the info. You actually figured out the cause, and it makes total sense. It's a serious design flaw. These markers are way too expensive to have this sort of defect. Having to go through every marker and rotate the chisel nib is a huge pain for the amount of money we spend. I'll be purchasing Ohuhu color equivalents as I run into this issue going forward. I've seen reviews that compare them favorably to Copics.

[@NancyLynn]

Hey Michelle....this refill tutorial was INCREDIBLY helpful, dear! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@NancyLynn]

PS...I have to say I feel so disappointed with the new Copic refills as someone else pointed out to me that for the same price as previous refills, you get half the amount of ink in the new bottles. I understand that prices go up over time, but that is very disappointing to me.

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

@@NancyLynn So someone told you wrong Nancy. They are NOT the same price. They are smaller for storage and to accommodate the new nozzle but they are also slightly less expensive. It is not half but it is less expensive.

[@wendymolnar3784]

There is something very satisfying about doing Copic marker maintenance! I just weighed all my Copics yesterday and realized I need about 20 new refill bottles! Yikes! A quick call to my local art supply store and I found out that they still have some old sizes of refills in stock along with the new size. So I’m off to them today to see if they have all the colours I need! So good timing on this video as it’s such a good reminder of what I need to do! Thanks Michelle!

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

Of course Wendy! When I have the time I actually don't mind the cleaning/refilling as well. Very satisfying. It is just a time thing😉

[@shannonkeaton7899]

Great tutorial. I liked watching the color automatically seep onto the new nib while you talked. Magic!

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

My favorite part too! Glad it was helpful Shannon!

[@brendajennings5438]

Thanks for the refresher. I tried weighing mine while refilling using a digital kitchen scale but it seemed like my scale was too large and not exact enough. I'm going to buy one of these smaller scales and try this. TFS!

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

your welcome! You'll like the smaller scale, they are super easy to use!

[@brendajennings5438]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom I purchased one from Amazon and used it the other night to refill some of my pens. It worked fantastic!! Thanks so much for the tutorial!

[@Cre8iveCindy]

This was great information. I had to fill some the other day and did it by taking the nib. I like your way better.

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

It can babe a little messier if you rush it, but I like this way 😉 Super glad this was helpful!

[@cassietrask]

This has been a total game changer! Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️

[@cassietrask]

Do you happen to know what the weight would be for an original marker? Thank you!

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

Yay! So glad this helped!

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

@@cassietrask Caps on 20.3 Off 14.2 remember erroring a few 10ths low is safer than overfilling😁

[@cassietrask]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom thank you so much 😘❤️

[@maryb3909]

Thank you for this. You mentioned YG03 travels with you. Made me think what markers you use the most and why. I wish I considered the opinion of experienced copic users before I started buying markers.

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

Yeah, I wish I could point people to some learning before they are buying. I hear that a lot. Hope you like the collection you have now!!

[@maryb3909]

My pocket scale arrived. I have discovered I'm not refilling my markers enough. I thought I was overfilling. Now I know better. Thanks again!

[@maryb3909]

Update: The pocket scale has seriously been the best thing ever. Using this keeping my Copics filled properly makes coloring easier and less frustrating. Thanks again for the recommendation!

[@MayContainBirdseed]

Thank you for the update! We appreciate it. :) Have you ever tried/do you have any advice on cleaning the nibs themselves? I've read you can revitalize them if they've dried out by soaking the removed nib in either alcohol or colourless blender solution and letting them dry once clean. I tried it on my W9 after the tip had dried. It worked well (had to change out the alcohol a few times since it's such a dark colour), but if you've heard this is a bad idea/can damage the markers I'd definitely appreciate the feedback! Stay safe!

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

So if you are going to try cleaning the nib make sure to use the Copic Colorless Blender. Just like you said you can let them soak in a small amount switching the Copic Colorless Blender out as you need to and then let it dry before you put it back in the marker. Now if you have something OTHER than ink in the nib that you picked up it may not clear out but sometimes you can save the nib.

[@barbaramatthews4735]

What do you think about the flat nib with the small pointed one? I can't see myself using the flat one. I may be able to use the smaller one for more fine details.

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

I used the Medium broad or the chisel nib quite a bit for larger areas, but I know that is not common. I also encourage students to use the very tip for small dots and lines since that nib is much stiffer. If pressure control is an issue this can help. BUT all of that said I know several people that have switch out ALL or most of their medium broad nibs for the Fine Sketch nib for the exact reason you are mentioning. It is all about how you color and what will make the marker the most useful to you!

[@SandraE_]

Ordering the scale has been a game changer for me. I was truly guessing if I had added enough or too much ink. I do have one question. At what point (weight) should one refill a marker? I have some sketch markers that are 13.6, one even 12.6. I'm ordering the refills for them but is there a point at which they should be refilled even if they are still working properly?

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

Super glad this was helpful! So if I am going through my stash refilling anything below a 13 gets a little for sure. If it is a marker I use a lot 13.1 -13.3 is probably going to get some attention too. There are a few I rarely use that I would let sit right at that lower 13 range. That is for me! I know others prefer those closer to full!

[@SandraE_]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom thank you. That’s very helpful.

[@debbiedensham3583]

Hi do you have the ideal weight of a Copic ciao when refilled correctly? This is a great way of knowing, I just guess no it’s quite frustrating

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

So I would aim for 10.6-10.8 with lids on and 7.7-7.9 lids off!

[@debbiedensham3583]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom thank you so much 😊

[@debbiedensham3583]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom this has been so helpful and made filling markers much easier, do you have the weight for Copic classic markers by any chance please ?

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

@@debbiedensham3583 sorry for the slow reply! Was traveling, teaching a Copic College this past weekend. For the Classic or Original you are looking for 20-20.3 with caps on 14-14.2 with the caps off. Good luck with all the refilling!

[@debbiedensham3583]

@@CopicintheCraftRoom thanks so much, I can’t believe what a game changer knowing these weights has been, I’m enjoying my copics a whole lot more now! Thank you

[@airworks07]

Why do you have to have both lids open when you refill your copics? Thank you

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

So the body of the marker is an open canister that is open to both ends. When you pull both caps off you allow air flow to help the ink spread through the entire marker. Great question!

[@marcymallett5305]

Some of my new copic refills have a hard time when i squeeze them for the ink to flow out. Do you have any recommendations on how to get the ink to flow out ? I squeeze so hard and it wont come out. Thank you.

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

So this is truly a guess, try holding it tip pointing up and GENTLY squeeze see if air can even come out. maybe it is clogged OR if brand new literally is blocked. If it is totally blocked personally I would find a VERY fine needle and try to reopen it. The smaller nozzle is to help control the release of the ink so it does not flow as easily as the old ones but it should come out. Let me know how it goes, this is a new one to me.

[@marcymallett5305]

What is the best way to store the refills? Does it matter if its horizontal or vertical? Thanks

[@CopicintheCraftRoom]

does not matter at all! Whatever is easiest.

[@buffettchick1]

Good info!

[@theameiringh8143]

Wat een werk doe gewoon de punten er uit en druppel de inkt in de marker een volle marker is max 14 tot 15 gram zonder dop