Breather Tube - Is It Essential?

[jslallar]

I live in Pakistan and spare parts for pens are few and not easily had.

 

Some of my P51s and P21s have are missing the breather tubes.

 

My questions -

How essential are they?

Can the pen work without them?

What sort of problems will I face if Itry and fill up the pens without breather tubes?

 

The only way for me to get them will be to import them from US / UK.

 

Your input will be highly appreciated.

 

And thanks in advance to all of you patient guys and lovely gals.

[FarmBoy]

In my opinion a 51 without a breather tube isn't a functional pen. The pen will not fill completely and may dribble.

 

You should be able to get correct tubes for the 51 from vintagepens. You can also make them from stainless tube.

[Glenn-SC]

In my opinion a 51 without a breather tube isn't a functional pen. The pen will not fill completely and may dribble.

 

+1

[smk]

Would the breather tubes from knock-offs like Hero 330 fit?

 

S.

[Ron Z]

The breather tube is important, not just necessary. A pen with a breather tube fills in increments, and without a breather tube will not fill completely if at all. Each cycle of the pump on a vac filled pen, or the pressure bar on an aerometric pen draws in a little ink. When the filler is depressed or squeezed, air is forced out the breather tube, then ink is drawn back into the breather tube. This is repeated until the level of the ink reaches the top of the tube.

 

A Vacumatic may take 10 or 12 strokes of the pump to fill the pen completely because the stroke of the pump and therefore movement of the diaphragm is relatively small compared to the volume of the barrel. Assuming 10 strokes, you could say that the pen will fill to only 10% of it's capacity. The aerometric filler draws in more ink, but it still takes 4 - 6 squeezes of the filler to fill completely.

 

There are alternatives to the original breather tube. I make breather tubes for the Parker 51 aerometrics out of stainless, complete with the hole in the side. David Nishimura sells plastic tubing as well. Sometimes the spray extensions from a WD-40 or some other chemical can be used. You need to find one with a larger or largish ID for it to work. If the ID is really small, it won't work. If you use metal, try to use stainless steel or brass.

[Mike 59]

Hi. If it's any help, the tube on my 1958 '51' is made of black plastic (not sure if that's original) and has a diameter of 1.6mm.

You can see the pen in my picture on the left, it's the Navy grey one, second from left.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Mike 59

[smk]

The plastic tube in my Hero 329 is 1.45mm in diameter so won't fit a P 51. The 330 seems to have a similar size.

 

S.

[Ron Z]

The 51 vac breather tube measure 0.072" = 1.85 mm

 

The metal aerometric breather tube measures 0.047" = 1.16 mm

 

It is possible to take a larger tube and (while turning/spinning it) sand it down to, or taper it to, a smaller diameter so that it fits.