Lamp oil

With the onset of winter I always try to be prepared should we have a big power outage like back in '08. That time we were without power for a day and a half which was quite bearable with minimum supplies but if it'd have lasted much longer we wouldn't have been so well off. These days I keep more supplies around just in case. One of those supplies is kerosene, the other is lamp oil.
I use lamp oil because kerosene by itself smells pretty bad, even in the Aladdin lamps that are designed to burn it. This is especially noticeable in the summer time, when its warm the lamps will off gas a little and can really stink up the room. To fix that issue in the summer I drain the kerosene out and put just a bit of lamp oil in.
Lamp oil is derived somehow from wax, when you put out a lamp burning lamp oil it smells like you're melting crayons. The problem with anything made from wax is that it has a relatively high temperature at which it'll turn solid, its waxing temp if you will. So to get around that I've been mixing some kero with my lamp oil. This also helps to control costs, the lamp oil is SUPER expensive, like $5 a quart. Kerosene at the hardware store is expensive too but at $10/gallon its about half the price of lamp oil. I can get Jet A at a local airport for $4/gallon, Jet A is basically very low sulfur kerosene, it burns well with low odor on its own. I haven't Jet A in an Aladdin lamp yet but I've burned a lot in Colman and Tilley lamps and friends assure me its good in wick lamps too. Using Jet A my cost comes way down and I think I can reduce the percentage of lamp oil since the Jet A doesn't smell too bad anyway.

Anyway on a recent evening I picked up a new bottle of lamp oil, its the big one on the right in the picture. The little bottle in the middle is full of a 50:50 mixture of lamp oil and kerosene, the kero came from the bottle on the left which you can now see is marked "Jet". I refilled the kero bottle with Jet A because its easier to pour out of than a bigger jug. The big bottle has about 30 percent kero and 70 percent lamp oil.

I took this picture this morning, the temps were hovering just about freezing although the interior of the garage hadn't really warmed up yet. You can see the large bottle with the 30:70 mix has turned solid, its real hard, like ice. The smaller bottle is still liquid, no sign of gelling or waxing at all.

So the extra percentage of kero in the smaller bottle is clearly doing its job.

Here's the result:

Burning well, basically no scent. There was a little smell when I first lit the lamp but once it warmed up all the way the smell was gone. I've had it burning for about four hours now and its steady as a rock.

New Toy

I don't remember if I've talked about Tim before, he's my neighbor Bill's brother in-law and is a self-styled picker like the guys on TV. I met him a couple years ago at a party at Bill's place and brought him over to see the lanterns. He figured he could make some money trading in lanterns but quickly got hooked. Now he's got a collection bigger than mine. Occasionally he runs across something he's not into and I get the chance to grab it.

Most recently he put a post on Facebook of a bunch of stuff he'd bought which included an Aladdin lamp. I've got an Aladdin lamp and they're very cool so I told him that if he didn't want it I'd bite. So a couple days later (after a small monetary exchange) this shows up:

The fount is aluminum and theres no mantle but the glass is perfect. I broke out the Mothers Polish and managed to produce:

The aluminum polished up pretty nicely, theres one scratch I can't do much about and without a buffing wheel it'll never be great but right now its a fine five footer. I put some kerosene in it and it lit right up although I forgot to get pictures. The next step is to buy a mantle and it'll be ready to go.

I also picked up some lamp oil from my local hardware store, supposedly it'll burn cleaner and help prevent flare-ups. I'll give it a try over the next couple days.

Something new

A couple weeks ago a challenge was issued on the CCF, thats the Coleman Collectors Forum;

Use a camp stove once a week for 52 weeks. Every week a new theme is issued, follow the theme and post pictures.

The first challenge was hot dogs. Now I don't normally eat hot dogs but I'm always up for a challenge. I also figured that anything worth doing was worth overdoing so I decided to make a video:

Week two's challenge was eggs. Eggs are so easy to do poorly that I went with french toast.

These videos were really fun to make, I'm hoping I'm able to keep up with making a video every week. Theres nothing like a challenge to get you up off the couch and get things done.

AGM 3705

I just realized I haven't posted the video of the AGM 3705, in fact I don't think I've ever talked about the 3705 before...

Its an odd little lantern from the '30s from the company that was famous for odd lanterns. If you look carefully at the picture you can see that the knob tilts down. Thats normal, it makes space for air to go into the air tube. Why they just didn't put the air tube on the other side I have no idea...
Anyway you can see my 3705 in action on YouTube

Wenzel

Well over a year ago I picked up a Wenzel 1887 lantern, I mentioned it on the blog: http://curtsotherblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/and-7.html
but I had no luck getting it to work right so I hung it in the garage and basically ignored it. Recently I've had some great successes bringing 3 lanterns my in-laws gave me back to life with very little drama so I figured I'd revisit the Wenzel.
I'm not exactly sure what it is I did to the thing (patience maybe?) but I got it lit and I've been able to relight it again with little trouble. I had so much fun with that I made a video which you can access here.



Then I realized that the issue with the pump is not the pump itself its the overly strong spring in the NRV (non return valve) which keeps the pressure in the tank. So I've had that out and played with it and gotten it better so the pump is usable but now it doesn't seal well. Oops, time to order parts!

Coleman 249 Scout

I don't remember if I've written about the Scout before. I bought it on eBay back last summer some time. I'd had a bunch of trouble with it because the generator was bent and would leak at its base. I finally sucked up the $20 price tag and bought a replacement. With the replacement and a #24a Peerless (Coleman #99 equivalent) mantle it lights up like a CHAMP!
This is a kerosene 350cp lantern. Kerosene lanterns are fun because you have to preheat the generator to get them to light. If you don't preheat you get liquid Kerosene and big flames (been there, done that!) So you fill the preheat cup with denatured alcohol and let that burn which preheats the generator. As the flames are just about to go out you crank open the valve, kerosene vapor heads into the mantle and you get light.



My lantern takes about 5 minutes to get lit but the results are great, 350 cp is about like a 60 watt bulb so its plenty to comfortably read by. The best thing is that this lantern makes very little smell. I had it burning in the living room yesterday for a couple hours and while I could definitely smell it the smell wasn't objectionable. In the winter its nice to burn inside because of the heat, think small electric space heater and you get an idea how much heat this throws.

Now I just need a contact with a fuel distributor so I can get road taxed, undyed kerosene. I want it without dye because the dye will gum up the generator. To get kerosene without dye you need to pay road tax. I'm okay with that, the gallon of kero I have came from the hardware store and was (I think) $12. If I could get kero with the road tax for $5 (which would be a considerable premium considering diesel fuel is under $3/gal) I'd be pleased...

My Wenzel lantern is also kerosene, it'll be interesting to see how it does. I'm waiting on parts, apparently they've shipped so I expect to be able to play with it this weekend.

And 7...

I just can't stop myself. Last Monday I bought a Wenzel 1887 lantern. I haven't got a pic yet but its a Petromax type lantern (Butterfly and Brite-lyt are other brands). Found it on Craigslist for $35.
The Wenzel is a Chinese made copy of a German design.
A 600cp (candle power) kerosene burning monster the Petromax design provides two methods for preheat, theres an alcohol cup just like Coleman used but theres also a crazy blowtorch arrangement that shoots fire at the generator...

This lantern was made on the cheap and the pump is TERRIBLE. Plus you need a LOT of pressure to make the blowtorch work so its a huge hassle to get the thing running. The pump leather is thin so it doesn't make a great seal and if you push too fast the air slips by...
Brite-Lyt has 2 solutions for that, one is an updated pump which uses an o-ring arrangement, the other is a schrader valve so you can use a regular tire pump. I ordered both. Figure the schrader valve is better because I can use a bigger volume pump (or electric compressor) but the pump will be good if we're out camping with no other pump available.

The glass is broken and I guess this is a common problem with Wenzel lanterns which were, as I mentioned before, made on the cheap. Brite-lyt makes some big claims about their glass so I grabbed one.

Finally I don't have any 500cp mantles, my 249 is the brightest single mantle lantern I had before this so I tried one of my Peerless 24A mantles, it worked okay but was clearly too small. I ordered some of the Brite-lyt mantles but probably should have waited, the online guys say they're junk. I need to call Leacock Coleman and order some more #24A mantles anyway as I want to try one in a 200A, they carry a #111 that should work well.

More Kerosafe fun

Tonight I experiemented with a mix of Coleman fuel and kerosene. I've noticed a little smell when using Coleman fuel.
So my goals:
1. Light with just a windproof ligher for preheat
2. Low smell
3. Brightest light possible

Started with 50/50 Coleman fuel/Kerosene. No-go, it won't light with just the lighter, I can't get enough heat into the generator. If I use the propane torch its the old game where I can't keep enough heat in the generator.

Went to 75/25 Coleman fuel/Kerosene and I think I hit a sweet spot, easy to light (as easy as with just Coleman fuel) no smell to speak of and brighter than Coleman fuel or Kerosene alone.
I may try a 66/33 split somewhere down the road but for now (until I burn off most of a quart) I'm quite pleased with this new mix... I ordered a cable for my digital camera, its supposed to be in by next week (stupid special Samsung cable) so I can post the good pics.

Whoa!

Geez what happened? I can't believe I haven't posted for 2 weeks... My parents brought my good Samsung camera back from camp and I've gotten some great pictures of the Kerosafe in action but I can't find the stupid cable so I can't get the pictures off the camera... I'll stop at BestBuy soon and get a new cable...
Speaking of the Kerosafe as an experiment I lit it the other night using just a windproof lighter (they shoot out a flame more like a torch than a regular lighter). Worked slick, one small poof and it was lit and running. The lantern works much better on Coleman fuel than it did on kerosene. I need to try blending in some kero and see how that works. At some point I need to pull it apart and clean the fount but as its still working okay I'm not going to rush.

The AGM is all apart again. Cleaning the fount made no difference in how it burned, it'll light for 20-30 seconds before the flame peters out. So I figured the problem was the generator, AGM generators are of course hard to find so I bought a Coleman 220 gen and made a modified eccentric block so its different style pricker rod would work correctly.

Same problem...

So yesterday I pulled the manifold, air tube, and burner tubes off. The burner tubes are soaking in Metal Ready (which is an acid that removes rust and corrosion), the manifold and air tube got an electrolysis bath. After a couple hours the electrolysis had done is work and I put some paint on the manifold and air tube. The burner tubes got flipped in their bath as I didn't have enough Metal Ready for them to be completely covered. They'll get a coat of paint tonight.
I didn't see anything about those parts that would explain my problem when cleaned them but maybe I'll get lucky...

The Kerosafe in its glory

Had the Kerosafe burning this evening with its globe on. I got it lit and burning good with the globe off, then got the globe on before it cooled off too much.

These pictures are lousy I know but you get the idea.
I'm beginning to think that this lamp has been converted to burn naptha (Coleman fuel) as its tricky to light and hard to keep lit. Even with the globe on it needs more heat every couple minutes. Granted it was in the mid '50s outside.
I also don't think its as bright as it should be, its maybe as bright as a 40 watt bulb and very yellow. Either the generator is really dirty (a distinct possibility) or somebody has set it up for a lighter fuel. Its got a distinct smell of kerosene when burning (if you hold your nose over the top) which makes me think it may be running rich. Tomorrow I'll drain the kerosene and try it with Coleman fuel. I've heard that since today's K1 is different than the kerosene of yesteryear it may want a 50/50 mix of K1 and Coleman fuel. I'll have to mess around and find out.

Kerosafe - So CLOSE!

Last night as I was farting around with all my projects in the garage I tried the check valve in the Kerosafe again and finally was rewarded with the sound of silence...
Meaning I pumped air into the tank and it didn't all leak out again immediately. This is a big win, I've been soaking the check valve in various substances (most recently carb cleaner) for a couple weeks now and while its improved a little every day I didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere.
The valve still leaks some, apparently the ball inside the valve has a sweet spot, but no where near as bad as it did. So tomorrow I'm going to pick up one of the hideously expensive ($12) gallons of kerosene at the hardware store, tie on a set of mantles and give this thing a shot!

In other news

The pump for the Kerosafe FINALLY arrived. USPS took their sweet dang time getting it here. Of course the leather was all dried out but a little time in an ATF bath fixed that. The next problem is the check valve leaks badly. Its possible a little soak in PB Blaster will free that up. I'll do that when I get back from California in a couple weeks.
Actually if I was smart I'd get it into the Blaster now....

Lamp pictures

Bob over on the Old Town Yucca Coleman forum asked for pictures of my Kerrosafe with the shade off. I'm going to post them here as its easy to link them over that way.

AGM 2572

The double mantle lantern is an AGM 2572, its in fairly rough shape, most of the paint on the base is compromised and the top has some significant chips out of it. The pressure pump and gas cap seem to both work correctly (a first, usually the pump's leather is dry) but the packing around the valve leaks. I'm going to try gently tightening it but it'll probably need replacement. Assuming its the same size as the Coleman 220F I've got it's easily obtainable.

I haven't found out much about this lantern, it seems uncommon, at least when compared to the 3016 which I've seen several of. AGM (then owned by King-Seeley-Thermos) seems to have stopped producing lamps in 1968 so mine must be older than that.

I tried to order a pump for the Kerosafe today but Lehmans' says they're out of stock. I tried to contact them to ask when they'll be in stock but their webpage won't accept any email address so I don't know if my messages are getting through. At any rate that same page, which used to be excellent seems to have gotten mostly broken in a redesign. In the meantime I'm trying some other sources.

So I keep thinking about the Kerosafe lamp, how could I not? It sits in the living room and mocks me...
I've done more research, its interesting that there is actually very little info on kerosene pressure lamps available. Most of what I've found relates to the Petromax and Butterfly lanterns.
In the meantime I've gotten the Coleman whitegas lantern Angie's pepre gave me working. The gas cap leaked but the one from my grandfather's whitegas stove works so I used that. I need to get some replacement seal rings as I've got a couple other stove caps that leak. That experience reminded me how cool whitegas lanterns (and pressure lanterns in general) are. My grandfather had two which both still hang in his garage. I'm on vacation next week (starting now actually) and I'm going to try to get those going.

I'm going to get a couple of the Petromax mantles in the Kerosafe. Apparently kerosene lamps burn at higher pressure and the Petromax mantles supposedly have a larger mesh which keeps them from blowing out. They're also supposed to be very bright and are only a little more expensive than Coleman mantles. With any luck I'll find the pressure pump for the Kerosafe where I found the kerosafe (in my grandmother's house) originally. If not I have a complete spare pump assembly from a Coleman stove I was trying to get working, I wonder if with a small piece of tubing I could make a pump. Thats the kind of can-do spirit this country was built on!

Kerosafe

We spent last weekend at my parent's house. When we were getting ready to leave my mother told me to take something of mine from my bedroom. I chose this:As near as I can tell its a Kerosafe M1001 made by the Thomas Manufacturing company of Dayton, Ohio sometime between about 1913 and 1926. Information is scarce about these though I did find Pressure Lamps International which basically has told me everything I know on the subject. If you Google Kerosafe m1001 there are 5 hits, one is in German...

I found the lamp in my Grandmother's house where it'd sat for who knows how long, my lifetime anyway. All I've done is clean it a bit with a wet paper towel. To fire it I need an airpump which it appears I can get from Lehman's, mantles which I've got and something that'll pass for Kerosene.

Apparently K1 which is what passes for kerosene these days isn't good for much and white gas is too volitile. I've read that a 50/50 mix of K1 and white gas or K1 and odorless mineral spirits will work. I've got to travel next week but when I get back I'll see what I can do. The lamp appears to be in near perfect condition. I'd like to have it useable.

-Curt