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.