Tell me more about larger table lamps, like the Bialaddin T20

Inspired by Michel's fabulous Unic No.13, I have been looking at table lamps. When I was little I remember a dull-grey metal lamp with a tall chimney, possibly a Super Aladdin (?) sat around the house, but I never saw it lit. It disappeared at some point over the years.

I see a few handsome Bialaddin T10 and T20 lamps in the gallery, but no detail on how they work or where they were positioned in the market. What advantages did these table lamps have over a Tilley lantern? What were their disadvantages? Which ones were popular? if I were looking for one to play with, what would be a good choice? (I'm not, but, you know, if I were...)

I suppose this also touches on the fundamental difference between wick lamps and pressure lamps; I don't understand the pros and cons of these two approaches to providing light through liquid fuel.

Any comments welcome!

Dan

 

I suppose the quick answer is that pressure lamps, using a mantle, are much brighter and more efficient. The disadvantage probably that pressure lamps need the vapouriser replacing which are more expensive than wicks and they are not silent.

Table lamps as opposed to lanterns were specifically designed to be used indoors and were made suitably decorative.

Hope this helps.

 

Does that mean that wick lamps make less smell than a pressurised paraffin lamp, as well as well as making noise? (Candles generate a smell, so I would have thought wick lamps would too.)

 

As a collector of both wick lamps and the pressurised species I can say that the difference is minimal. Provided you use a good quality fuel and keep the lamps clean they don't pong particularly.

I have learned today not to use indoor lamp oil in pressure lamps though as they most certainly don't get on.

 

Yes, I saw that thread. Brave experiment, I thought.

Do you have any pressurised table (as opposed to all-weather) lamps?

 

I do.
Tilley TL 136

 

Nice, I like that.

 

We use it virtually every day.

 

Did you go for the TL136 for a specific reason or was it just that it was available?

 

It was the best available when I was looking, and more importantly Mrs R100 liked it!

 

The Bialaddin T20 is a little rare so you may have trouble finding one. The T10 is pretty common. There's not much difference from the Tilley table lamps, they work much the same way. I think the build quality is a little better, especially compared to the later Tilley Lamps e.g. TL106.

 

Thanks James. Scarcity aside, what's the difference between the T10 and T20?

 

The shape of the tank and the galleries are different on the T10 and T20.

People seem/seemed to find the 'space capsule' look of the T10 a little odd, although IMHO, it's fine, especially when fitted with a truncated conical shade. The T20 tank is more conventional and resembles the curved Tilley tank shape which people were more used to seeing. The angled sides of the T10 hood/gallery didn't stand up to the heat well so W&B simply omitted them from the T20 - the gallery on those is not much more than a vertical ring through which the air intakes protrude. Otherwise the two lamps are more-or-less identical...

 

David, thank you for that potted description. I like the look of both the "space capsule" and the dome. Compared to other lamps of their era, like the Tilleys, are they functionally pretty comparable?

I suppose that, as a practical matter, if you want something to use rather than look at - which presupposes a decent supply of spares and mantles - your choices are in any case rather limited.

Dan

PS Mis-spelt "mantles" as "mangles" in the above, which is eerily accurate when one considers the difficulty I had getting a new one on my M320

 

Given the chronology I ought to correct myself.

In fact, the Gemini space capsules were actually 'T10-shaped' rather than the reverse...

 

I heard that NASA had a man on the inside at Tilley whose job was to covertly pass on cutting-edge technology and designs...

 

Here's me thinking the rattling noises from my Tilley fount was loose rust.