Hi Guys, To date I have not been too successful in obtaining a nicely shapen mantle on my Vapalux 320. I have looked through the forums somewhat but have not been able to put a finger on my issue. The mantles seem to operate perfectly and give great light output, only the shape appears to be odd. I am using mantles obtained from BC. Am I doing something wrong? Any advice would be appreciated... Best Regards, Scott
I hadn't realised there was a mantle manufacturer/supplier in British Columbia. Anyway, this is what I do to get a nice spherical mantle - copy this method at your own risk! I don't recommend it for beginners. 1. Unscrew the spigot from the bottom of the burner and push it up the mantle so the raggy bits are inside; 2. Screw the spigot back into the burner; 3. As far as possible attach the top of the mantle to the burner so that the raggy bits are inside. Now comes the tricky bit; 4. Using a full priming cup, give the mantle a full pre-heat which is about 3 minutes; 5. While the lantern is pre-heating, close the pricker control and pressure it up to about 70 pump-strokes; 6. Completely fill the priming cup again and give a second full pre-heat of about three minutes; 7. Towards the end of the second pre-heat, whack open the pricker control. This works for me every time. Obviously, the main danger is if you try to take a shortcut on the priming, then you will get the GRANDMOTHER of all flare-ups. Additionally, sometimes the alcohol in the second preheat pre-ignites with a bit of a loud pop/bang. Clearly you shouldn't do this if Trevor (shagratork) is around with his camera otherwise he'll take a picture of your flare-up and gleefully post it here...
Thank you for the detailed information David, I appreciate it very much...now, to just pull it off without the GRANDMOTHER of all flare-ups...I do recall seeing such a flare-up in a post or two in the past Scott
When I saw that your mantles were from BC, I thought you meant that they were more than 2017 years old. If so it would be no surprise that they produce odd shapes. David, I suppose I could show members why you made that remark . . . . . . . . . . .
Well, I tried out your method tonight David...worked out perfectly...Trevor can stand down for now Thank you for the advice, much appreciated
Well, the fact of the matter is that the person responsible for the single biggest flare-up I've ever seen in all my life - a huge gout of burning kerosene vapour that rose majestically about 4 metres into the rafters of Bishop Auckland Scout Group, is none other than... ...TREVOR!!! I wonder why they never asked us back again...
Scouts are always supposed to 'Be Prepared', but that night the scouts were totally unprepared for my pyrotechnic display. Even the scout leaders' chins hit the floor!
