Hi, Noticed this on my Radius 120 lantern: On top of the vapouriser there's external thread by the jet, haven't noticed such in any other lantern. What could be the purpose of such threading? Or is it just a DIY job by previous owner trying to fit a different jet, or something...?
It may be someones own version of the alcohol conversion of these. When converting lamps for alcohol, you need to restrict the air supply and use a jet with larger orifice. The original Radius conversion kit consisted of a jet with a larger orifice (and a larger needle), which also had threads on the outside. On those outer threads, a perforated sleeve was attached as an air restriction. This was for the 119. This may be a similar thing (or attempt), just with the threads on the vaporiser instead. Or perhaps the vaporiser is from another brand that actually had the restriction mounted on it. Mind you! I'm Just speculating here. Anyway. Here's what the normal kit looks like /compared to a paraffin jet and needle in the first image):
You say a 120, but the vapouriser fitted is for a 119. It was not uncommon to fit the 119 vapouriser to the 120 as it just works so much better. This makes finding an original 120 a bit harder today. The vapouriser shown is obviously designed for use with a restrictor for alcohol use as Christer has mentioned. It is possible that the 118 (see note) model had this vapouriser before the alcohol conversion kit was introduced for the 119. Note: For some strange reason, Radius have two different lanterns under the same number. There is the 118 that can be seen in the gallery here and there is the 118 which was a factory produced alcohol version of the 119. I havn't seen the vapouriser on the alcohol 118, but maybe it is this design.
@Nils Stephenson Sorry to butt in. The alcohol mentioned here is what we would call methylated spirits in Australia?
Ethanol is what they generally are meant for when saying alcohol for different Swedish apparatus. Alcohol is an entire group, of course, but it is used in common language for mainly ethanol (good old C2H5OH) Sometimes stoves are fuelled by another alcohol; methanol. Or a mix of both.
@Nils Stephenson History of this particular lamp is unknown. The tank has Radius 120 stamping. I wasn't fully aware how 119 and 120 exactly differs from each others, and thanks for the explanation above. Probably the vapouriser could have been changed. Originally I started to wonder the threading on top of the vapouriser. Although it seems that this lantern is "mixture", the globe has original Radius markings.
@Nils Stephenson Thanks. The methylated spirits I buy is clear. According to google, some countries add an additive that colours the methylated spirits (denatured alcohol) but also makes the methylated spirits poisonous to humans. I suppose they do that to stop the desperados from getting a cheap fix rather than buy a bottle of wine. Also according to Google, methylated spirits is an ethonol product.
This is the MSDS for Australian methylated spirits (Reochem/Diggers). It is clear (Reochem indicates that NZ methylated spirits is dyed purple). It is greater than or equal to 95% ethanol, and 5% or less, demineralised water. As Matty said, it contains a bitterant to make it undrinkable. I’ve posted this over at CCS but not sure whether I’ve posted it here: http://www.recochem.com.au/files/downloads/Methylated_Spirits_v7.pdf Cheers Tony
Yes, of course. It's always ethanol that's the main fuel for our stuff (lamps, stoves, blowlamps etc.) when meant for meths, t-röd, alcool, sprit, spirit and all those. Ethanol is probably the better word on an international forum, because there's no confusion what that is.
Like most things lamps, fuels and what they are called in all the differing regions of the world, confuse the hell out of me. I wasn't confident that what you call ethanol - is what we (Australians) call ethanol. I agree, if the term ethanol is used, and it is used to mean the one thing the world over, it is the best term to use on an international forum.
Since that is the actual chemical name for the substance itself rather than a brand name or local nomenclature, it always means the same and exact thing, and give no room for confusion. Atleast it shouldn't...
Ethanol is ethanol the world over - C2H5OH. It was once called ethyl alcohol. The 'OH' bit in the formula is characteristic of all the alcohols, the names of which all end in -'ol' e.g. methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol etc. as the carbon chain lengthens from C1 to C4 and onwards. Methylated spirit is ethanol that has been 'methylated' by the addition of a small percentage what was once known as methyl alcohol - CH3OH - now known as methanol the world over (except for the US, of course, where it's known as 'wood alcohol'). Anyway, why the Aussie methylated spirit contains no methanol, I just can't explain. In the UK, methylated spirit is generally purple due to the addition of a dye, as well as something to make it taste bad (probably Bitrex at a guess). A colourless variety is also available (but less easily so) called Industrial Methylated Spirit (IMS)...
It's actually called wood alcohol here too. Or rather wood spirit (träsprit from trä=wood and sprit=spirit/alcohol). But the chemical name is still methanol, just as it is in the USA.
Hi, wood alcohol is poison. They used in the canned heat containers called "Sterno" for little portable stoves. I had on when I was in the Boy Scouts over 60 years ago! The little stove cost me 50 cents (US) and the old Sunny's Surplus store. They sold a lot of war surplus from WW II and Korea. Oh yes, the also sold surplus Coleman 252 lanterns, in the box, never opened, for under 20 dollars!!
'Wood Alcohol' (Methanol) got its name in some countries because it was once produced by the destructive distillation of wood, but not now. It is now produced by large scale industrial processes. @george, you are quite right in saying that methanol is poisonous. Lots of members of CPL and CCS use methanol as the pre-heating fuel. I would never do this, for me it is ethanol every time.
Ahem... of course, it's poisonous! But you are not really meant to drink the stuff... Both fuels are poisonous. Both when drinking, where ethanol luckily enough isn't by far as bad as methanol, but also when burning as they create carbon monoxide, but that is another matter. There's nothing wrong in using methanol as a fuel (or pre-heating fuel) from a health point of view, compared with ethanol. If you can get hold of it cheaper than ethanol... well, go for it! As long as you don't get it mixed with things in your camping gear that it can contaminate. It does however not have as much energy as ethanol, so I would still prefer ethanol for any purposes where you intend to burn it with an open flame in any way. But methanol has some advantages. I don't really remember them now. Is one that it doesn't soot your cookware as much as ethanol when used in e.g. a Trangia burner?
@David Shouksmith At some time in the past, I think that Aussie “methylated spirits” did have a percentage (?10%) of methanol added to the ethanol (that is, it was “methylated”). When that ceased, I do not know. Tony
Not when burned in the presence of sufficient oxygen. Even when oxygen is restricted it wouldn't pose that much of a problem given the priming time is a maximum of 2-3 minutes. Far less of a problem than when burning paraffin, gasoline or whatever as the lamp's fuel in the same atmosphere for an extended period of time - now that WILL kill you...
We have to remember no matter what we use in these lamps, whether we drink the stuff or burn it, it is essentially poisonous to us. Two articles, out of the many I have read, after coming across them as an aside to other research stick in my mind. They stick in my mind because of the circumstances the poor souls perished. The first was when 6 men were found dead in a boarding house in America. It was winter time. 5 of those men jumped into bed expecting to get a good nights sleep and get up and at'em the next morning. Those 5 men, all in separate rooms, had no idea they would be betrayed by the 6th man's stupidity. The 6th man left a lamp burning all night without cracking his window open. Carbon monoxide killed him and the 5 other men whom were tragically unaware that someone so stupid was amongst them. The 2nd story that sticks in my mind is one that involved a 15 year old boy. In the boys case, either he wasn't aware of the peril he was putting himself in through lack of education or he had been educated and he was just as stupid as the first man. This time it was a stove that was left on through the night, again it was winter. The boy worked for a railway in a remote region. A hut was provided for cooking and sleeping purposes. Train drivers reported the boy hadn't been seen performing his duties. When a search party arrived they found the boy dead in his bed. It was assumed he left the kerosene stove going through the night to help keep the hut warm.
Ventilation is so important. Most houses back in the day were draughty because of gaps under doors and windows and most had chimneys with open fires which meant the fires would not draw without adequate ventilation. Generally therefore running lamps and stoves was never a problem. Modern houses however tend to be double glazed and near draught free and such places can allow a dangerous build up of CO and CO2. I live in an all electric house so I don't have any gas problems but because of the lamps I have a CO alarm which screams at me when I am running them for any length of time indoors. A simple and not too expensive life saver. ::Neil::
Agreed but I would advise anyone thinking of purchasing a CO alarm to seek out and read the recent 'Which?' report. Essentially, DO NOT buy an 'el cheapo' version via eBay, Amazon or wherever - they simply do not work. I'll dig out the ones 'Which?' tested and recommended but they were generally those costing in the region of £30-35. Still a small price to pay for your life... Edit: It's probably easier to tell you which ones Which? said were 'Don't Buy' products:- X-Sense XCO03D Topolek GEHS007AW Aico Ei208 ANY unbranded CO detector, particularly if it looks like this:- Detectors from reputable manufacturers such as Kidde, Honeywell, First Alert, FireAngel, Lifesaver and Nest all acquitted themselves well in the tests...
Yes, when I revisited the article, prices seemed cheaper than I remembered from the August 2018 magazine. However, some of the tests were from 2016 so that might explain why some of the prices are lower. The Kidde 10SCO (combined smoke and CO alarm) came well-recommended and typically a mere £16...
In my area, methylated spirits are sold and crudely-labeled as 'Spirit' and available from almost any hardware stores: These probably have some methanol and other cheap substitutes in addition to ethanol. Non-existent MSDS and they cost far less compared to this one, which I bought from ACE Hardware:
