I fell wierdly in love with Chinese pressure lanterns almost from the first one I purchaced - an Anchor 950 500cp. Now I have 8 with another on the way (sounds like babies!) Here they all are, taking a bow! From left to right: Anchor 950 500cp Anchor 950 500cp Golden Globe 500cp AshFlash 1010(?) Eye Brand 500cp Aeroplane 500cp Light Brand 350cp Anchor 909 350cp My next Chinese acquisition will be an AshFlash twin mantle model, possibly a 1022.
Go looking lineup there @ColinG I haven’t got a Chinese lantern .... yet... but I’m sure my itchy fingers will find one soon. Cheers Pete
@ColinG I have to agree with the above statements because that is a very nice lineup. I also agree these lanterns need to have there own section in the gallery. Cheers, Norman
Very impressive and shiny line up. How do the Chinese lamps compare with the the British versions? I ask because I recently turned down an Anchor lamp as I have no experience of them.
Without wishing to sound negative (because every lamps a beautiful lamp) ... Chinese lamps 'generally' are cheap and burn bright but build quality and cheaper materials (chrome plated steel instead of nickel plated brass) tends to mean they suffer from corrosion if kept in anything other than ideal conditions. They are predominately 'Petromax' clones so inherit much of the 'goodness' of those lamps design, quick light systems as well as super powerful 500CP rating, very practical and cheap but nothing like the quality of a British Vapalux.
You've got mostly, those better-made Chinese lanterns, @ColinG . There are also many that are not as promising as what you've got and do carry some negative impressions in terms of built quality and performance. Anyway, you've got a pretty lot there and I'm pretty sure they top the list of all your lanterns when it comes to 'brightness'.
@paparazi and @R100 Chinese lanterns are varied in quality, that is certainly true and yes, they are mostly copies of either Petromax or Coleman (AshFlash for example). That said, I have a few as you can see and once fettled properly they are reliable work horses. In a power cut, I would light a white gas Coleman first because it's so quick and then find an Anchor or a Golden Globe to provide enough light to live by. If you're considering buying one, look for one with little or no rust - no easy task as most that have been kept in a shed will be rust buckets. Most of mine are either in excellent or very good condition and as they are kept in my downstairs office, damp isn't a problem. I keep an eye on them and light them now and then to make sure no problems have developed. @R100 if you're thinking of getting a Chinese lantern, go for it but avoid certain makes: Sea Anchor have a bad reputation and I have avoided them. My Aeroplane has a leak that I can't fix indicating poor quality, but Anchor, Golden Globe and Light Brand have all been excellent lamps. The Eye Brand I've just bought is brass so it won't rust but the plating has come away a little so maybe it wasn't prepared properly during manufacture. There are modern versions being made and sold at the moment but I've heard they are cheap, thin and 'tinny'. Mannesman and Britelyt still sell Chinese clones but for what you get they're over-priced so I don't touch them. AshFlash are different. They are copies of Coleman and from personal experience and what I've heard they seem like excellent lamps. I've got one with another in the way so if you do see one in good condition, get it. As to why I have a Chinese collection... we'll, they aren't expensive, they look pretty (my wife likes them) and it appeals to my British love if the underdog I suspect. I also have Tilleys, Vapalux, Coleman and Bialaddin so I don't only collect Chinese lamps!
Hi very nice collectible I had several Chinese lights The good thing about Chinese lights is that most of them are newer and healthier than the Swedish and German lights Sometimes they are much more efficient for service and startup But the body of genuine European lights is mostly made of brass metal, and their hats are red. But the Chinese lights are steel and steel, and the hat is not red and red. But well worth collecting a genuine lamp like Sweden, USA and England Is much higher
Regarding Mannesmann and Britelyt. The Mannesmann lantern was an Anchor made by Shanghai Pressure Lantern Factory. It is still in their catalogue but because Shanghai Pressure Lantern Factory is no more in business I do not know how it will be in the future. The Britelyt lantern was and possibly still is made by Kaiping Silveray Pressure Lantern Company which is the same factory that make the Petromax lantern nowadays. So we can say that lanterns from Britelyt and Petromax are more or less identical. The more recent lanterns from Britelyt have a newer design of the air vents but older lanterns look identical to Petromax. Michael
I'm a bit surprised you don't have a Solar. They used to turn up a lot in the UK. Solar are Union Metal Works Hong Kong so for sure Chinese and reasonably well made lanterns. ::Neil::
@Mackburner I've seen a couple of Solar lanterns on auction sites but I wasn't prepared to pay the price they were asking. If anyone has one they want to sell or exchange I'd be interested though. @cmb56 So Mannesman and Britelyt lanterns should be OK. I stand corrected on that point. I remember reading a post about Britelyt's claim that they could be run safely on white gas/naptha which seems highly unlikely - I think David had a discussion with the lady who runs the outfit.
I have had an Ashflash like in the center of your collection and it has been a fabulous lantern. I got it for free decades ago and still use it from time to time and have never needed to touch it becasue it just works. I think they were made in Hong Kong
@ColinG Yes, if you find Anchor to be of acceptable quality you will have the same from Mannesmann. The interesting thing with this version is that the funnel is made in metal instead of plastic as normaly supplied by Anchor. I have a few that I bought from Conrad when the Swedish price in SEK was lesser then the German price in €. Now the price is three times higher than what a I paid. I have never seen any Britelyt so I can not say anything about it but if the quality of the Petromax is acceptable it should be that on the Britelyt too. It is equal safe to use gasoline/white gas/naphta in a Britelyt as in any other lantern of the Petromax types. That is, NOT SAFE AT ALL. I only wait on the lawsuit after an accident where Britelyt need to explain why they think it is safe to use these fuels. Michael
Exactly as you say! Without a positive way to stop fuel exiting past the NRV if it fails, it is a fireball waiting to happen!
There are a few of us who have taken issue with Diana. She normally replies to say they have been tested. This is actually true but the engineer doing the testing was asked to report on their ability to use various fuels and he quite correctly reported that they will work on gasoline amongs other fuels. He did not assess safety issues and didn't make any comments on that subject. ::Neil::
The Ash Flash 1022 lanterns are interesting. Made in Hong Kong for a US company “The Asflash Corporation”, they were sold to run on gasoline. An identical lantern was imported into Australia as “Campway” from Hong Kong by Michaelis Bayley. It was sold to run on kerosene. Cheers Tony @ColinG @Troy Millman
I have an AshFlash 1020 or maybe a 1022 coming soon hopefully. I wonder if it could be converted to kero?
