Just wondering, roughly how efficient at burning the fuel a typical pressure lamp is? I mean how much of the fuel doesn't get burnt and exits from the lantern as part of the emissions. I'm asking because I've been running my Coleman dual fuel on pure hexane which is apparently a major constituent of "panel-wipe". Hexane is nasty stuff (a carcinogen I think), I read recently about some Chinese employees using it to clean monitor screens and all ending up hospitalised long-term. So before I fire it up in the kitchen...I wondered how much much of the fuel (if any) doesn't get burnt. Cheers Trevor
Most pressure lamps burn about 95 percent air and 5 percent fuel, so they all need plenty of ventilation, if a lamp is working properly, it should be burning all of it's fuel and air mixture. In my opinion, it's better to use paraffin burning lamps indoors, Jeff.
I love it too but still living with mother it does her head in lol!! Girlfriend dont mind though Adam
Adam, I would not recommend running a pressure lamp burning anything "lighter" than kerosene in the house. Even a Coleman burning Coleman fuel will give a good headache after a while. Coleman did make indoor lamps back in the day, but homes were draftier then, and fresh air was not a problem. To the best of my knowledge, the most efficient lamp is an Aladdin mantle lamp. I regret that I can't quote numbers for you. I used an Aladdin mantle lamp indoors for many years, and it did well other than making a room a tad stuffy after a while. If you are using a pressure lantern in the house, it really should be operating at peak performance. Any obstruction in the air tube will dim the light and result in more unburned fuel (and possibly carbon monoxide). I'm not an authority by any means, but I never run my Coleman storm lanterns in the house, and rarely run the table lamps except on our drafty back porch.
You are quite right to be aware of the ventilation problem. Tilley gave advice about this in their instructions where they say a lamp can be safely used in a room with a fireplace. They mean one with an open chimney of course and the point about that is for any open fire burning wood or coal there has to be an adequate air intake. A draught if you will. Fine in older houses such as mine where the heating boiler drags in a gale through the kitchen. There is no difference between gasoline or kero here though. They both burn in air to consume oxygen and produce water vapour as well as CO and CO2. The quantities produced are near enough the same as well so using one fuel and not the other is a false safety measure. Best solution is to do what I do and have a working CO alarm which will tell you when you are in danger. I have one in the kitchen because that is where the boiler is and also where I mostly play with burning lamps. The only times the numbers rise above zero is when I am using meth to fire up a new mantle on a lamp. Not a problem though because I watch the read out and open the door when the numbers start climbing. A measure of efficiency is to look at energy produced as either heat or light. An Aladdin in good condition might give around 70 cp and around 0.5 kwh of heat. However a good pressure lamp will give around twice the heat and three times the light for half the fuel. No question in my mind that a pressure lamp is far more efficient. ::Neil::
Me personaly would prefer not to use a lantern in doors useing white gas just on the pricible of its volatile nature in case of any spillage or leaks. I have no problem burning any paraffin/kerosene lamps in doors if they are working perfectly and with good clean fuel there is not much of a smell realy from them but i alal ways make sure a window or two is cracked open and that there is plenty of ventalation then there is no problem but it is best to have a carbonmonoxide tester. even though i have central heating i do have two paraffin wick heaters which i use one out in the hall way as there is only a small radiator out there and that dont do a lot where as the paraffin heater realy does wrm up the hall way far better than the radiator and i have only one radiator in the dinning room which is not enough and a valor paraffin heater in there as well and not once have they set off the carbonmonoxide alarm or the fire alarm in the hall way which is quite close to the heater
I always find this interesting. In the UK most people are quite happy to burn kero in lamps and stoves but the very mention of gasoline gives them the vapours. I have never understood this national horror of gasoline. You use it in a car without thinking of the danger so why is it not safe in a lamp which is after all only another device designed to burn gasoline safely. Gasoline was a common lamp fuel in the 1920s and it continued to be used into the 1930s but since WW2 gasoline seems to be a no no. Truth is there is no more danger from a gasoline lamp then from a kero one. Once the fuel is in the lamp it ain't going to leak out mainly because people like Coleman and Primus made sure they didn't incinerate too many customers. There is a fuel handling issue perhaps because you can't fill a lamp with another burning nearby but given common sense with the fuel, in use gasoline is quite OK for indoor use. It was OK for our grandparents so why not us? ::Neil::
Plenty to think about there. I use the Coleman in the out-house a lot and wondered exactly what I might be breathing in, especially using hexane. To be honest, I'm surprised they are 100% efficient. I've just bought an alcohol burning Primus for use in-doors, but haven't fettled it yet. The idea is it should be as safe as paraffin but without the smell. Might be time to get a CO alarm though... Cheers Trevor
Well, since hexane is a simple alkane composed of only carbon and hydrogen atoms, the combustion products will be oxides of those two - water and (assuming adequate oxygen supply) carbon dioxide - no horrors there...
Well, that's good to know, thanks for the input David. I really just wondered if there might be some unburned hexane being thrown out as well, and I suppose the answer is that providing the air tube is supplying enough oxygen (which it should) 100% of the fuel should be burned. So that makes me feel better. Cheers Trevor
Well, I think that there must always be some unburned fuel produced by any lamp at any time, even when new - that's why you can smell them to some extent during burning and afterwards. Having said that, during normal burning, it can't be especially harmful and no different from when anything burns e.g. a candle, coal fire, car engine etc. It's a matter of degree, of course, and I think you would realise there was a problem before any health effects ensued. Carbon monoxide produced in poorly-ventilated areas where oxygen supply is in short supply is a different matter, of course...
Since i have had the replacement burner on my Guardsman and its preheated properly, There is very little odour that comes off it now, It used to give off alot of it! Now my Tilley R1 stinks like hell, I have a CO detector but it never goes off Thanks Adam
If you want a CO detector get one that gives a digital read out. With one of these you can see the numbers rising and take action before the beast starts screaming at you. ::Neil::
I have tried using a petrol/gasoline lantern in my shed and that was a brand new Coleman Northstar lantern, but within 10 minutes I had to set it outside. There is no lack of ventilation in my shed and I can be in there for hours at a time with a paraffin/kerosene pressure lantern burning. The cost of petrol is another consideration, the price of a British gallon in Shetland is now £7! There is also the problem of storing that more volatile fuel. Almost every petrol lamp or lantern, which I have found here has been rigged in one way or another to use paraffin, Jeff.
Adam, A little while ago, I got Bialaddin Bowl Fire in very good condition. I fired it up and was very disappointed in the smell. The wire mantle glowed fine (although it took a bit more pumps to get it to 100%). Anyway, I changed the vaporizer and the change was dramatic. It is now my cleanest running pressure device. No smell and after many hours of burning, you can run a finger across the burner (after its cool of course) and get absolutely no soot. My R1 also burns odor free, but develops a very minor amount of soot on the burner. An R55 of mine also burns odor free but gets a fair amount of soot on the burner. The vaporizer is a recent manufacture 169 (I only get the older brass based ones now) and I think it's because the vapor hole may be oversize. It hisses louder than the others and develops a larger blue halo around the mantle than the others. I'm thinking of getting a set of wire gauges to check this out. If your lamps or heaters (kero or gas) are burning properly, I believe you should get no smell and no soot. Soot is made up of microscopic particles, the inhaling of which I think should be minimized. Dan
Hello Adam, Dan is correct! Also, a lamp or a heater in this case, will always work better if it is clean. Perhaps you could strip the R1 and clean all of the parts and also remove the fuel from the tank and give the tank a good clean out. Then put fresh new paraffin in it and fire up the R1, it may work better, Jeff.
Adam, I soaked a pipe cleaner in a carbon remover and put it up in the vaporizer of my R55 (after removing the pricker...). I left it overnight and then pulled it out slowly. It looked like it took some carbon out with it... You might also want to disassemble your heating element and see if you have any carbon obstructing your air tube. I'm a newby to the Tilley world, but these just look like the easiest places to start.
Hi All! I have taken this on board and will look further into it, I do know that when i release the pressure, you get unburnt parafin vapour coming out of the air tube, Also you can tell it aint burning right because of the ring of flame isnt even, some flames are longer than others, Thanks Adam
Hi All! I have just cleaned everything on my R1 I then put it all back together and relit it, well apart from initial start up there is no smell of parafin! But when you turn it off by the knob, after 5 seconds vapour starts to come out of the air pipe, Adam
Hello Adam, the control cock probably needs a new washer for the non return valve. Try turning the R1 off by loosening the pump a few turns, Jeff.
