Oh dear, more babies!

Stumbled across an obscure auction house the other day.
Ended up with this lot. All have entact globes.
Looks like more lockdown fettling on its way.
Average price per lamp ended up at AU$40.

 

Nice additions there Zigfire.

 

Thanks @Digout.
Just fired up 3 of the Tilleys at the back. No pull down, no cleaning, as found fuel in them. All 3 started no problem. The old Guardsman burned the best. Pretty happy
Cheers Michael

 

Nice line up there, love the vapalux and original shade

 

Thanks Plantpot. Yes that is a nice lamp, bit of enamel rust which is unfortunate. The stampings on the lamp say it is a Bialaddin model 300X.
Are they the same as the Vapalux?
Cheers Michael

 

You have a Handi Kero Pet, the one with the grey top, great lanterns, one of my favorites.
Good score

 

Thanks Darryl for the ID. I saw "Handi" on the fuel cap but I but didn't know it was a Pet model. Good to know. It is a cute little lantern. Am checking it out now. Quite alot of carbon in the fuel tube. I found it interesting how it draws its air from the plate just above the collar through two tubes passing the mantle, effectively pre heating the oxygen. Also noticed it has Brisbane on the fuel cap. I assume this is where they were made.

Cheers Michael

 

@Zigfire
Your lanterns are multiplying!
Well found and a good score. Plenty of fettling time in that lot.
Enjoy.
Cheers
Pete

 

@AussiePete ,
Thanks Pete, and yes, doubled my lamps and projects in one hit, oh dear, what can you do...

 

@Darryl Durdin,
Fired the Handi Pet up but as you can see, way too rich. I guess the jet has had it, or maybe a wasp nest in one of the intake tubes.
Cheers Michael

 

A good haul! Some interesting lamps there. The old Guardsman never let you down, just pop into life and give light... happy fettling!

 

Thanks @BigStevie.

 

It's a good idea to check all is in good working order before test firing a lamp (I"ve had 3 wasp plugs in a 242 coleman air tubes)
[pressure dunk test for leaks, check valve operation, check seals, gaskets jet & pricker
Then light outside (or in a safe place) without a mantle or globe to check flame pattern
(Those Handi globes are like hens teeth too)

 

This is what happens when lanterns get too close together!

 

That was a good deal!

 

handi's are one of the quickest preheater I've come across, you may be right, check out the air tubes for blockage, your jet is more than likely fine, make sure it is screwed in tight firm, if you do pull apart the generator be very careful with the pricker rod/ needle you can not get a replacement, I've been working on making my own with limited success. the badge on the collar is red it is a kerosene lantern, if it is blue it is a shellite lantern, it has a preheater cup like the kero,
inside the generator there is a curly spring type flow restrictor that is kero, if it is a fine brass mesh that is shellite. if the badge has no colour left on it the generator is what tells them apart,
although they are known as model type 3 there are many suttle differences , the originated from the AGM style lantern they were know as a swift lite.
great lanterns, I have quite a lot of them in my collection, I just like them. original globes are hard to come by, you can but replicas from eBay.
the petrol lantern with the pre heat meth bowl, use it just like a kero lantern , it preheats every thing , just wait until the very end of the bowl evaporation, then turn on the lantern and light the mantle, if you don't preheat I've found that you get a lot of flames and burning and panic and flames and panic and burning and flames and panic, then it gets it act together and of it goes, as mention in above comments , a good practice is to clean up your lantern, test for leaks, and do light up outside in a safe area.

 

Thankyou Graham and Darryl for the helpful info.
@Darryl Durdin, the collar is rusted with no ID. The generator has the brass mesh in it, so I guess this is the shellite version. I assume it was mesh to stop flasback. Did these have a larger or smaller jet than the kero version?
Regardless, pretty reluctant to use petrol in a lantern and reading your post above it can lead to a pretty fun time. What sort of "petrol" is best used in these nowadays, do you know?

Cheers Michael

 

hi there, the petrol version has a bigger jet this is why you had a rich orange flame around the mantle.
good score, in the lantern gallery you will find the handi lantern part it will have the information there about the use and care for your petrol handi.

 

Thankyou Darryl, very much appreciated.
Cheers Michael

 

@Zigfire Hi Michael

Not sure what you can obtain in Oz but here in the UK we have a choice of Coleman/Camp fuel (expensive), Aspen 4, Naphtha panel wipe and Naphtha brake cleaner. I am currently using panel wipe in my Coleman lamps and lanterns.

Regards Jeremy

 

Looks like your missing the handle and the label from the collar. The label would have been in line with the filler cap. If it is a petrol version, another way to tell is the jet should have an O stamped into the top of it. The fuel you use is Shellite or similar. If you can get hold of a kero jet, that is all you need to change to run kero. But the jets are just as hard to find as the rest of the parts.

It's a nice early version you have there, probably from the early 50s. I'm not on my normal computer at the moment, so don't have access to the details to narrow it down. As Darryl says, they run very well when set up correctly.

 

@X246A,
Thanks for that info Jeremy. Quite interesting the fuels being used in the UK.
Cheers Michael.

 

@Nils Stephenson .
Thanks for the info Nil yes, the handle is missing. I need to check this out. May have to make one up.
Yes, the label is missing from the collar. Long gone I think as the collar has rusted but is savable.
I looked at the jet yesterday under a 10x loupe and didn't notice an O but will check again. The lamp had fuel in it when purchased. It was parrafin, so maybe the jet was changed to kero but the generator tube wasn't. Who knows what the history has been. I would like to get it running properly as it is a cute little thing.
Cheers Michael

 

I have a bale if you are needing one.

 

Here's an image of petrol and kero jets (petrol on the left). A bit out of focus, but you get the idea about the "O". Of course there is no guarantee that all the petrol jets were stamped, just to confuse things. The majority of Handis were sold as kero lamps, so it is quite likely that what you have is a kero jet.

 

@Nils Stephenson ,
Hi Nils, thanks for the images. Very much appreciated. Yes I had another look at the jet and it is the one on the left with the circle around the orifice. Not as clean as yours though
Cheers Michael

 

That confirms it is a petrol jet. The Handi works fine on Shellite. The only issue is that the pump valve is still just a seal held in place by a spring. Not good if it fails. All the rest of the construction is fine for using with petrol. I'd try and find a kero jet from somewhere and convert it.

 

Thanks Nils. Probably a good idea. I really don't like the idea of a white hot burning mantle sitting over a tank of pressurised gasoline. Call me paranoid, but ......

Cheers Michael

 

Just realised I can get Shellite at Bunnings. Has anyone tried this?

 

@Zigfire

That's the real deal, although buying it in bulk is far cheaper, but harder to achieve.

Shellite is pure naphtha (= Coleman fuel, or what the north Americans call "white gas"). (It's what we Aussies call petrol, but without additives).

Cheers

Tony