Hello there, let me introduce myself. I'm Wim, Dutch, and like petroleum / paraffin lamps and stoves and of course pressurelamps. I'm not directly a collector, but i have three pressurelamps now. A Coleman 200A, a Tilley x264 and my latest lamp a Phoebus model 621. This is where i need some help from you all: first, is it a petrol/gas or a petroleum/paraffin lamp, or both? And are there some spareparts available somewhere? It looks a lot like a Hagas but also some parts look like Coleman. I'm confused... I will make some pictures later and will upload them. Thanks for now!
Hello Wim, Welkom op het forum ! Parts are not available unless somebody has a spare lantern. But uhh, with three lanterns already, you are a collector ;-) Looking forward for the pictures.
Phoebus 621 is a gasoline or Benzine lantern. Parts are mostly not available but generally you will only need seals and a pump leather which are easy enough to find in the right sizes from other makes. The difficult bits are the jet and pricker. Often these can be replaced with a little creaive engineering though and given the condition of your lamp I suspect it will be worth the effort to fettle it to run. ::Neil::
WimVe, Mackburner (Neil), Thanks for you replies, so now I know I am a collector and that I bought a petrol/gasoline/benzine lamp. So now I first look for some seals, pumpleather and some mantles... The search begins!
Hello Wim I just picked up a Phoebus 621 yesterday for really cheap that looks the same as yours except it has a red hood. Burns also on gasoline so no cup. If you or anyone has a diagram or exploded view of this Phoebus 621 lamp I will be forever grateful. So I did a quick strip last night to see if it is intact internally. What I found in the valve body is worrying: The shutoff valve shaft has a reverse thread and when turned anti-clockwise, the shaft moved inwards to push a seated screw (accessible from other side when generator needle control is removed) off its seat and supply fuel to generator. But this seated screw is not directed connected to the valve shaft so I don't know what keeps it closed if the control valves is turned clockwise to shut off fuel?- it might be because it is meant to be connected or screwed to control valve shaft and has broken off? How does yours work - got any pics!. Alternative a spring is missing. Also broken of cleaning needle, but otherwise it is complete???
Last weekend I've restored one of those to perfect working order, so nowI know how it works. The fuel control turned fully clockwise will completely shut off the supply by closing a needle valve close to the excenter. The fuel control turned fully anti-clockwise will shut off the air/fuel vapour path from the middle of the tank. In any position between the two stops it will open the air/fuel vapour path as well as the liquid fuel pickup at the small tube connected laterally to the valve block. In this case, the fuel vapour airflow will also suck in some liquid fuel and act as a kind of "instant light system" as found at the Coleman lanterns. You can ignite the fuel air vapour which will burn until the generator is at working temperature. Then the fuel control is turned fully open (anti-clockwise) so that only liquid fuel is allowed to enter the generator. To shut off the lantern the fuel control is turned fully close (clockwise). Hope that helps, /Martin
Thanks so much. The needle valve you mentioned (middle of pic) that closes fuel supply, is it a loose needle valve without springs etc that fits in the body from opposite side?
@Willem as I said before, on mine I didn't manage to get out the valve stem without risking to break it. So I have no clue what the part in the middle finally does. The only thing I have observed is that the air supply from the central fitting should be blocked when the valve is fully opened (anti-clockwise). And somewhere "behind" the lateral connection (seen towards the eccentric stem) there should be a needle valve to completely block the fuel when turned fully clockwise. >>>edit: Sorry to say, but in my eyes it looks as if you had torn off the "fully open" seat from the valve stem.
Thanks Martin I agree with your prognosis. The whole valve and stem was rusted so not surprised. So on the lookout for a spare. Endless search for such a rare lamp. If I had a drawing I would engineer a new one. Bad design to have metal parts inside a brass casing.
@Willem that's exactly what I experienced with my extremely rare Hasag 102 SP. I tore off the closed valve spindle (made of steel), which was completely rusted inside the brass valve block. So I drilled out the remaining piece, but only the tip came loose and I didn't manage to get it out without posing the risk of damaging/destroying the valve block. So I decided to put in a brass stem for show and leave the valve open. The lantern has a preheater cup and can now be extinguished by de-pressurising it, which seems to be acceptable with alcohol as a fuel. Unfortunately that seems not an option for your lantern since it will not operate if the air path isn't blocked, and it's more risky to use it with petrol, in particular when extinguishing it by pressure release. Good luck in finding a spare parts donor!
