This lamp was a junk shop find in Sussex, England, for not a lot of money. The sales person thought it was broken, missing a bar inside the glass and the "dangling bit" had broken off. It only has two bars holding the top, the third being the vaporizer. The missing "dangling bit" would be the mantle
Findings so far.... All looks original, even the glass. Pump works, but pump / tank seal leaks, so unable to do a dunk test. Jet blocked.... need to find a replacement Not much information on the web, seems to be 1950's. Any knowledge fellow members can share would be gratefully appreciated.
I have no practical knowledge, but I would suggest german dealers as I doubt Phoebus was big in Britain. Either way, I think you have struck gold, as even in the years before the nowadays absurd high prizes this model was commanding high numbers. Guard that glass with your life! Mike
@KAB Now they are already breading... A nice pair! Unfortunately these are often very rusty. It's nearly impossible to come by a new needle. I think that there's a Korean seller who makes them, but pretty expensive. Regarding the jet you could try it with an ultrasonic cleaner and a small amount of citric acid. The bent needle rod is probably because these Phoebus models do not use an excenter, but a rack and pinion drive which also operates the fuel valve inside the bottom of the lower vapourizer fitting. It might also be a challenge to remove the gasket of the pump tube which seals the rim of the filler opening. As you might have seen, these lanterns have also a kind of "instant light" function similar to some Coleman lanterns. The valve half opened it will allow to draw some air from the tank in order to facilitate pre-heating. The valve fully opened shuts off the air path. Good luck at restoring!
Nice lantern and well documented. Whoever designed that top didn't stay up all night doing it, did he! I must dig out my Phoebus and post photographs in the LRG...
Thank you for the informative post on this interesting small lantern. I hope you get it working. Try some carburettor cleaner on the nipple to clear the jet. Cheers Tony
@KAB A nice find and should clean up nicely. The cleaning needle / rod design is similar to the Austramax. It could be rebuilt as shown in this post Repairing a broken cleaning pricker for an Austramax.
I never knew that, I've always used the spirit cup. @KAB You've probably realised that when the pointer on the handwheel is down (6-o-clock), so is the needle. Turning the wheel a little further clockwise shuts off the fuel. If you can get the jet unblocked, you should be able to run the lantern without a needle provided you have got the inside of the tank spotlessly clean and you do not use unleaded petrol. A Coleman 21A mantle works well on my 611 but I'm not sure how it would cope with something bigger e.g. Coleman 99 (or Peerless equivalent).
@KAB The sort of photo coverage I appreciate, gets into the ‘innards’, conferring an understanding of the specific lantern’s way of doing things.
Having had time to inspect the parts, it is possible that the tip of the cleaning needle is stuck inside the jet. Time to give it a soak in some carburettor cleaner and see if it can be cleared
@KAB Yes it is a possibility. Looking at your pricker rod I see it's bent and the upper part with pricker needle will unscrew. The cleaning rod will be and easy fix to straighten. As for finding a suitable jet and pricker replacement it may be difficult. I'm wondering if the jet and pricker from the Phoebus 615 would work on your 611, but someone far more knowledgeable the me will be able to answer the question. Cheers, Norman
Hello guys, What are the main differences between phoebus 615 & 611? Do they both have the same 100 cp? Thanks in advance.
