Hi all, I am wondering if all Vapalux/Bialaddin Jet Cleaner/Fuel Cocks are generally the same? I ask because I saw one for sale advertised for 315/320 Lamps and it was Red. I have tried interchanging them for testing purposes and they do work, but I'm not sure if there are differences regarding the height of the pricker wire etc??? Thanks.....
Hi , the 320 has a longer pick up pipe than all the earlier models due to the shape of the tank , if used on a 315 it would push into the bottom of the tank and if the 315 one was used on a 320 there would be a gap to the bottom of the tank so you would run out of fuel when there is still some splashing about in the tank, hope this helps . Regards ian
Of Course, yes the 320 tank is more rounded. Thanks. Another thing that made me ask, was on one fuel cock the pricker was not present at the top of the vaporiser, and yet it was when I tried it with another one. Made me wonder whether the vaporiser was slightly longer if this makes sense.
Apart from the colour of the knob, there's a difference in the length of the spindle depending on whether the lantern is a model with a collar or not. BTW, as far as Bialaddin and Vapalux are concerned, they're ALL jet cleaners and not fuel/control cocks. They differ from the Tilley variety in that they don't have a foot-valve so aren't designed to control the flow of fuel. In practice, you'll find they do because, like Tilley, the top of the pricker wire is shaped to fit into the underside of the jet orifice. There's an interesting bit of history about this described in Ian Ashton's book. Essentially, it was a Tilley invention which they patented. W&B copied the idea and ended up in court. W&B won the case but stopped claiming their lanterns had the innovation which is why you turn off a Bia/Vap by releasing tank pressure rather than using the jet cleaner knob. As far as I can see, W&B didn't change the design at all because every one of their products I've ever owned (probably around a hundred +/-) turns off using the jet cleaner if you so desire...
The thickness of the vapouriser washer will come into play here. If it's too thick it'll effectively shorten the pricker wire by lowering its range of motion...
I keep my old vapourisers - just so I can swap out prickers when they can't be felt when the vaporiser is in place. I guess eventually they will all be too short ....
