Hello all, Full disclosure, I bought this lamp off Facebook marketplace with the intention of making it into an electric lamp. When I saw the markings and did some research, it looks to be older than I initially thought and I see there is a bit of a collector’s community for these. I still think it would make a cool electric lamp, but I’m hesitant to modify it if it has any value to someone that refurbishes these. The shade stand on top is broken off, if there was originally a mechanical pump under the fill port, it’s gone. Is it worth anything as is? Thank you!
Hello Dale, We try not to do valuations here; but here are some details on your lamp. It’s dated November of 1941. Is the stud for the shade broken off or was it unscrewed from the top? It is missing the finial and shade holder; these are the hard parts for us lampies to find. The base is folded and soldered to the tank on the bottom, the tank is brass but most times the bottom plate was steel. Is that a shadow or is the seam broken on the bottom? Thank you, John
@Dale The paint is original, hence the ink stamp on the bottom but I can’t tell what condition it is in. The steel tank bottoms usually get pinholes when rusted.
It is a steel bottom, brass body. There was a short rod threaded in the top, about 1” long, but is broken. ( I still have the broken piece) The bottom looks really solid, doesn’t appear rusted at all. I took a few more pics directly under a light,, and close ups of the paint
There’s your post; I could probably have this lamp making light in ten minutes; personally I see electrification with a drilled tank as a waste of a good lamp. Have you ever ran a Coleman fueled lamp or lantern?
It would be a very cool resto project for someone that is into these, but it’s not for me. That is the reason for my post, I want to be respectful of the age and condition of this piece, and I don’t want to wreck something that can be useful to someone that could enjoy restoring it. That said, if these are a dime a dozen and the missing pieces are too rare or expensive to make it worth restoring, I’ll continue with my plans to convert it.
This model is a Coleman 168K, as seen on the fount’s base and manufactured in November 1941 from the date stamp 11 41 on the fount. This lamp used an external pump to pressurise the fount. All in all, quite a nice find. Speaking for myself, I would restore it keeping it as original as possible. Cheers Pete
Nothing from 1941 is a dime a dozen; that lamp is in great shape for its age. Contact any of the Coleman collector groups on Facebook; they can probably put you in contact with someone local to you that can get you a comparable lamp but that is unsafe for use with liquid fuel for you to electrify; if you just have too.
@Dale , the missing pieces are not so rare. You can also make them ( i've rebuilt a shade holder for a Coleman CQ ) And you can adapt a contemporary lampshade. This lamp really deserves a restoration, and you can find all the help you need here on the forum. This type of lamp is very easy to restore. It would be sacrilegious and shameful to electrify it !!! I think colleagues will agree with me. For electrification, I can offer you a Coleman CQ tank. The burner part is missing, but available on OCP https://www.oldcolemanparts.com/
Dale - I had trouble replying to your PM, and now can't find the conversation. Did you leave it or delete it? Cheers, Kelly
I didn’t move it or delete it, you can email me directly if you like, pipedreamsillumination 'at' gmail.com
So, based on the feedback, I’ve decided to try to restore this old girl. I don’t have a pump, so I just used my air compressor, turned the regulator down to 30 psi and pressurized it to check the integrity of the tank and valve. It was leaking air from around the filler cap, there was no gasket in there, I added an o ring and this sealed it up nicely. I know I can’t leave the o ring in there, just for testing. Is there supposed to be a gasket there? Where can I get one? once that was sealed, it was leaking at the joint just below the valve, above the handle. I polished both sides of the joint with 1500 sandpaper, and put Teflon tape on the pipe threads, and it sealed up. Is there supposed to be a gasket there? it has held pressure for over an hour, so it’s looking good for the tank and valve. Sprayed with soapy water and couldn’t find any leaks. I removed the generator and it looks pretty clean inside, the valve holds pressure when in the up position, allows air to flow through it with the valve in the down position. I assume this is correct? I’m going to make a preheat cup out of some copper fittings, they are cheap at OCP, but shipping is brutal, is there a good place to find parts in Canada? thanks for the help
Good on you. I’m happy that you’re going to restore the old girl. Have a look at this site for spare parts. I’ve had excellent service and help from these guys. OldColemanParts.com Look under lantern parts and have fun searching for stuff. Enjoy Pete
Hi Dale, We are all breathing a collective sigh of relief. The cap does take a gasket, there are a couple of different sizes depending on the year, model, etc. There should be a collector local to you that can provide seals. Canada is chock full of them. The valve takes a sealer at the joint but is also shaped so that it tightens as it goes in. The cleaning lever that controls the generator is basically for cleaning the tip but can also be used to dim the lamp; but at the cost of shortened life of the generator.