Hey all! A continuance of the story of my Optimus 1200. I got it dialed in and it worked just fantastic! Instantly one of my favorite lanterns. But it’s been sitting a month and problems are back. The part of the valve that screws into the fount (or the bung. Hard to tell from outside of the lantern) has a nice river flowing from it when the lantern is pressurized. Any idea what could be the issue?
The only thing there is the lead seal; if that is tight then perhaps the threaded part of the tank is leaking at the solder joint. If it only leaks when pressurized are you sure it isn’t coming from the vaporizer tip and running down?
Hey John. I thought it was that because it’s also puddling on the vaporizer nut. I lit up the lantern and the puddle went away and didn’t come back but there was still kero flowing so no I’m for sure thinking it’s the valve or bung
It sounds like the upper part of the vaporizer isn’t seating correctly in the lower part; a burr or dent perhaps. If needed you can remove the screw, preheater cup and plate; that will loosen the cage but you’ll be able to see what’s going on.
Hmm. Well, it used to seal. I didn’t take it apart or anything. Seems kinda dumb that it would just start or something.
It does sound strange, the nut that holds the two together is still tight? Its lower than the tip and needle but higher than the bung. That leaves the joint and maybe the control shaft. There’s really not much else it could be; it’s a steady leak so something is definitely going on. if it was mine I would have a look at the upper and make sure it’s not split; stranger things have happened.
How interesting. The nut is indeed tight. The control shaft used to *barely* drip kero. I put the graphite tape stuff in there and it stopped leaking. But I would see that dripping so again, it leads back to the main thingy or like you said a crack in the top part or something. But, that would be annoying, given it’s brand new!
