A perk of my job is free travel to France so I was debating having a nose at some french boot sales etc. Has anyone else been along this avenue? What french lamps would you recommend and is there a french "equivalent" to an X246b (i.e. not too expensive)
Well there are quite a number of very fine french lamps (just see the Frech gallery) and lanterns. But pressure lamps are rare. I do not know of one you would compare to a Tilley 246 - Not by make or design and not by price. Maybe the Tito-Landi wick-fed lamps (available for alcohol or uk-petrol us-gas) would be something in that direction. I always liked la Foire d'Automne à la Place des Quinconces (Bordeaux). La Foire à la Brocante et la Foire aux Jambons place des Quinconces | www.33-bordeaux.com Try to be in the area a week before as les antiquitaires établiés will at least double the prices for the big market. The market itself is really huge. The dealers live for some weeks in their booths, great atmosphere and nice displays. Did you already contact Gérard at: Lampes à pression - accueil ? Erik
And when you look at his gallery you notice not a lot of french lamps. There are nice french lamps but more indoor lamps as you can see here in the reference. When they hit the open market (ebay), prices go sky high.
I go to boot sales in the UK regularly and I find maybe two Tilley lamps a year. Given how rare French pressure lamps are compared to Tilley lamps, I think the chances of finding a pressure lamp at a French market are extremely slim.
Sorry, but 'none' - some of the French lamps are beautiful to look at (see just about anything Michel has restored ) but simple, they are not. As a nation, the French would be just incapable of coming up with anything that was as uncomplicated and utilitarian as the X246B. (In case anyone's unsure, by the way, that's meant as a compliment... ) Yes, possibly, (I have a few) but for the moment, they'll have to go in the Open Forum. The other thing with them is that mantles were all used up years ago and something has to be bodged up from existing two-hole types e.g. Tilley or Vapalux, which isn't easy. The lamps themselves aren't marked as 'alcohol' or 'essence' (i.e. petrol/gasoline/Coleman/panel wipe) and the only way to tell is by examining the jet - one orifice is wider than the other. I forget the exact sizes but I think one type is 0.3mm although it's easy enough when you get your eye in. They have a huge wick (like a mop) inside the tank which is compressed into a small metal ring at the top end. If the lamp has been run dry, the top of the wick gets charred eventually and stops working. Replacements have to be fabricated from mop-strands and it's difficult to compress the required number of strands into the metal ring. Glass chimneys are de rigeur (to keep sufficient heat around the burner otherwise the lamp goes out) but are usually missing and difficult to replace. When the lamps are working correctly, light output isn't actually that great. Have I succeeded in discouraging you yet? - I actually do like them because of their quirkiness... Mind you, I do also like some of the oddest gassie stuff there is...
Hi all Sorry for the late reply, I have not seen the topic, and also for my poor english. I am going to try to be clear. No, there is not a "french 246 tilley". As David enjoys to repeat, we are too complicated.;-) I believe I remember he have had some troubles with a french car far ago. I can't remember the brand, though let us stop laughing : the great lamp period for pressure lamps in France was between the wars. In the 20/30's, there were many very small makers in Paris. Many of those lamps were reserved for rich families. Small range's production, small workshop and stylistic approach means the lamps were expensive. The first try of industrial production have been made by Lilor. This factory was one of the only ones to be great enough for this kind of "industrial production". The n°4500 lamp and the "lampe portative n° 1931" can be found on ebay sometimes but at a high price now.. At this period, the people used only candles, wick lamps such as Pigeon (gasoline) or lamps with Kosmos or Matador (kerosene)burners. You can find plenty (millions) of differents models because each family owned at least two possibly more. And there are the Tito Landi lamps which have an incandescent burner. You need to preheat the burner and a special mantle. They were prefered by several families because brighter. Yes you can find spirit and gasoline burners and the differences are the jet size and the kind of wick. Gasoline 0,3/4 mm Spirit 0,7/8 mm You can find lots of models : table lamps, hanging lamps and stomlamps You can see some of them here : http://metronius.free.fr/Lampes_m10.htm After the second war, french factories will prefer to produce bottle's gas lamps which were more practical and simple to light. Yes Yes ;-) . Lilor becomes "Primagaz". in the 50/60's, one can only see the Unic brand with his Unic 9 (and one or two "chic" models) And that's all. Hope that help and feel free to ask more, In any case, I wish you good holidays in France,
Not in this lifetime, Michel - perhaps in a former life... Just an update on my earlier post. I've been told that Tito Landi chimneys have been reproduced and are freely available. They're a plain glass tube of stock size so next week, I'm going to the National Glass Centre just down the road in Sunderland to enquire about having a few cut for me. I've an original but I'm far too precious about it to use it on a lamp (which don't run without one being fitted). There's even been a sniff of some original Tito Landi mantles being available. We live in hope for those, though...
On the contrary. They are very bright considering the construction. You can of course not compare them with a good lantern like Petromax, but they work for what they were intended; reading or doing household work indoors. I guess you just simply haven't seen one that actually works properly. I have three Tito-Landi's, and it's not hard to get them to work, but I might have been lucky. Mantles are no problems. It's just to use a rigid upright gaslight mantle. They are a bit too large, but they work. And they are adjustable. That's a thing I really like for an indoor lamp.
Of course,the French had their own "Tilley"!!! The little magic is called "Campingaz"! Extremely simple, foolproof and reliable, dead easy to light and, with a little care, light output can be adjusted. Everyone should have (at least) one! Best regards, Wim (proud owner of 4 CG lanterns..... )
Yes, Tito landi are bright if you have a good wick. Quite easy to do with coton. I use thong of "floor cloth" for this use. You must know that TL burner are usually 120 CP power. But you can find bigger burner of 200 CP. And then no problem to put a large upright mantle. Yes, Campingaz are very simple to use, but they are not pressure lamps, you need small gaz bottles.
...which are pressurised! Any lamp, even a lone candle, must involve some sort of pressure differential between the fuel store and the flame otherwise the fuel won't move from one to the other and combustion would cease...
I hope you have better luck than me in finding some nice pressure lanterns in France. We've been going to France for a while now and we always check out the brocantes and so far we have only come away with three pressure lanterns: a 246A without hood but with strange cock and vaporiser (must put some photos up to ask if anybody knows anything) an early 70's Petromax 829 and a mid 80's Coleman (can't remember model). We've seen plenty of Hurricane lamps and picked up a Hipolito one just out of curiosity. One thing I will say about France though is paraffin is very easy to come by, the last time I picked up 20 litres there I dispensed it for myself out of a fuel pump at the local supermarche
In France, there is no really pressured lamp tank based on Kerosen / Gasoil . These were GUENET & ABBAT lamps, Unic, Tito Landi, but not longer exists from long time. Difficult to find, including in a flea market (Brocante en Français). But it still exists a great brand well known in Europe : Campingaz that still produce gaz lanterns based on pressured butane gaz bottles/cartridges. They are really easy to use, some had a built-in piezo and are perfect in the event of a power failure. I have two of these model : "Lanterne Lumogaz Plus". Each unit cost between 25€ / 30€, including mantle and holder. It exists a lot of variants (That can be connected on R90x bottles, or pierceable bottle (that cost under 1.5€ in a DIY mall)). I prefer Lumogaz Plus as the cartridge (using VALVE) can be removed to be used in another Campingaz (or compatible production) like torch, grill, stove, heater. Lumogaz provide a light between 10W to 80W (in full brightness). It exists another Campingaz lamps like Symphony (120W), Stellia (160W require 2 mantles). Spare items are still produced too. Regards.
I found this website researching the Tito Landi. Looks to be a decent source of parts if they are reputable to deal with. Tito Landi – Tito Landi
Great stuff, RT. As you say, if they're reliable they will be getting some business from me. I seem to have acquired a few Tito Landi lamps over the years but never had one to run properly...
