This one put up a fight and was then left in the fettling tray for the best part of a year in disgust.... An AC15 1938 Primus 1080 Preston-Loop Storm Lantern. When it arrived it looked pretty good, no damage to fount but quite grubby and with extensive corrosion to the burner gallery and underside of the hood top-hat. Pricker rod was stuck inside the vapouriser, it took a bit of heat and lots of gentle persuasion to come out. Seized control spindle made it a swine to dismantle. Pressing back and forth and gently lapping it with fine paste freed it off. The vapouriser/loop was choked with carbon. Several heat/quench/blast-through cycles later and I managed to get it clean. NRV came good and holding well. Fresh filler cap seal and pump leather. Everything given the usual boil in mild tartaric acid to clean it up nicely. The burner gallery was wire buffed and immersed in evaporust for a few days, ditto the top cap, then it got some 800C VHT paint and a nice long bake in the oven. At least it will slow the corrosion down The bail went in the electrolysis tank and had VHT paint/bake as well. Ready for assembly. Assembled at last.... New Suprax Jenaer Glass form Sweden as a finishing touch... Mr Droopy-Mantle (Peerless 24A) Burned-in and running lovely. Impressed with the light output. Nice and stable, has been running beautifully for 4 hours so far on its first pump-up. Don't know why I left it so long.... Alec.
Worth the wait in the tray. Sometimes its the about right time upon which a certain project gets going. A nice job done. I think there's something about the Primus Preston loop that makes the fuel vaporize more uniformly and result in a somewhat better burn.
The entire 980/981/1080/1081 series all seem to work just a bit better than comparable lamps (there are always exceptions). I am guessing it has something to do with the design of the inner top. Unfortunately they must have been an expensive lamp to produce with too many parts, so didn't sell as well as the more common 991 and 1020. All in all a very nice restoration and a good presentation. I will be interested to hear how the vht paint holds up. I have a few inner tops that need rust intervention.
