I'm not sure what to do with this, as it's neither a stove nor a lamp. Does it belong here? Back story is that this has been sitting in the innermost recesses of my shed since I bought the house 15 years ago. It's a heater that was presumably used by the former owner, a keen gardener. I assume it's a greenhouse warmer of some kind, but have no idea how it works, fuel used (lamp oil?), and so on. It looks to be in fair nick, which is not surprising given that it's only 1980s vintage. [EDIT: what I thought was a date stamp appears to be a patent number, so the date is unknown. The previous owner bought the property in the 1970s though.] It is not a thing of beauty, but I was just wondering whether it would be worth quietly doing up. Any information or opinions would be appreciated.
I think they were designed to be a general space heater rather than for a greenhouse specifically, but they'll do that job too. I was going to say that anything that burns paraffin is surely worth a bit of attention but on second thoughts, I can think of some kero-burners that are better going in the skip! However, that Aladdin isn't one of them - go on, give it a bit of love! It might be better placed in 'The Lounge' though. (not literally, mind...)
It has already been moved. Not to the Lounge, though. That's on the stove site. I moved it to "the open forum".
Interesting. I was able to remove three of the four nuts holding on the cage by hand. What I thought was a thick layer of greasy dirt appears to have been the original paint, which perhaps has acted as a sacrificial layer to protect what was underneath? I gave it a wipe with tepid soapy water. I have seen a video in which the central burner part twists off or unscrews, but it doesn't want to shift. I've sprayed a lot of PlusGas around in the area where the central bit meets the base and will try again later. Acting on the advice received in the other thread, I ordered some citric powder which should arrive today. I think I will make up a batch and just immerse the whole thing for a day or two, see what that does. Original paint underneath: Before wiping with soapy water: After five minutes:
I would be carefull with all the cleaningstuff before getting all teh parts off. Not all parts like the fuel indicator likes the (agressive) cleaning stuff. I would soak the burner upside down in kerosene and then after removing from the bucket, fire here up, in the hope the heat will free the wick and burner.
That's a good point about the fuel indicator Wim, thank you. Not sure about the feasibility of doing the burner upside-down - would require quite a bit of paraffin. Will look at what containers I have to hand and see what I can use.
Here's an idea. I have a range cooker (like an Aga, but electric) and one of its ovens is set at 100C. If I were to put the tank of the Aladdin in here for 30 minutes or so, would that not loosen things up? I can reduce the temperature to five-degree increments e.g. to 80C. The question is would it damage the indicator or other components, such as seals inside? I can take the filler cap off (I see that has a washer) but there might be other parts inside that I cannot see or access...
I remember having a very similar heater going way back some %$%^& years ... ahem! when I first married and lived in an otherwise unheated flat in an old farmhouse on the coast in the northeast. In fact I had two in the one room as my then father in law donated his greenhouse heater as in no way could I afford to buy another. Come January February time I couldn't get the place warm despite getting through gallons of paraffin. I used to go off to the village chip shop just to get to feel my fingers and toes again.
@R100 Thankfully I have no memory of being particularly cold in any of our houses during my childhood. In the one place we lived where there was serious potential for cold - the Peak District - there was a solid fuel Aga so ferocious (and so reactive to high winds) that the heat it generated occasionally drove us out of the kitchen / living area. All our other houses had either central heating, or a wood burner, or a range cooker, or sometimes (like our current house) a combination of all three. But yes. I remember my father telling me stories about the big winter of 1963. I think it probably got quite nippy then, even down here in Pembrokeshire... I have been thinking that, as my outbuildings are unheated, it would be nice to have something to take the edge of the cold in the winter though. The Aladdin might do that for not a lot of money.
I put it on the closed lid of the range cooker for a couple of hours. You can put your hand on the lid, so it's not that hot. I was hoping that the heat would lead to some expansion in the base, perhaps freeing up the frozen parts. It worked, and I was able to twist it off without too much effort. The metal all seems structurally sound. The application of heat caused condensation to appear in the gauge. Hopefully that will go soon. I will give the metal burner basket a bath in citric acid tomorrow, and maybe wipe the base with the same acid, as the muck on the base in the picture below is very sticky and greasy. The wick has seen better days and will need replacing. To do that I will need to identify the heater more precisely.
Hi @Westfield Your Aladdin Series 15 Blue Flame heater came mainly in a ‘Pastel Green’ colour but a cream option was also available. Yours looks like it has seen some tough times and appears bluish so I’m uncertain if this is the photo or another colour option. The wick, part number 159905 for the 3” burner is still available, along with other parts from suppliers in England, such as Base Camp. You must soak a new wick for about an hour before you light it. There are instructions available for changing the wick, but if you cannot find them online, PM me. Pity it is not the green one as any ‘Pale Eucalypt’ Colorbond® matching paint is spot on for the Aladdin 15 Pastel Green coloured units. Colorbond products are available in the UK but I suspect not as widely as in Australia where many, if not most, rooves are Colorbond. The 4 dome nuts that hold the fount to the frame are 3/16" BSF. The 3 small bolts that secure the 3 clips that hold the chimney to the frame are one size smaller and presumed to be BSF also. Your filler cap fibre washer is 30.7mm ID and 37.05mm OD. The fount holds about 1 gallon of standard kerosene. I believe you should be strip and repaint your fount, top, and bottom frames, but the enamelled chimney (part and top cover (part P151910) are probably best cleaned up with soap, car polish and elbow grease. Good luck
@Sedgman, thanks, this is really useful. I was thinking it might be a Series 15 but hard to tell given the variations. I think my dome nuts may have been replaced because they seem to be around 11mm; 10mm is clearly too small, and 12mm is slightly too large. 11mm suggests something like 7/16 in BSF? I didn't realise that the top and chimney were enamelled. I had the top in a citric acid bath (the reverse was rusty), but have now taken it out, scrubbed the rusty areas, and dried it off. I can't find Colorbond paints in the UK, but to be honest I'm not too concerned about achieving an authentic finish. I'll probably redo it in a similar-but-not-exact light green or blue. One issue will be how to strip paint from the fount without damaging the gauge, etc.
I may have misled. Colorbond is a brand of steel products with a special coating and in a variety of standard colors. Many paint manufacturers here in Australia provide paints in matching colours. I'm sure if it works well the color is less important. Hope it goes well.
had two of these over the years and can tell you they're good space heaters. The window is Mica, through which a cheery blue flame may be viewed. Well worth restoring.
Hello there. About the time I last posted in this thread my business started bouncing back from the covid doldrums and I have been very busy for the past two years. Obviously no bad thing, but it hasn't left me with any time to tinker with the heater discussed in this thread or put into practise the advice I received. Over the past month or so the pace has been a bit more reasonable and I've been slowly working through my list of things to get done in the house and shed. One of those things is cleaning up this heater before winter. The base of the heater is still pretty mucky and the flame spreader is in good condition but is dirty (see photos below). I have some citric acid crystals. I have some spirit vinegar. I'm about to clean up an engine, so I also have Gunk degreaser which I thought might work on the base if used carefully. How would you go about cleaning up both of these items? Tempted to go for citric acid, but have forgotten both concentration and immersion time! TIA
I would first remove any exces dirt, grease, soot with a piece of plastic or other non scrathing tool. Then try a soap solution for some days. You can leave that for days without harm to the metal.
Thanks Wim. Just washing-up liquid "painted" onto the surface, perhaps? I don't want to immerse it in case it harms the fuel gauge.
I am not the expert but I thought you can remove the fuel gauge from the tank. To long ago that I repaired one.
I did not know that about washing-up liquid! I think I will try the degreaser very carefully on a non-obvious area.
Hello, this is an Aladdin Blue Flame early Series 15 heater from the period 1950-1953 so a nice find.!
Hello, Just found this forum great site lots of info. My question is i just picked up a Aladdin Blue Flame model #42202 and my first question is what year would it be approximately. My second question is i found this rattling around inside of the chimney, was wondering what it does and where does it belong, i never seen this item before. Thx Again for a great informational area
Hello and welcome, I would say yes but not is use as a heater. First thought is the wick cleaner but I don't recognize the metal arm on it.
It’s a wick cleaner for an Aladdin Blue Flame Heater: But I’ve not seen one with that sliding handle. Cheers Tony
