Fount has no cracks, but it will need a good clean. Smells like it had been run on turps or white spirit, holds pressure but nothing comes out the jet and the control knob is a little stiff also loads of crap under the pressure gauge so suspect the generator is quite blocked. Apart from that and the general grime and some oxidisation, doesn't look too bad at all. Gone to order more seals etc.
I had one that looked like that - and it cleaned up and works just fine. I used a petromax service kit and Harpic 10x for cleaning (do not leave it on) . These things will work on certain "white spirits" (Turpentine substitute in the UK) but I avoid it as there are different types and they all smell wrong. Yours looks like it may be a bit older - have you looked for date codes underneath ? Looks like we have similar cats too Happy fettling..
Just a thought and question: why buying these on the evil bay at such a condition ? NOS BW Petromax or Hipolito 500cp lanterns cost around 100euro at the dump store. Of coarse fettling is part of the fun but still.
If there was such a store in the UK, then I would gladly buy from there. Now WimVe, I am going to be working just outside Rotterdam soon, so is there somewhere near there where I can part with some of my money for one of these NOS lamps.
It isn't NOS, but it still looks pretty decent to me. Most of any lantern to be found in my area would likely be in much worse conditions. Its highly humid all the time and most lanterns here would have been stretched or used to their limits on a daily basis with virtually zero maintenance. You would hardly come across any that are complete with their original parts. Anyway, a nice fettling project.
I'm still working on the Aida in between everyday life. I've got some old copper irons on the way and going to solder the cracks then solder a thin brass donut onto the base to cover all the cracks and reinforce the area (wish me luck with this). The rest of the lamp I have been cleaning up and the generator and rods that fit inside are now clean and ready for reassembly and the rest of the lamp has now been cleaned and polished. I do have one question, what is the best method to clean the inside of the font?, some sort of abrasive and shaking, rolling the fount?, or something else?. Once this lamp is done, I have another 3 to work on. This will bring my collection of these type lamps to 6, along with my 2 coleman white gas lamps.
It really depends on what you're having inside the fonts. If its only leftover, varnished old fuel, perhaps some preliminary soak and rinse with acetone, paint thinners and the like. Finish up with a hot lye soak, water rinse and post drying. If its rust or other oxidation, plus some other gunk, a preliminary soak with lye to remove any grease/oily leftovers and then followed with an acidic soak like citric. That'd remove most of the oxidation. You might finish up with the so-called BB òr abrasive shake to remove all traces of oxidation. You can also use Evaporust or similar products on rust if you feel that the acids are a little too harsh on rarer items. If you have an Ultrasonic bath, no harm using it(together with lye) to loosen up all unwanted stuffs inside the fonts. There isn't really a 'best' way of doing it but in my opinion, it is still best to avoid getting hasty or strive for the fastest results with minimal of efforts. The reasons:- fast results usually mean aggressive chemicals and stuffs which, are often difficult to control and a high likelihood to damaging something in the process. Many of these items we're dealing with are old, probably abused in the past and likely not in their pristine states as when they were new. Most are no longer being manufactured or often, irreplaceable if damaged. There are only that many of them still out there. As a matter of fact, I sometimes hesitate when about to start off any fettling projects and often leave some of them as found.
It's white powdery deposits that seem to be inside this fount especially the top half where it must have sat with liquid inside for a long time.
From my own experience, white powdery deposits can point to many different stuffs ranging from salt-like crystallites, oxidation, degraded old fuel deposits due to impurities and moisture, depending on the font's previous exposures. Of course, it can also simply be dirt or sediments from whatever the previous owner introduced into the font. Does it still smell like old kerosene, turpentine-like stuffs or anything similar? Does it appear wet/oily or dry? Poorly formed patina can also appear to be whitish or greenish and powdery if wetted, reacted with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form carbonates. Often, a citric acid soak would remove white deposits but not always. However, as the simplest initial approach before using any acids, I'd suggest just try flushing it out with water and see if it would lift. If it doesn't, then fill with some methylated spirits or denatured alcohol and check if it'd dissolve anything. If they fail, then introduce the citric acid. There's almost no limits on the approach we can further use even if citric fails. Its almost always certain that you would eventually be able to make the internals clean and shiny if you really wanted to.
