As I’ve now got into a consistent practice of testing lamp and lantern burners before fitting mantles, I thought I’d start a thread on the subject for my own edification. These are photos of a Coleman 159X running in kerosene: The flame was solid and blue, and even in both burner caps, so I had no hesitation in fitting a pair of Coleman No. 21 mantles straight off. Cheers Tony
Great thread. I've always been carrying out initial tests on newly fettled lanterns without the mantles. That way, I'd know that the burner's working correctly to start with. Mantles are not exactly very common or cheap these days.
Testing a rather aggressive repair to an early CQ burner (no patent stamp). The steel mesh was rusted out and the burner cap and burner tube threads at the mantle end were shot completely. I made new mesh, silbrazed the burner cap to the burner tube, and tested how it went:
Testing an old burner from a PL53. For sentimental reasons I’d like to use the original burner and the vapouriser. In this first test I’m using a vapouriser I know works well. Note the small flamelets from part of the burner. Having thoroughly cleaned the burner (without taking it apart), the flamelets became even all around. Here, testing the burner with the original vapouriser: All good! Cheers Tony
Nice photo's of the flamelets from the Tilley burner @Tony Press . My skill with cameras leaves a lot to be desired.
Thanks, Henry. The ones just posted were taken with an iPhone. To get them I needed a reasonable amount of light (provided by a Coleman wall lamp — hence the shadow). Cheers Tony
Testing a burner from an EX4. …and now the vapouriser that came with the lantern (after getting rid of all the carbon!). The original parts are fine. Tony
I’m very happy with this effort… The jet in the generator was enlarged and producing large amounts of yellow flame even under low pressure, and the lamp was burning outside the test mantle. Some gentle peening of the jet (a very rare generator), and some packing in the generator to allow for greater vapourisation, resulted in this: Cheers Tony
@podbros It’s not an air restrictor — just the threaded wheel used to lock the burner assembly in place. Cheers Tony
Thanks Tony now I look closer I can visualise it better.. what I thought was a slot is a reflection off the tank nice bit of history :-)
I can only run this with the fuel control just cracked open, otherwise the flames separate from the burners under pressure. But it does confirm to me that the generator is working well on this ~100-year-old lantern. It should run well with mantles on. Cheers Tony
I like this method. I’ve never tested the burners before adding mantles, I going to now. Thanks for sharing. Pete
@AussiePete @podbros On some lamps you need to test the flame under low pressure (like I just did with the one above) or the flame will separate from the burner and go out. If it’s very yellow at lower pressures you’ve got an air/fuel ratio problem — usually an enlarged jet or wasp nests you haven’t found yet. I have some very crappy mantles bought off the Bay of Evil that are useful for this kind of testing. I don’t always test with a mantle of the flame is good. Cheers Tony
