Hi all, other posts today see me referencing the lot of lanterns and stoves that I picked up in the rather nice city of Norwich yesterday. The seller had dug out whatever other extras he had in his garage once he understood my interest/ obsession...... when I arrived he had added a blue reflector, such a thing I've been thinking about looking for but always waiting for that bargain to come along. Well yesterday it did, so I was a happy man when I arrived at said garage. Once home, I set about retrieving my junk sale Vapalux 300 from its shelf (this started me off with collecting pressure lamps having been a primus stove collector up until that point) and eagerly offered the reflector over the handle, only to find it slipped all the way over the hood!!! Dismayed, I tried to think if the later Bialaddins had a hood of greater diameter. Of course, deep down I knew they didn't..... I just wanted to live in hope for as long as possible.... so I tried it on the pork pie, the only Tilley I have affinity for and still no luck. Then, tried it on the only x246B that I have, a real wreck that was due to be moved on and of course, it fit like a glove. Alas, I am not a Tilley man...... So I was looking at selling the reflector to buy one for my Willis and Bates family. Browsing through the web I found that Petromax made one of these and, putting two and two together, realised that this may indeed have a use in the collection, adorning one of my favourite lamps (and top three in personal fettle terms), that being the 1930's Optimus 300..... Recently I've taken to using a frosted globe in this, nicked from a campingaz thing I found under the seat in my caravan and I did see a similar post regarding such on here. Anyway, essay over, this morning I ran the Optimus with reflector, suspended from garage ceiling whilst I fettled (minimally) the two 111 stoves that I got from the same seller. I understand this has been an incredibly long-winded way of saying, hey look at my lamp with a reflector on it but I'm super happy that one of my all time faves now has a bit more to it!!! Thx all for humouring me!
Hello, these nameless light reflectorscome from Asia and where sold with Butterfly and/or Red Heart or any other brand they fitted on. You can find them painted or enameled. Light blue is the standart colour I guess, I have not seen or do not remember other colours. I know that Geniol also had these shape of reflectors but I don't know if they are exactly the same. They had more colours.
As Wim has mentioned, this is an Asian reflector. I had always assumed that they came from anchor, but I havn't looked into it. It looks like it is enameled rather than just painted. That would most likely mean it is older. I had a couple of the later painted ones and they fit most of the Petromax style lanterns. A reflector makes a big difference with a lantern when used hanging.
@Nils Stephenson, @WimVe thanks for confirming origin. It stands to reason that if made for anchor etc it will fit pmax, optimus. It is enamelled and has a decent vintage feel to it. That'll do for free.
@nicky boy As this is in the Reference Gallery for Optimus 300, are you able to post some additional photos of the lantern and its markings? Cheers Tony
@nicky boy I think it all looks great ! I second Tony’s request and I also haven’t seen that type of pressure release on the filler cap before? Don’t they usually have the type seen on the stoves? regards, pb
I would expect it to have a pressure release like the one in this thread. I am also curious about what has been done on this lamp.
@podbros, @Nils Stephenson, I will add this to the reference library. Tbh I thought I had I posted about it when I fettled it back to life after purchasing for £6 at a boot fair. It was covered in hard grime which was difficult to shift and the same seller also furnished me with a chrome tank Bialaddin 300x, again for £6. The filler cap for the Optimus was missing, along with jet, needle and glass. I spoke to Mike at The Base Camp and he supplied the parts, noting that the pressure release would be close, or functional but technically incorrect and gave me a choice of two, with me opting for the older one, even though it were brass. I may well link the entry in the ref gallery to this post for the above added info. It took me a while to understand the reason for the added bolt 'valve' on the tank. It's clever, I like it! Alas the tank has a tiny leak under pressure but it doesn't cause too much stress. It's an absolutely cracking lamp and very high on my list of favourites.
