using my Austramax 3/300 recently noticed it needed re-pumping a lot more often than usual indicating that there was a pressure leak somewhere. dunked it in water and a bubble kept appearing from the gland that seals the eccentric shaft for raising and lowering the generator/vaporizer needle. I had overhauled this lamp about 8 years ago after buying spare parts direct from the factory in West Brunswick, a suburb in Melbourne Victoria. at the time I bought a new eccentric that incorporated two o-rings in lieu of the old fashioned gland packings and this worked perfectly until now it seems. also at the time a new non return valve for the pump was acquired along with some other spares and all fitted at the time last week I removed the o-rings and determined them to be 5/32" ID 9/32" OD 1/16" wide and presumed they would be Viton due to the heat. so I bought a packet of 100 of these for the princeley sum of $10 and replaced the two on the eccentric. lit the lamp, however, to my dismay the lamp was still losing pressure. so yesterday I stripped it right down to just the fount with the pump, air bleed and generator attached. the frame ring under the glass was full of dead insects as these lamps attract all sorts of bugs when lit and camped outdoors, so cleaned all that out, then dunked it water again. happily the gland was air tight but appearing between the fount and the valve cock thing for controlling the generator, was a bubble followed by another and another and so on. Bingo! beneath the valve is a soft sealing washer. so with emery I ground it flat but when screwing the valve back on it would tighten up about 90 degrees past where it should be. tightening it further would strip the threads as there was no way the washer was going to squash any further. lucky for me I had a spare lead washer the correct size. I tried it and the valve tightened to the correct orientation in order for the control knob to finish at right angles to the fount after tightening. after all this pumped it up to full pressure and it held perfectly. no bubbles. put everything back together minus the dead insects, lit it and it stayed pressurized for a good hour without the need for re-pumping below are all the bits and pieces dismantled below what was causing the leak. that should read "note two o-rings,,," she works
^ yes, they are a fantastic lamp. its given me many years of good service. they are easy to pump up with pressure as having an O-ring style plunger results in reduced friction compared with lamps and stoves that use a leather cup. the only thing to be mindful of is that the fount only holds about half litre/half US quart which equates to about 6, maybe 8, hours burning time. not a big deal, just something to be mindful of when in the middle of winter when days are shorter and if you're a bit of a night owl. I've got 48 eccentric shaft Viton O-rings left over, enough to service another 24 lamps that have the modern eccentrics. if any one wants a few let me know and I'll post some to you
I think mine need replacing. If your still around send me a PM. Happy to send some coin for the trouble.. Cheers
still around, matter of fact used the Austramax for a few days while out camping recently. I'll check to make sure I've still got these orings stashed somewhere. if so I'll pm my details and get you to send me a stamped self addressed envelope update, found them. pm sent
