As you all know, this lantern is made in Switzerland, so I was wondering whether to post it in the HASAG gallery. However, since everyone has been posting to the HASAG gallery, I would like to let you all know that I will be posting here as well. I know that this lantern is for gasoline, but the structure of each part is similar to a kerosene lantern, so I use kerosene, which is a safer fuel, at my own risk. Since I use kerosene, I take a 350-500CP kerosene lantern mantle, turn it over, cut off the string at the bottom, and put it back together. It may be correct to put this hook inside the cover. I am using it as shown in this photo. Either will work. It's a little different from the Ditmar preheater. Optional cooktop. Unlike No.119, the bail interferes with the cooktop, making it difficult to use when moving the lantern. The 551 has a taller cooktop, so it's a little ungainly. However, I feel that heat transfer is faster in 551 because it is not blocked by a plate. Of course, the tank also looks exactly like the 506. The pressure gauge worked for a while after purchase. However, after using it a few times, the needle stopped moving. I looked for a replacement pressure gauge, but the size of the mounting part of modern pressure gauges did not match. So I decided to take it apart and repair it. When I disassembled it, I realized that the Bourdon tube was stretched due to metal fatigue. Therefore, I thought about transplanting a Bourdon tube from a pressure gauge with the same measurement range and similar size. It worked. During the repair, leaks occurred from various places and I almost gave up, but I kept trying and everything worked out. The night I recovered, my wife said I was in the best mood I'd been in a while. The glass had been cracked since I first purchased it. I bought another pair of glass, but felt it was a waste to throw away the broken one. At first, I used heat-resistant putty to connect the glass together, but I felt it looked uncool. That's when I realized that it didn't look good because I was trying to put it back together after it was broken. Instead of hiding the broken parts, I decided to enjoy them. In the end, I repaired it like Frankenstein's monster using aluminum punching plates and brass wire. This finishing method may be unpopular with others. However, I like the fact that 551L seems to be saying, "It's broken, but I'm fine!" I might be sick... Thank you for reading to the end.
You've done a neat repair job. Well done. Repairing a pressure gauge Bourdon tube isn't the easiest task. You've got a couple of very nice, working lanterns there.
Hi @Camp numao .A very well done job. Greatly documented (as always). You write that you used kerosene. I have two questions. Did firing on kerosene require a longer preheat? Is the 551 vaporizer straight ( no Preston loop)? I ask because I have a Ditmar 506 and would also like to try firing on kerosene. Once again, congratulations on a great repair and best regards. Stanisław
@MYN Thank you. Old pressure gauges will eventually become obsolete as long as the Bourdon tube is used. I posted this because I thought it would be helpful for other people who are having trouble thinking about fixing it. @JEFF JOHNSON Thank you. I'm glad it's working now. @ROBBO55 Thank you. Since it is equipped with broken glass, I use it outside without fear of damage. @Knee Thank you for reading to the end. I will answer the question as follows. Both Ditmar 506 and 551L have straight vaporizers without loops. It is characterized by being thicker and thicker than vaporizers for gasoline (for example, Coleman 229, Ditmar 583). The preheater can also use kerosene, but I don't like the soot that comes out, so I use alcohol. Pour alcohol into the outside cup twice. After that, it will light up when you ignite it. Neither my Ditmar 506 nor my 551L have ever caught fire using this method. I hope your lantern lights up well.
Very nice work, @Camp numao. I like your idea for repairing the glass. It has inspired me to do something similar. Best regards (from Tokyo, today), Tony
Hi @Camp numao . Thanks for your reply and tips. After I clean up Ditmar a bit, I'll try to fire it up. Greetings Stanisław.
@Tony Press Thank you. I'm glad if you can use it as a reference. I learned from CCS that you are currently in Japan. Please be careful of earthquakes.
@Knee I'm curious what kind of Ditmar lantern it is. Please let me know if it works again. I wish you good luck!
@WimVe Thank you for your comment. As you can see in the photo, all that remains of the label on the tank is the gold sticker. I thought this lantern was made in Switzerland.
E. Schatz as well as M. Aschwanden never made lantern parts in Swiss. There where small batches of parts made in the beginning at mostly Ditmar but when they also seized production, the parts quantities versus prices where not interesting any more. E. Schatz bought the stock pile and they put lanterns together for the Swiss army. Off coarse after some time HASAG parts where absolete and they, army and E. Schatz/Aschwanden, switched to Petromax from Graetz and later on Geniol from Heinze/Hipolito. It is said that due to the lantern boxes in use the PX lanterns had to fit the HASAG sizes and that is why there is a 500cp tank and smaller 250cp upper part lantern developed. Now a days Swiss lantern HASAG or Petromax boxes complete are rare and huge prices are asked. Off coarse shipping is also never cheap.
@WimVe I'm glad I was able to study. thank you. Is it correct that it was made in Switzerland by combining parts made by a German manufacturer? I would be very happy if you could continue to share your knowledge with me.
It is what do define as "Made in". Made in Germany usually means put together in Germany from Chinese parts. Made in Swiss may then include "put together" in Swiss from parts made elsewhere.
@WimVe Thank you for teaching me. You may know, so let me ask you a question. There are 551L and 551LD, but what do these l and LD mean?
sorry My master told me that L is as follows. The "L" suffix means preheating with kerosene/ gasoline/alcohol and comes with a preheat device which has the basket-like appearance and the upper part can be lifted with a lever. I still don't quite understand what the D in LD means. I'll wait for someone to tell me. thank you.
That is not quite correct. Schatz and Aschwanden had local suppliers in Switzerland, who made e. g. vaporizers (both parts), mixing tubes, jets & needles, shades and preheaters for them. The tanks and collars for the 551L / LD came mostly from Ditmar in Austria, and they obviously also imported parts from GDR, such as frames and hoods / chimneys. Often they did improvements and modifications to the parts before they assembled them in their workshop. The Swiss army 250HK types 821/523 for Petrol (Petromax or Geniol) in the more modern boxes were bought in one and manufactured mostly in Torres Vedras / Portugal by Casa Hipòlito. To my knowledge the L or LD types just differ in the mantle support. 551L has a simple mantle, whereas 551LD has the two-hole mantle with the support. There were also other type designations for civil use, such as the Hasaglicht 151E, which was basically a Hasag 51L with the additional Ditmar style preheater, but without the top part of it (that little perforated basket which had to be lifted to ignite the preheater).
Thank you very much for sharing all your work with another nice lantern Is this also known as Kintsugi ? @Fireexit1 mentioned it a little while ago? Great job with everything :-) regards pb
@Martin K. What I previously heard from my master is the same information as you, but you provided more detailed information. thank you. From WimVe and your information, it seems certain that it is at least assembled in Switzerland. Thank you for the information about LD. I've heard this theory from someone else, but my lantern had a double-tied mantle even though it was 551L. Therefore, I am thinking about whether there is another reason for the D in LD. Although I can't find the answer, it's fun to discuss the meaning of LD with knowledgeable people like you, like a scientist deciphering ancient texts. I would be happy if you could continue to teach me many things.
@podbros @Fireexit1 Thank you everyone for your comments. I just did it on a whim, so it's not as good as Kintsugi. However, it may be the same as Kintsugi in terms of "a way to enjoy the broken parts as individuality''. After seeing everyone's comments, I thought that Fireexit1 had done Kintsugi, so I searched for it, but unfortunately I couldn't find it. Please tell us more about what Fireexit1 did. I'm interested!
Oh no @Camp numao not me - but here in the UK there are shops on the high street where you can take lessons in how to do it. I will stay with brass, steel and paraffin. I only know because my nephew went to one.
Mind you that these lanterns were often assembled and disassembled by various people during their lifetime, especially in the army. I got that information from Ruedi Fischer, who has also a document from the 1960s where this is mentioned.
@Fireexit1 There are various lessons. Thank you for the information about the UK. @WimVe Thank you for the addition.
