I think I need to figure out Mica...2 project Coleman quick lites

Well... This forum has been really interesting. As I said I knew nothing about lanterns other than 220 Colemans and later...and never heard of a pressure lamp...

Yeah you guys suck with your awesome photos of things I have not seen before ..

So I bought two... One 327 quick lite and a 427....I know next to nothing either than what I have learned here in the last month.

I'm going to tear them apart now.. But I've never seen or used a mica globe... I'm probably going to try to fix them too if it's not impossible...

Both holding air so far .. The one with the r55 with the square nut is plugged but the generator is just dirty... It's going to be a long night haha

 

One is dated 6-7 and the other is 4-10 but not sure if that means July 1926 and October 1924....

 

Yes year first is correct for these '20 lanterns. ::Neil::

 

@Mackburner thanks for the confirmation!

So far the R55 is toast... It's plugged solid and cannot prick it. Also... The needle is broken off inside... Ahh well .. Got a spare coming

 

Brought one of them back to life... The other needs a new tank as the pump just sits in the tank... It just comes off...

 

Well saved!

 

@JEFF JOHNSON just wait...haha... The other is worse and right now the wife is trying her hand at replacement mica (she has small hands for delicate work) so she's very slowly removing the mica on the bad globe. Personally I think it's going to work out... I'll post some photos of the progress later

 

Wife's progress on the mica .. She thinks it's pretty easy to work on... Just removing the bad mica...

 

More fettle more fun IMHO. Just enjoy the process
These are so cool looking approx. 100 year old lamps. I just do not understand why these are so cheap compared to oldest (but still younger) European lamps. Are there really so plenty of them in US? I guess that WWI and WWII reduced also lamp population in Europe...
all the best,
Piotrek

 

@Piotrek Oh you know it. I still enjoy the stoves and lanterns after they are done, but I seriously look for more project items to keep me busy. Haha...as I mentioned before I am more of a stove guy, but this forum sparked my interest into "pressure lamps". When I contacted the guy I bought the item from on the bay he mentioned he had two of the lanterns but one was returned from a customer who thought it worked right out of the box. After a few messages back and forth he gave me a great deal on the both of them as a lot and sent them my way.

Initially the one I wanted was complete and just needed some work to get running. Most of the work is just cleaning. The 427 however is toast. Well at least the tank is. The external pump just comes out of the font...broken out. I see why the guy returned it, but it was cheap for a parts stove. I ordered another font and that was cheap too.

I guess here theyre pretty common, but the Tilley lamps are really scarce. I have never seen one here before, and the only place I can get anything for them would be on the bay. The coleman stuff howver...easy. There was a local (once a month) outdoor antique market near my house the wife and I went to. Took about 10 minutes to find some 220E lanterns...$5-10 dollars each...all late 1950's. Coleman's are easy here (well except the canadian stuff)

In a few days the mica arrives and we will see how my wife does with replacing the panels on the junk globe, and the new font. Font was $20 (cheaper than the mica) The first lamp is done, and been burning it off and on to get used to how it works (never been around a Q99 generator but I like it)

 

@Remus1956 Lucky you having Coleman as a national treasure with such a variety of quality products and still doing well.

 

Sounds like you are down the rabbithole now - congrats on two lovley acquisitions. Over here in the UK we sit waist deep in Tilleys and Bialaddins, but lanterns like your two additions are not so common.
When you say the pump just somes out - is this just a solder failure ? - some photos of the issue would elicit some advice/opinion I reckon.

 

@Fireexit1 yeah... It just comes out of the font hahaha
No matter how much I pump I cant seem to build pressure haha

 

OK well we can see that the ring loose inside the font belongs on the pump collar, inside the font and the threaded collar on the outside. It looks like it was once soldered in place. It has been dropped/bashed at some point and is a little mishapen. This makes re-soldering it more tricky but not impossible. I would try and clean it up a little, take the pump out of the threaded collar and rig up a jig to press (pull) the ring upwards while the threaded collar is pushed in, then run some solder. Have you done any soldereing with a torch before ?
it also looks like somebody tried to fix it with some kind of putty/filler in the past.
others here may have better ideas and/or experience of this very issue.

 

@Firestarter oh uh.... Yeah about that...I guess I can try it... But yeah never done that before. I'll have to see if I can take the pump apart

 

@Fireexit1 sorry tagged the wrong user ...
Just got the replacement tank... cleaning it up now...

 

It's all together and looking better than I thought but had the one ear break off that's under the burner... But got it aligned anyway...wife was bored watching anime so she decided she wanted to help build it. More photos later but it's alive and burned well!

 

And....it works.... Bright and steady .. Waiting for the mica to work on the gloves so borrowing a globe for now.... for her it's the first time lighting one up

 

Nice result

 

@Fireexit1 thanks for that. I'm just waiting now on the mica to give that a try.. It's arriving any day now...
They look good to me...and both run.
Left is the new tank dated 1925, laft is the 1924...

And the busted tank... I might try to fix that... Going to look at a lot of posts regarding soldering

 

Something interesting though. The cut out for the refill cap... It's in different places on the burner cage.
Example... If the lanterns were stripped of all items...just bare carrying handles connected to cages...and you were to hang them on a nail next to each other...the cut out for the refill spout is on the left on one of them... On the right for the other...weird

 

To anyone who's reading this. So there's a difference in the old original mica...and replacement mica from old Coleman parts. The old stuff is really thin..like paper...and the replacement mica is a lot thicker... Like a postcard. It cuts with scissors but I'm scared to flex it.
The wife is trying her skills at replacement now....

 

So... She's about to close it up haha... It looks good!!!

 

One down...one to go..

 

From here that new mica looks splendid!

 

@Fireexit1 man it looks great. I like how it looks used still. The lanterns looks great but they definitely have age and patina. So having a brand new mica globe with a shiny frame didn't sit well with me. Repair of the bad mica was something I couldn't do as I would not have the patience but its definitely not as hard as we thought it would be. I don't know if we could build a new frame and all but replace mica in an old one is very doable.
Thanks man... appreciate someone enjoying the photos and posts

 

The new mica has a scent to it when it the lantern is running... Like...hmmm.... Like slightly burnt rubber...faint but there. I'm curious if the smell goes away after some use

 

I think that the new mica will colour up a bit with use. And yes the mica does stop smelling after a bit - just like a new toaster :-)

 

Good work and looks great
Thanks for all the pictures

I get what you mean about the new with the old.. perhaps on a user lantern the metal will heat and blend in sooner?

hadnt heard (or smelt) the new mica thing so interesting to hear :-)