Hello lampies ! This one i've had for some time, it was once drafted in to the German Civil Defence, but since long now retired. It's Stamped on the vent (Bund ZB) ZB standing for Zivilier Bevölkerungsshutz. It's a good working 500Cp lantern with a Rapid heater that works really nice. The valve wheel and the pump knob booth had turned black over the years but i polished them, so now they are blue again, had to tip in the golden paint too :-) It looks really nice with it's top that has turned blue because of the heat. Stamped 2723 on the bottom is was made week 27 1962 day 3. Regards Frederik
G'day Tive, The lantern is in great condition and the blue hood really does highlight the blue knobs.
In this case 2723 means the Wednesday of the 27th week 1972.The Code of the 1960s (1961-1972) Was retained at Petromax in Altena for the last years of construction 1970/71/72.The most Important identifying feature is this soldered ring on the rapid preheater base.
If the pricker control wheel and pump knob are original and are still retaining some of their original blue colours I would also guess the lantern was likely manufactured either in the very late 60s or early 70s. The blue colour for earlier-made lanterns would have usually darkened to brown with age. That is not inclusive of newer parts for the China-made Petromax. It seems that the blue color plastics for these modern ones are not likely to turn brown like the originals, even after aging.
The older parts were made of phenolic resin, which decomposes the blue dye over time when exposed to light.
Yes Martin. I do notice the difference in the dyes used. I still prefer the older ones, with the blue fading off to show the nice brown phenolics/bakelite. Not sure about the newer China-made parts. I do have a piece of this newer pricker wheel. I have deliberately exposed it to direct sunlight for some years. The colour doesn't seem to fade at all. If it does fade eventually, I'd suspect it'll become pale instead of turning brown or dark like the older originals. Not sure if the newer ones are made of the same phenolic resins as the older ones or some other polymers.
Hello, As mention in the original post, the the pricker valve wheel and pump knob was totally brown when I found the lantern, I sanded them down and polished them and they become blue again, however now they are brown again :-) So this is not a certain way to date this lantern to be a 1972 lantern, anyways, Reynard dates this to be a 1972 lantern based on the soldering ring around the pre-heater.
