I’m not alone (right, Henry?) in having had my Thermidor lose vapourisation part-way through a firing. I resolved to wind the vapouriser with thick brass wire, which I annealed first to enable me to get the coils tightly packed. The Veritas bowl fire and Thermidor share the same vapouriser/burner layout but whereas the spherical burner element of the bowl fire almost touches the vapouriser, the lesser width of the lamp’s mantle results in less radiant heat reaching the vapouriser, which at some point stops vapourising the paraffin. The lamp stayed lit without losing vapourisation for a test firing of a couple of hours. Job done. Not the most elegant solution, looks-wise, but the concept having been proved, I might get around to silbrazing a longitudinal brass fin to the vapouriser. John
Nice thinking there john helping keep the vap hot. Simple idea cured it have to remember this fix Cheers pete
@presscall there was similar solution in very old Optimus 100 lamps - pic below. I just put some rolled brass mesh inside the vapouriser to improve vapourisation and /or add some heat reflector above the mixing chamber, but this is always another solution to consider - good idea. all the best Piotrek
Great stuff, John - perhaps this is at least part of the answer with the Veritas Superb, a lot of which seem very temperamental, being susceptible to falling ambient temperatures...
I had something like that in mind, yes. The reverse action of fins on an aircooled motorcycle engine cylinder and head to radiate heat away. @David Shouksmith Ah, the Veritas Superb and your black mantle experiences. The two I’ve had have been well-behaved in that respect, but maybe I’ve not crash-tested them as you have!
Black mantle is only part of it - there were the flare-ups as well as the temperature dropped! I did once have a VS that worked perfectly which I proudly displayed at Newark one year. This was fine until the metal post it was on decided to fall over - the ground was hard and dry that year and I couldn't get the post deep enough in the earth. The lantern was fine but the mantle broke. I replaced that fully expecting the lantern to behave perfectly again. Nope - the burner and vapouriser just didn't 'like' the new mantle and the lantern never worked again...
@presscall thats a good result it looks nice and bright in the video (and quiet?) i may need to utilise this on mine if i can ever get it apart.. thanks pb
Well, it crash-tested itself really. The post it was on started to fall over but was stopped when it lodged against the A-frame cover of the caravan - nothing actually hit the ground. I'd have caught it anyway if the caravan hadn't stopped it falling...
