The 1959-62 Variation Cosyglo heaters are Australian made from the thirties through to the mid to late sixties. Initially they offered an electric heater that had fake coals that glowed. I guess thus the name. Advertising shows what I think are three variations. Prior to 1959 and certainly from about 1953, they advertised a kero pressure room heater which I will refer to as the presumed first kero model. The manufacturer was probably J. A. Gamble Pty Ltd, of Epping, NSW, Australia and they were often distributed through a large firm, Permewan Wright Pty Ltd, as ads show in 1954. The First Variation?? In June 1957 Stanley Benjamin Gamble was the inventor who took out a patent on ceramic conical burners to improve the Cosyglo heater. The patent was published in 1958 and accepted on 5 June 1959. Patent So, my model Cosyglo is what I presume is the second variation, post patent and manufactured still by J.A. Gamble Pty Ltd. This variation has a badge on it recommending Mobil kerosene. Top View of 1959-62 Variation (approx dates) Rear view of 1959-62 Unit. Note: The drain tin is missing from the holder. A third variation seems to be shown in advertisements around May 1963. A tank with a label advertising BP kerosene and with a visual gauge is different and may be the first or third variation. This was posted in CCS by @Graham P in 2017 and can be found at: https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/mystery-heat-producing-object.36603/#post-377712 2017 CCS Post re Unknown Fount I guess it may well be the first variation because it looks older than mine and in 1965 Cosyglo were involved with Esso in relation to their oil heaters, so perhaps BP was first, then Mobil and later Esso. Around 1965 two later models Cosyglo Major (around 1963) and Cosyglo Comet (around 1965) can be found but are part of the popular oil heaters that were in vogue at the time. The company was liquidated in 1969 according to newspaper reports. A possibly related company and its details are quite interesting and are shown here. Note carefully the interesting names. General Description The fount is around 10” long has a filler cap with an air release screw and a separate pump marked ‘Prestige’ It appears to be a Tilley clone but the diameter of the pump tube is 0.7245” and it will not fit the older Tilley’s whose diameter are around 0.686” and go into a hole that is 0.709”. So maybe Kayen made them as they do screw onto the Kayen founts but only about one and a half turns compared to the Kayen pumps doing about two and a half turns. A large lever operates a pricker inside a long generator that sits over 4 ceramic burners at the front, thus the need for the lever to enable people not to have to crawl into the case to get at the pricker. The four ceramic burners sit under elements that glow when heated and out of the burner tube runs a drain that takes any surplus liquid back into a small tin at the rear of the case. The fount is steel and is made of two halves welded in the centre on the vertical plain. The case has aluminium bezels around the front opening and a thin sheet of asbestos coats the metal support behind the 4 main elements. Fettling I stripped most of the case and parts down. I removed a lot of rust from the top and bottom and added 4 small rubber stopper legs to lift the base off the ground. I removed all pop rivets and hammered bent parts straight. The asbestos backing was cautiously removed and replaced with a piece of thin steel. Painted the top and bottom and the grill. Bolts inside the unit were replaced with brass ones. The two screws in the photo that look undone are not fully done up as I want to still remove the grill to do some more work on it. I manufactured the missing square tin. Operating the Room Heater Operating the unit involves lifting the front curved flap and filling a wide recess with methylated spirits. Pre-heating The first thing I noticed was the vapours coming out of the rear drain tube. Reminded me of a steam engine. A vapour trail whilst pre-heating was occurring. After about 2 minutes I closed the air release screw and waited a further minute or so before operating the lever to retract the pricker from the generator jet. After another minute, I pumped the tank up. I estimate the tank can hold about 1.7 litres but because of the location of the filler cap I put in about 600ml or 1 pint (imperial). A nuisance is that if you tilt the heater and tank the ceramic burners all fall forward. Thus, the long hose and funnel I have seen elsewhere in an eBay advertisement may well be a good idea. Problems Whilst the burners worked, they never came up to full strength though I pumped it up quite well. I feel there is still an air leak and I have swapped the ¾” filler cap washer to a solid one to bypass the air release screw. That’s not the issue, so I will replace the pump washers fully soon and check for leaks in the fuel pipeline. The flames are far too yellow, though they went a lot bluer when I upped the pressure which quickly dropped off again. The ceramic burner outlets Only a little blue flame, mostly yellow. Timeline Fake Coal Electric (1930+) Cosyglo Kero (Early fifties) Cosyglo Kero (1959-62) model Cosyglo Kero (1963-65) model as in red picture Cosyglo Major Oil Heater (abt 1963) Cosyglo Comet Oil Heater (abt 1965) Cosyglo Pty Ltd liquidated (30 Sep 1969 NSW Govt Gazette Issue 19690701-19690930) J. A. Gamble Pty Ltd liquidated (30 Sep 1969 NSW Govt Gazette Issue 19690701-19690930) Other Photos The little tin I made to go under the drain tube. @Henry Plews @ROBBO55 @Graham P @Tony Press Stay safe
Excellent, Iain! Well done - a great presentation. [A slight aside: After my father returned home from WWII, he had a job as a bookkeeper with Permewan Wright in Baradine (NSW) before taking up a soldier settler’s block near Carcoar]. Cheers Tony
A belter of a heater. Very nice. I've an old Rippingilles fyrsyde paraffin heater which will be seeing use shortly as it's getting colder here in Scotland.
@bigyin I'd send mine across to help with the cold but the way the postage is running it wouldn't get there till Summer. Stay warm.
@Sedgman Hello Lain A picture of the first model for you. Can I ask what is the serial number on the red tag on your heater ???? Cheers Mark.
@Marko57 A nice find and a piece of Australiana liquid fuelled history. I agree it seems like it is the first model. PS That Quirk's stove/oven (range?) looks great. Primus controls and a Companion tank but a Quirk's stove it is. The top looked like mine and I didn't rechrome, just painted it silver and it looks ok.
@Sedgman Hello Lain The heater oven are not mine, maybe one day. I do have a CosyGlo made not long after your one. Serial No 17797
