Hi there all beig as there have been a few posts in the open forum of a few blow lamps mainly petrol blow lamps, i thought i show one i purchased about 20 years ago, as back then i started out collecting blow lamps which mainly was the standard paraffin fueled lamps this Bladon B59 was my first petrol lamp i ever purchased. I bought this from a carboot sale in Enfield for only £5.00 and it had only been used a few times if no at all Here is a pick of the B59 and shortly after buying this lamp i decided to fire it up, i mention this as this is a safety issue to watch out for, i noticed at the bottom of the tank a nut/plug so the cotton wick in the pick up tube can be removed and replaced, even though the first time i fired this lamp up i rember this very well i did check there was a washer in the filler cap and made sure the plug/nut at the bottom of the tank was screwed in tight which it was i then filled the lamp just enough fuel with ronson lighter fluid only a small amount, and left it for a little while for the fuel to soak up the wick, and then i checked to see if the nut at the bottom of the tank was not leaking fuel which it did not. So i filled the spirit cup with meths and primed it just as the meths burnt away i opened up the control knob slowly and it lit and it burnt with a perfect atmospheric blue roaring flame, after a short while may be a few mins i noticed the work surface it sat on had a damp patch around the fuel tank and i relised it was fuel so i quickly shut the lamp down,even though the nut at the bottom of the tank did not leak with the fuel at normal tempreture/pressure but as the pressure in the tank built up the old cork washer was not able to hold the pressure so fuel started to slowly seep through the nut i was lucky it did not build up to full pressure and what fuel was leaking did not ignite, so it was drained of fuel and when i checked the washer it was made of cork and must have dried out, and decided to change the washer at some point and re fire it up but never got around to it until know 20 years later. i decided to get it out of storage and fettle it i replaced the cork washer with one of Ross's viton filler cap washers for a 2 pint stove i did have to punch a hole in it, i then used some thread lock/sealent as a extra precaution, and changed the filler cap washer and re packed the gland with some graphite yarn. i forgot to mention this lamp is date stamped on the underside of the tank which is 1951 Here is a pick of the filler cap showing the safety valve, in some cases the petrol blow lamp/stove is safer over the paraffin fueld lamp/stove as they were the first to be fitted with a safety valve and have been so since And here are a few pics of the lamp operating
Hi, great report, pity there's not been another comment for just a few days shy of 14 years! Here's my B59 that I cleaned today. I've been experimenting with electrolysis, so this was a few hours electrolysis, 20 mins with a stainless scourer and 10mins with some silvo wadding. I managed to unseize everything except the locknut with some heat and diy wd40 mix. Mine is marked T. E. Bladon & Son 1934 underneath and for some reason has natty sombrero type Sievert filler cap, but no safety valve. Your pics are really handy for comparing how mine has been bashed about and neglected over the decades. I probably won't fire this one up as I have enough others, so it's good to see yours in action.
Some Bladon kerosene (paraffin) blowlamps do also have the automatic safety device fitted. The model B59 is a half pint model. I am not surprised that a posting of a specific blowlamp has not had a reply over many years. I have had many posts on lanterns without replies. I guess it is really if the members have some connection to the post and have something to add. I guess the main point of the original post though was the importance of seals and the safety aspect. This of course flows through to all pressure devices. Incidentally, the Bladon automatic safety devices sometimes need their seal replaced too.
