Primus 1051

This is my new project. I will recieve it coming thursday. Nils S. wrote interesting information about the screw-downpump on the lampreferencegallery. This is all I saw before buying

I know it burns gasolin and that about it, so I might need help lightning it up.
I can't wait to see if I am to cry or laugh while drooling.

Claus C

 

That certainly isn't a very flattering, or revealing photo, but it looks promising!
I have never seen any Primus lantern in person, but from the Gallery, the 1051 looks robust and with few things to go wrong so it should be fun as long as all the working bits are still there and functional.
Nice to see that a Coleman R55 generator will work on these, so you can still get it running if the original generator is missing or damaged.

Regards,
Doug E.

 

Interesting lamp, but the photo looks like made by Deep Sea Explorer on ocean's bottom, or during spiritualist session (from the other hand, vapour-operating lamp called on spiritualist session -- it seems to be appropriate...)
Some level of uncertainty spices the process of collecting...

 

It will be good to see some better photos when you get it. Not one of my favourite Primus lanterns, but they are interesting to fettle (reasonably easy as well).

 

Here's a little follow-up.
Just arrived in the driveway and the lamp looks much better than the photo I was send to my phone (not deepsea-explorer)
No dents, no scratches or missing item. Ready to fire.
Now I will clean this beauty up.





Claus C

 

So here she is, cleaned and fixed after dismantling, wich I didnt find as easy as I hoped, but now I know how to









I dont know if matles for at 150 petromax will fit - but I will testrun this evening.
The pump acts a bit funny. It returns a bit of pressure so the pump-stick goes a bit up again, but only until it is lock-screwed in the topcoil. Is that normal for this pump .
The tank is not leaking and all valves is working included the preheater-ish.
Bottommark says AL/8 - from 1947.

Claus C

 

Looking good Claus. I assume the marks on the hood are reflections. It looks like there is a screw missing from the filler cap. Is the inner part there? The pump should not leak. It sounds like you need a new seal in the NRV. The NRV on these is a larger size than normal so don't damage it. They are not common.

I have used 150cp mantles before (Santrax) with ok results. The ones I used didn't seem to form well on the one side though. I have also used Optimus 250cp mantles. Work ok and seem to shrink to the needed size. I think it is a good idea to use round shaped mantles as opposed to Coleman types.

 

Hi Nils
Nice to hear it has been tried with those mantles - thanks.
I knew it was too good to be true, yes the screw was never there, but the innercap is there but it can just fall out if in my hand if I open the fillercap.
The hood looks new my phone just wouldnt take a usefull picture while there was too much sun.
I think I have to make a screw this evening before fireing up - cant wait I love this lamp


Claus C

 

Hi Claus, nice score!
I suppose you could use 2 Coleman #21 mantles just for trying if you don't have any better ones. As an initial test, you can even run the lantern without mantles, the burners should show nice bleu flamelettes. Maybe the vapouriser may not be kept hot enough for a lenghty period, but at least it'll give you an idea.

All the best,

Wim

 

Actually I would do the test Wim mentions without mantles first regardless if I had mantles or not!
It's always nicer to find any possible malfunction before you have the mantles attached and burned in.
The screw for the tank lid isn't essential for the function. It will work without it if you just want to test it soon.
The screw can be fixed later.

 

Hi Wim
Thanks, I think it is a good idea to light it up with no mantles and I will do that.
In Danmark there is none Colemanbuyers but collectors So I could never find coleman-mantles 21 here and I actually miss them for my mill-spec 252, so I gotta get a bunch of mantle nr. 21 shipped to my place some day.
The tool I used to take the buttompump was too poor quality and I dont dare to use it anymore, so the pump must wait.
The screw for the fillercap Isnt that the old sweedish inch-messure 3/16 Nils - maybe you know
In the meanwhile a cap from Veritas fits - but not the screw.
There is never a straight line in this lamp-collectingthing, is there

Claus C

Thanks Christer - just saw your answer right now.

 

Just to remind you that you that the airtubes are not installed correctly. You should put the airtubes straight onto the hole, visible at the start of the generator.

Otherwise it should work well. I have also found these are relatively easy to fettle.

Do let us know how you get on with it!

Frank

 

I think the screw is 3/16-24.
It's a coarse thread, and 24 tpi is an exact match with my thread pitch gauge when measuring on one of those lid screws.
Perhaps a regular UNC?

 

Thanks Christer, luckyli I have that cutter.
Here is the spaceshutle:



Claus C

 

Ah, that looks like it should! Just to get those mantles on and you´re done with this one, and ready to get another old Primus.

What fuel are you using, by the way?
I guess Denmark is almost as well supplied as Sweden when it comes to different brands of alkylate petrol, so you´re not stuck with the more expensive Aspen?

 

I'm not 100% sure, but the thread is most likely Whitworth. All the old Swedish stuff is. 3/16W is 24 tpi.

As Christer said, the screw isn't necessary for it to seal properly. It just makes it handy when removing the cap.

I usually use 'rensebenzin' in petrol lamps. It's readily available and cheap enough.

I would rotate the generator a bit so that the cleaning mechanism is in line with the air tube and generator. That way it is not directly under one of the burners.

 

Whitworth is generally more common on older stuff than this lantern, but it´s absolutely possible.
I have found it now and then on various Swedish stuff atleast as late as up to the fifties.

 

Oh I thought it was possible to use unleaded gasolin oktan 95, so I did that. But if the experiences says "rensebenzin" then I will use that. I dont know much about long term use of gasoline-lamps.

Yes the generator was annoying me too - but I just put it together after dismantling to as when I got it. It is a bit locked in positioning by the hole to the handle, wich is cut out in the bottomplate, but I can turn it a bit. The angle for the stick must also push a bit to the side, so there is limits for adjusment here


Claus C

 

Yeah you can say that again Christer, I was scoring my wife in a Volvo 121 (amazon) and it was full of that stuff so I almost had to change all my tools in my workshop to keep it running.

Claus C

 

Thanks Frank. There is a hole under the airtube. The bottomdisk has two airholes and I dont know why, but it is not possible to use the other one because of the preheater-ish hole. So the air-tube should be right - though it looks not.

Claus C

 

Yes, there were two different plates for the bottom of the cage, and the one Frank is thinking about do only have one hole.
I guess it's depending of the period of manufacturing? Atleast the earlier ones seem to have the plate with only one of these larger offset holes.
These also has some embossed patent text on them ("patent sökt" on my 30's lanterns).

 

Car petrol should not be used in lamps and stoves. There are lots of aditives that will clog up the generator reasonably quickly and I believe the fumes they give are not healthy. Like Christer mentioned, you should use an alkylate petrol like the stuff used for four stroke chain saws (Aspen is a known brand but expensive) or any other unleaded fuel without aditives. An easily available option in Denmark is 'rensebenzin'.

 

Hi CPL
I guess I got lucky again and found a new new project - also a Primus 1051 Here it is just arrived:


it seems to a honest lamp with no former fettling - so I cleaned it a bit up and compared it to the first one in this thread:



They are both stamped AL/8 in the bottom - but the handles looks different to each other. You can see my new lamp to the left and the "old" one to the right.

I looked in the lamp reference gallery among the 1050 and 1051 but I cant find this handle. It is marked Primus. What is that handle normally sitting on?

If the number "8" maybe is a workingstation then I find that hard to believe, while I dont think this lamp was fettled ever before.

I found no other differences.

Claus C

 

Actually I looked at all the lamps in Lamp Reference Gallery and didnt find any Primus lamp with that handle mounted

Claus C

 

The AL from Primus chart is 1947 is the 8 not the month of manufacture??
Graham.

 

When you say handle, I assume you mean the control wheel for the valve. This is very interesting. I had previously assumed that the change from the 12 knob wheel to the 6 knob version happened in 1949. If this lamp is original, it then means that the change happened during 1947.

You were extra lucky with that lamp as you got an extra alcohol cup with it. They are frequently missing on the models were they should be.

 

No.

 

Thanks Nils - you just rescued the alcohol-cup back to the lamp - I thought it was a mistake the cup was there because of the preheater so I put it away to sparepart-store. But now its back

Yes it is the controlwheelhandle im talking about - where can I see one beside on this lamp

Claus C

 

I have actually found that I have a picture of a 1051 from 1947 with the 6 knob wheel. I am not allowed to upload pictures from work, so will try and remember this evening.

I didn't mean that the alcohol cup was meant to be on the 1051. I meant that you were lucky to find one and have a spare for another Primus lamp which will undoubtedly turn up without one (i.e. 1020, 991, etc).

 

They are usually found on blowlamps.
I checked some blowlamps of different models readily available, and the ones with the 6 knob Wheel are from 1949, 1952 and 1955.
The 12 knob version was found on a couple of blowlamps, both made in 1938.