Hi, I'm wondering just how delicate a mantle really is. The reason is that I've got a car without an electrical system and I can't afford a proper set of acetylene lamps for it, as would have been originally fitted. I suspect my Lucas wick-type oil side lights just won't cut the mustard on a dark night, so I'm thinking of building something from scratch and/or with spare parts. (I know there's a sub-forum for that sort of thing, but my actual question is a bit more general). I'm looking at homebuilt acetylene as well, but I've become quite a fan of paraffin since I got a stove and a blowtorch and am very impressed with the amount of light from pressure lamps (I haven't actually got one yet, but I'll hopefully rectify that soon). If I went down the paraffin route, I'd probably mount the lamps between springs with a flexible hose (probably flexible brake pipe to keep the pressure up) joining the burners to a single tank on a running board via copper pipe. I'm also looking at an electrical option, but then you have to keep a battery charged which isn't so easy as topping up a fuel tank. So how much vibration can a mantle cope with? I hope this isn't to heretical, otherwise I'll crawl back here once I've got a proper lamp.
Hi Tom, welcome on board! I think your best bet would be the Lucas (OK, I know he's known as the Prince Of Darkness ) wick lanterns, or carbide lamps. As Gneiss already stated, once burned the mantles are just ash and will break at the first bump you'll hit! They do have the highest light output but, totally useless on a vehicle! Some are better than others (like the Tilley and Vapalux ) because they are fixed at top and bottom but still they would not last long. Best regards, Wim
Agree, although the abuse and miles my lamps suffer rattling around in the back of a S3 Land Rover are surprising! A few thousand miles now with nothing else but a 1/2" piece of rubber under them to stop them sliding around!! There is a reference picture of a Tilley suspended on a 3-spring arrangement for fitting to railway cars while they are being shunted..... So, give it a go, suspend it on a damping mechanism and see how long a mantle survives, just carry a spare with you instead of a bulb.... Or a central reservoir and a piped feed system to a vapouriser/hood/reflector in each corner with coloured lenses Go on, try it, you know you want to, but please take pictures..... Alec.
Thanks for the above. Gnsis's and Wim's replies are about what I'd read, but Rangie's makes me think it might be worth looking into. Perhaps I could do an experiment with a mantle mounted on something between springs, burn it off with a blowtorch and give it a few knocks to see how it responds. Of course I'll have to add some mass to the mantle otherwise the springs would be useless with so little inertia. I'll see what I come up with, but I'll probably need some input from here as I'm new to lamps. BTW, the lamp part (i.e. not the fuel tank) of your (Rangie) avatar looks just the thing I'd be after in the end if this works. What is it?
Hi Tom, if you want to try a pressure lamp, try a Tilley or Vapalux one, as these use a mantle that is tied at top and bottom. This makes the mantle a lot more shock-proof. There is an adaptor for Petromax style lanterns that enables you to use 2-tie mantles on them as well. With 2-tie mantles your mantle is fixed (and therefor supported) at top and bottom, which gives a more stable and stronger mantle. Good luck with your experiments! Best regards, Wim
Primus used two-tied too, so that is also an option, but I assume British stuff is easier for you to get hold of.
To be perfectly honest, why spoil a ship for a halfpenny worth of tar. Most restorations come to a point where you have to save some money to carry on, but that is part of the fun. I suggest saving for the original pattern, that would be far more authentic than anything else. On the subject of mantle durability, I would say a snowflake would beat it in a fair fight,just don't go there.
