I am having a problem with my Bialaddin 300X from about 1949. It is a lovely piece to look at; but, it's not going to be a 'shelf queen' if I have anything to do with it. I want it fully functional like all the other pieces I have aboard. Just today I installed new seals in the 11/4" filler cap and a new seal under the vaporizer all bought from Ross. It now holds pressure for the first time since I bought it on 'Mother Ebay'. When I lit it, I was surprised at how slow it responded to pressure as I pumped away. Also, the makeshift mantle I made from a Peerless, 111 with a small hole in the bottom of it for the vaporizer to pass through, only went 'bright' at the upper 1/3 of it, the lower portion remained full of carbon from the preheat process. The mantle never came to full 'bloom'. Here's the main issue, the upper portion of the brass burner began to glow red hot. When I saw this from the vantage point of looking through the top of the vent, I immediately had the common sense to let pressure off the fount and shut her down. It would seem to me that combustion is going on where it should not be. Will some one in CPL advise me on what to do, what to address, et cetera? I would appreciate your input. Thank you, Captain Mike De Long aboard the trawler Covenant in Hampton, Virginia.
Hello Mike, that's strange behaviour for a Bialaddin, are all parts of the burner properly tightened and is the vapouriser sound? Jeff.
Firstly , the lower 2/3rds of the mantle not incandescing due to carbon from the preheat process isn't right. What fuel did you use to pre-heat it, Mike? What you call 'wood alcohol' is the stuff to use. Secondly, the red-hot burner top sounds like underburn - was there a roaring sound at the same time? It's usually due to lack of pressure and you mention how slow you thought the lantern responded to your pumping. Maybe the pump isn't developing pressure and needs servicing. I'm assuming Ross's seals are doing their job and there aren't any air leaks...
Hail Jeff & David. I use isopropyl alcohol 91% for preheating and I think it works well. I may have put a bit too much on the preheat 'tray' and thus sooted up the mantle a tad. As for all the parts being tight I believe they are. I'm burning a 50% mixture of jet fuel & ultra low marine diesel. The pump is working fine, I just replaced the leather with one from Ross. There was never any 'roaring' going on that I could audibly detect. But it is obvious that there is combustion going on inside the burner and I don't think it should be doing that. Am I correct? Thank you, Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
Hello Mike, a Bialaddin is desgined to run on paraffin and in the USA., the fuel to use is called Kero-1 and proper mantles would be a good idea too. The fuel which you are using is causing the problems, Jeff.
Hail Jeff. Jet fuel is highly refined kerosene with a few additives. I have burned the 50/50 mix in my Petromax type pressure lanterns without any issue at all. Getting the correct mantle is the next hurdle. As you can assume, there is no one in America that I know of who stocks the correct mantles and I am out of them at this juncture. Thank you, Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia. Time to retire, it's dusk here on the east coast of America, whilst you Brits are fast asleep. The early bird gets the worm it is said.
Hello Mike, your lantern may work better on just the jet fuel, but a Bialaddin will not like diesel. It's burner system is different from the Petromax type of burner system. You can order mantles from Base Camp and Bialaddin/Vapalux mantles are often listed on UK., Ebay, Jeff.
Wish you'd mentioned that earlier, Mike - I could have put some in with the Tilley parts I sent to you other day. They'd have acted as packing as well for no extra postage charge. I should have realised you were using some sort of 'homebrew' for fuel - no wonder your lantern isn't happy...
Ah, I recall Mike telling us his trawler had a 700 gallon (or was it litres?) tank of diesel so maybe mixing some of that into the kero is an economy measure. If so, I think that'll turn out to be false economy when vapourisers have to be changed more frequently...
Yes a Petromax will accept a cruder fuel than Tilley or Vapalux. I have heard of folk using deisel in Petromax lamps but I know very well that other makes will not. I did try with a Tilley and any more than about 20% deisel meant a very difficult pre heat and the light was very poor. So you can't run Vapalux type burners on any fuel heavier than 28 second. That means kero or Jet A only. In fact they may run slightly better with a 10% addition of naphtha if your local kero is of a poor quality so you can mix in a lighter fuel but not heavier. ::Neil::
Hail Christer, David & Neil. I have an 800 gallon main fuel tank aboard. A dear friend gave me about 400 gallons of jet fuel that I added to the half full diesel tank. The Petromax type lanterns seem to do okay on it. I have a provision in the engine room, where the main diesel tank is located, to draw off from said tank with the aid of a 12 volt driven fuel pump. It has been nice to fill my 5 gallon 'Jerry jug' instead of having to go to a fueling station for kerosene. The hand writing is on the wall, gentlemen, it looks like I'll be using straight kerosene from now on. Thanks to all of you for your tutelage....Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
Ah, you have already mixed all your jet-fuel with diesel! I can fully understand the idea in keeping things simple with just being able to use the fuel readily available. I'm the same. I suggest you just simply stick to lanterns that will accept that blend. I assume that's probably means lanterns with a preston loop since they are less picky with the fuel than those with a simpler vapouriser. Skip the Bialaddin. E.g. Primus 1020 with a simple, straight vapouriser like Bialaddin don't work well on diesel either, but Optimus 300 with a loop works fair enough on it, even if it's more dim than when run on the real deal.
Hail CPL viewers. I posted a topic of my Bialaddin running red hot several weeks ago. It is still doing the same thing and I am about to start looking for a replacement burner for the 1940 model 300X. Thus far I have switched out two vaporizers to no avail. I have also installed new gaskets at the fuel tank fill and under the vaporizer. The unit holds pressure fine now. I dumped the remainder of the 50/50 diesel jet fuel blend in favor of straight kerosene. That seems to help a good bit and it worked wonders in my Tilley which now runs incredibly well on the new ration of fuel meant for it. I have taken an image of the mantle burning and as you can see, something isn't right somewhere. Where can I find a replacement burner for my 300X? Thank you, Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
Hello Skipper Mike, the vapouriser's jet is very enlarged and it's possible that the burner has come to the end of it's working life. Perhaps a CPL., member will have some unused spares for trade, Jeff.
