I've searched the forum looking for an answer to this question but can't find it or via google. Might be a silly question. Mantle changing, how long does/can a mantle last for? In my case the Vapalux 300X. I know how to change it but how long do they last for?
Depends on what you do with them.... - do you light the mantle ? - do you move the lighted lantern ? - do you move the unlit lantern ? - when moved : do you walk with the lantern or does it travel inside a car for how many km ? Maybe silley questions/answers at first glance but that are the parameters you have to deal with. I take my lanterns to meeting in a car for several hunderds of km, light them walk around with them and they come back with the same mantle. Other don't make the one hour mark due to my hands...
Depends on so many things - until you accidentally poke a hole in it, how roughly you treat the lantern, until something flies in there etc. I can't ever remember having to change a mantle because it just wore out through long usage... Edit - we crossed, Wim...
Depends so much on all sorts of things. I have a Coleman 339 here which I bought in about 1985 with a mantle fitted and burnt in. It has done maybe ten weeks camping with Scouts and seen a lot of service in between. I have replaced the generator but it still has that original mantle in it and it works just fine. I have also had mantles fail after ten miinutes. One thing you can do to preserve them for travel is to spray with cheap hair lacquer. Don't steal the wife's fancy stuff but get a cheap £1 can from a boot sale because the cheap lacquers are a firm and stiff hold and better for this job than expensive "Soft Hold" types. You can load a lot on without damage and it makes the mantles quite stiff and strong so they will resist vibration well. When you light the lamp you can do so in the normal way and the lacquer will flash burn off in a second or so leaving the mantle in good working order. ::Neil::
ah, that is one I forgot to mention, while breaking mantles: don't hold the spray can to close..... Yes I know this obvious but still.
The simple answer is a question, how long is a piece of string? You can have one mantle that lasts for ages, but when you replace it, the new one might only last for minutes. Such are the vagaries of mantles. Just enjoy them!
Well, that's only your opinion, Christer, and you know what they say about opinions. IMHO, it's obviously the Avogadro number i.e. 6.023 x 10 to the power 23...
Is there a "best procedure" for braking in a new mantle to make it last longer? Other than just prime with meths, and run it for 10 minutes?
There was a theory put about a year or so back that running a mantle for the first time for over two hours would make it last longer. I am not convinced but I know some folk are. ::Neil::
When I fit a new mantle, I pre-heat once to burn off the mantle and then I pre-heat a second time to ready the lamp for being lit. I then light the lamp and let it burn for an evening. I find that this procedure helps the mantle to form better and usually they last longer too. With double tie mantles such as Tilley and Vapalux, make sure that the mantle is not twisted before pre-heating, the newly fitted mantle should be sort of bell shaped, Jeff.
And then you can have my luck and have a Tilley Happy Mantle do this to you: This mantle appeared secure and had about 5 hours on it when it detached somehow. I replaced it with a Base Camp Pro that went on quite nicely
Hello AL, I have now had the same problem with a Tilley Happy mantle and so have two of my neighbours. I have never had that problem with any of the older Tilley Happy mantles, but the build quality of the modern mantles varies. The metal which is used to make the ring nowadays is not always able to cope with the heat. Sometimes the ring breaks and sometimes it expands, but the result is the same, the mantle falls off and shatters. In my opinion, another fault is that the weave of the modern mantles is to loose, Jeff.
Interesting... I've stopped using new "Happy Mantles" for the X246 because of the same problem Mr Al has had. BTW I bought a bunch of Tilley mantles from Japan at a goog price. They are rather bigger than the standard X246 mantle, and their string-ties are a bit weak (and sometimes break while tying and require an additional string) - but they burn-in very well, give a good bright light without flaming outside the mantle, and appear to be lasting very well.
I've not had that happen yet, but as they say if it can happen it will happen, so I'm sure it will sooner or later... What I can say is that pretty much any pressure lamp mantle lasts a lifetime compared to Aladdin mantles that die at the drop of a hat... literally.
Agree with Gneiss, I find Vapalux/Bialaddin mantles a bit tetchy to say the least. I much prefer thoriated Tilley mantles, they seem to last for ever.
Are you talking about "Aladdin" mantles or "Vapalux/Bialaddin" mantles? These are two completely different things...
Hi Si if I have to re tie a mantle or bust the string in one I got some stainless steel wire they use for tying fishing flies works great really fine something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stainless-Steel-Wire-Fly-Tying-/251086363933?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a75e9dd1d pete
Sailmaker's cotton thread: I wax it a bit with candle wax ( by pulling it across a candle) so it ties easier.
Thanks gents, I have used paper clips in the past as a get me home so to speak. I'll order some of that steel wire, cheep as chips and even I maybe able to make it work. I'm off to Cromer in August so maybe if there is a chandlers I'll be able to pick up some sail makers thread as well. I love boat yards as they have lots of old cookers for usually not much money. Si
mantles with busted strings etc I just use fuse wire or very thin copper wire etc works well and stands up to rough treatment to . Bob .
I have found you can use just about anything because the mantle will shape to fit anyway. Thin string or even cotton will do. It all burns off anyway and it is the mantle ash that retains its shape and stays in place. ::Neil::
