I recently came into possession of a lamp that i remember seeing as a kid. It is an AGM US patent number 1973184. It also has US stamped into the bottom of the tank along with the usual company and location. I have many questions as I would like to restore it. I do not know the model or year. Is this patent related to many models or only one? In the reference section a 3927 is shown with this patent number but a 3020 also looks like it as well. The tag in the middle is just rust. This lantern looks complete except for the globe and mantles, but I have never used or owned one of these so I am clueless. The knob moves free, the pump will hold pressure, but will not pressurize the tank, if that makes sense. It is if the outlet is plugged. The wire with the loop that comes out the side does not seem to move, but I don't know what I am doing. Where do I start and what do I need to do first? What fuel do I use? Are AGM's more collectable than Coleman or are they the same since they are so similar? Where do you find parts? Are they the same as Coleman or different? How do you light and use one of these? I need all of the education I can get. I appreciate any help I can find. If I don't answer back for a few days, I am that busy, but i will use the info and do appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
Pictures would help. Be advised that AGMs of this vintage are notorious for stress cracks in the tank / font. All testing should be done outdoors, with fire prevention equipment handy. Paul
Where does the patent number appear? Is it somewhere on the burner, or on the lanterns body, so to speak? I checked that patent number, and it was actually applied for on the accounts of the Coleman Company. I think. It's a bit vague... It actually says that the patent is applied for by this Boyd, assignor to the Coleman company. It's about the cleaning needle and jet as seen below in the illustration I snipped out of the patent application. Was there some collaboration between AGM and Coleman? I agree with former speakers! Some pictures would help.
Already had pics on my mind. Here are some before and after cleaning pics. It looks like the top and bottom are different colors. The patent number is stamped into the bottom of the tank. Is there any significance to the different colored tank?
Try the image optimizer. To blow up an already too small picture like David did doesn't make the picture any better, only blurry and pixelated, but it shows well our preferred size! So we really prefer that people try to get them about 640 pixels on the widest side from the start.
Yes, I just picked the first one to show what could easily be done. With my morning eyes on, some of the others seem better in focus. Whatever, the image I showed is 87kB and it's pretty poor considering that size. Some camera setting adjustment required, I would have thought...
The tool I use is XnView, a program similar to Irfanview, you can adjust the picture size and finaly you can use the export function where you can choose the quality settings with a slider, it shows the resulting file size before finaly saving the image. Very handy, no need to upload and download pics to the image optimiser on the website here...
Sounds pretty much as the same function used in Adobe Photoshop, which is my favourite. It's very helpful to actually see directly how the quality decrease as you move the slider for quality backwards.
I fiddled with a couple of the others which looked to be better focussed. They came out no better which definitely indicates the problem is with the original images rather than optimisation - it's the GIGO principle. Another one I fiddled with the other day came out much better, demonstrating that if the basic image is good then optimisation can be effective
I believe the AGM's you're thinking about , were the ones with brass tanks . This one looks like a steel tank , so it should be OK . Unless it's rusted out , of course ;~) Tom
The original pictures are actually quite clear...and HUGE. Being the graphic arts student that I am not, I used Microsoft Paint to re-size them to 640 pixels and came up with a file size of around 300 kb. I kept reducing the file size until it was below the 97 kb maximum allowed. I did originally try the image optimizer, but it said my files were too large. Long story short, I don't know what to do from here with the pictures. I'll be happy to do them again as I have the original ones, but I do not know how.
This is model 3927. They do look the same as 3020 but that is a single mantle 500 cp kero lantern and your 3927 is a twin mantle gasoline lantern. Date is not so easy as I have no paper showing this. Almost certainly 1940s though. 3927A is listed in a 1947 catalogue and the next full line paper I have is 1937 which does not list this or the A version. As it is marked US it was originally sold to the USQM for military use and I believe these are from around 1942 to 1945. The wire loop is a pricker control and if it won’t rotate then it needs care to free off. Remove the generator and shove a little easing oil down there and then unscrew the gland nut on the wire spindle. Then gently keep trying to rotate it. Should free off after a while. And then operate the pricker carrier. The pumps on these have a double check valve which is a ball bearing valve at the end of the pump tube and also a screw down needle valve on the end of the pump rod. To operate you rotate the pump knob anticlockwise a turn and then pump. Once you have pressure then close the needle valve by screwing the pump knob in again. With an old timer like this it is important to do an under water pressure test before adding fuel and lighting. Whist under water operate the controls to make sure the glands are all leak free. Fuel is gasoline which means Coleman Fuel or some other similar naphtha fuel. These lamps are “Instant Lighting” so you operate by closing the valve and then add pressure. Hold a match to the mantles and open the valve a quarter turn and the mantles should light and splutter a bit. Once they settle then open the valve all the way. Neil.
Images for posting need to be resampled to 72 dpi and 640 pixels either way. Then save as a Jpeg at about 30% compression. More than 72 dpi is probably why your files are too big and on a web site you don't need more. You might want 300 dpi for good image printing but for web use more than 72 is a waste because the site will only publish at that resolution. ::Neil::
So, basically disassemble it to the point I can put penetrating oil into where the rod goes through then let it soak? On the pressure test, you should have no bubbles except for where the mantles would be correct? If you operate the controls, I assume there will be air escape there. Do I need to add any oil to the pump if it is working? So gasoline is safe and acceptable to use in these? What do you make of the different color tank and top? I am still clueless on the pics. I'll see what I can figure out.
No Luck on the pics. Been trying for a couple of hours. This computer doesn't have anything I can use. Even the optimizer was leaving my pics at over 100 KB. I have some photo programs on my old computer. I may see what I can do with it. The 3927 was my best guess. What is the difference in the 3927 and 3927-A? Any mechanical differences to look for?
The 3927 was the lantern AGM made for the US military. Later there was a standardized design made by Coleman, AGM, Aladdin and possibly Preway and others. The Model 1942 and Model 1950 single burner military stoves were also a single design made by several of the same companies. I would hazard a guess that your AGM is from the first half of WWII. Probably left behind by some of those oversexed, overpaid Yanks that were vacationing in England in the 40's. It could also have been a lend-lease item although I have not seen any photographic evidence of US lanterns in use by British or Commonwealth troops.
Check your private messages... if you email them to me then I'll send them back suitably compressed. Personally I use Paintshop Pro for all my image processing aside from some of the more specialised astronomical image processing.
The introduction of the Milspec lantern did not replace the use of regular lanterns by the US military. Coleman supplied 220B and C lanterns right through WW2. They also supplied some model 200s in the 1950s. AGM supplied this twin mantle gasoline lamp but also a single mantle 500 cp type again probably right through WW2. I think the Milspec was intended for use in places where access to special fuels was difficult or impossible. In rear areas where bright was more important then twin mantle gasoline and big single kero lamps were used and examples of these do turn up. ::Neil::
So, by what you are saying, is the lamp I have less common? That is what I was gathering from your post.
I am needing some help. The pump works. The fill cap seal is gone. My gas valve only turns about a half a turn, is that normal? I filled every thing I could with PB Blaster and let it soak. I loosened the center pipe (generator? has a long wire in the middle of it). The cleaning control loosened up but is very stiff when turning (normal?). If I pump really fast with the valve closed I get PB Blaster bubbles through the loosened generator pipe. What does it sound like I have? Thanks.
Half a turn is not right. That main control rotates right out maybe half a dozen full turns. Been a long time since I took one of those apart but I think if you unscrew the gland nut the control wheel and spindle can be unscrewed right out and removed. The pricker control will be tight because it is squeezed by the gland packing. So long as it rotates it is good. ::Neil::
