Hi All This very battered & unloved Evening Star table lamp arrived yesterday on the doorstep from ebay....... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Nickel-Plated-Brass-Steel-Wood-The-Evening-Star-Paraffin-Mantle-Lamp-/400549760729?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&nma=true&si=S09NxMceXg8w1idLSyq6MZAc1bw%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc , but i didn't get started until yesterday late in the evening as i'd been out all day with my good lady , I got a bit carried away fettling & i didn't get into bed until 01.30ish this morning This is what came out of the fount through the hole in the base plate after a good shake & good use of a magnet . The hole in the base was only about 3mm wide until i started having a poke around inside leaving this So i made up a patch out of good brass strip with a strong locating wire silver soldered to it , this was slipped into the hole & turned until it covered the opening completely & was also used to hold the patch in place when the fount was inverted ( hanging from the ceiling ) allowing me to flood/fill the holes in with soft solder With the soft soldering done & new seals/graphite packing fitted i did a leakdown test which was a bit of a worry considering it was going to be filled with petrol , only to discover that the vapouriser needed a really good seeing to as well , being blocked up with copious amounts of carbon & rotten wick so I made a new one out of mop cotton Next the burner tubes were swapped for some Coleman ones as the originals had seen much better days & a new control cock wheel made from brass as the old one was so badly damaged & nearly falling off The lamp uses the same external pump like a Coleman table lamp & i started by giving it 15 pumps & leaving it for half an hour to see if any of the one pint of panel wipe fuel leaked out , not a drip Time for some flames so with a bit of trepidation i cracked open the fuel cock a tiny amount & pre heated the vapouriser with some meths on a Tilley clip & here's the results A very happy camper Thanks for the info on the lamp Neil , much appreciated 8) Stu
Hi Tony Just ordinary electrical solder twisted together to make a thicker wire , this works much better than plumbers solder for this sort of repair in my experience as it's not as pasty Stu
Hi Dave Hope you're well Yes they sure are , some were the size of 2p pieces but twice as thick , don't forget i still owe you for that blowlamp but i guessed you'd been busy working Shout me when you're passing & i'll pay my debt , could also use some more panel wipe too if you can still get it , these lamps sure are thirsty Best regards Stu
Ok Stu, I'll sort another tin of PW out,I'll give you a call next time i'm passing ,got a few interesting bits for you to play with,,,Yes, very busy at work,,,,I started self employed gardening about 30 years too late for my joints!
Stu. Mop wicking in a generator will carbonise pretty quick. It not only gathers carbon from the fuel but being cotton it also chars and converts itself to carbon. Next time you are passing I can give you some asbestos string for this and any future generator fettling you might need to do. ::Neil::
I'd never pass up the offer of real asbestos string for generator stuffing, but if you don't have access to the real stuff, I believe a good alternative is fiberglass oil candle wicking. I buy Glaswik brand in various lengths and diameters to always have some on hand here. I'm sure it can be found elsewhere also. At one time, the Glaswik trademark was owned by the Atlas Asbestos Company who made among other items, asbestos kindler wicking. Below is a fiberglass recreation of the generator tube filling in a Sunshine Safety Model 10 torch light made from some Glaswik. In some cases it can be used directly, in other cases it may need to be modified like for the SS. Worked well in this application. Dan
Yes that will work well. Glass does not have the same heat transfer properties as asbestos but with a melt point at around 1500C it will not fail inside a generator. In fact that is the same stuff used in the Milspec generators. ::Neil::
Thanks Guys The cotton wick was just a quick fix to get it going , i have some glass wick on the way Stu
Just a thought but does that brass control get hot? I have seen a few of the fibre types with burnt sections like yours and I assume this happens in use. Seems to me that once that lamp has been running for an hour or so you might have a problem turning it off. ::Neil::
Looking at the old burner tube length and position think the new ones are about 15mm to long and lamps run better using #20coleman size mantles stops the control wheel getting hot to . Bob .
Hi Chaps Thanks for your concern The control wheel i had to make from brass is just fine under working conditions , i was a bit worried myself about it heating up but the control spindle is only about 4mm / 1/8 inch & does not transfer/conduct enough heat to worry about The original burner tubes were shot so the coleman ones were all i had to get it up & running & even though they're longer they do not heat up anything they shouldn't including the new wheel If anyone has any correct length ones i'd be glad to give them a new home though I have now replaced the generator cotton wicking with some glass fibre string , however when i removed the cotton wick there was no charring or burning on it which suprised me Stu
Suprises me too. Interesting though. Maybe the flow of fuel keeps it cool enough so the cotton does not degrade. How long had it been in a burning lamp? Seems to me this wants a longer term experiment to see if cotton is good for the job. If so then this will make generator fettling a lot easier. ::Neil::
Interesting indeed. Three things are needed for the combustion process: fuel, air and heat. Inside a generator we have the fuel, and possibly the heat, but probably not enough oxygen. I have heard that some folks replace the stuffing in a Q99 or Akron generator with a Zippo wick. I thought these were made of cotton, but I've not been able to find a definitive answer. Some say cotton, some say fiberglass and some a combination. Zippo itself does not specify (not that I could find). The normal environment a Zippo wick is operating in, is vastly different from inside a generator though. I agree that longer term evaluation would be necessary. I'm thinking there was a good reason the original manufacturers chose asbestos. Dan
Hi Guys It's had about two hours running before i removed the cotton wick so not a definitive test , but there was not any charring at all & two hours at that temp should have at least di-scoloured it i would have thought. Don't forget petrol stoves like the Primus range of 70's ,71's & the SVEA 123's etc all use cotton wicking in their risers & some of those have been in 50 years plus with no problems So you never know Stu
True, but nowhere near the flame - as opposed to your Coleman where the generator is as near to the flame as is reasonably possible to ensure efficient vapourisation of the fuel...
Could be the mention of Coleman burner tubes as well. Never mind though, we all have senior moments occasionally.
Indeed there was. Quite possibly they wanted a non combustible fibre but one of the major functions of gland packing is to transfer heat from generator to fuel and asbestos is perhaps the best stuff for the job. ::Neil::
Hi Guys The new Aladdin opal ribbed table lamp shade ( very similar to the original E.S. one ) I ordered turned up today from "Old Flames" the wick oil lamp specialists , & was fitted to my lamp 8) The shade fitted really well & certainly looked the part , the shade inc delivery was just over £30.00 from "Old Flames" & the staff there are very helpful 8) I'm very happy with the way this lamp has turned out , even with all the problems i have encountered , don't be afraid to have a go at restoring an old damaged lamp even the worst offenders can sometimes still be saved if you think it's worthwhile & not a blown bottomed common old X246B Best regards Stu
It's fine loking shade! Perhaps the Old Flames website could be added to the links page, Jeff. http://www.oldflames-lamparts.co.uk/catalogue.html
Hi Jeff Already suggested & i have just fitted some Peerless mantles to the burner "WOW" they're bright 8) Stu
Stu, Ross is alerted about that link suggestion you made. We'll see what happens. I haven't really checked that site out myself yet.
Hello Stu, Peerless mantles are bright, but I had a pack of the Type 111 and both of the mantles split as they burned off, Jeff.
