New to forum and would like some help with these to Hipolimo lamps. What model are they and are the valve stem presserizers original. Any other information would also be helpful. Would like to restore one. Thanks
Those two lamps don't look right to me. The globe support collars seem to be solid one piece and the real thing shoud be shaped and slotted. The collars are where the labels would have been riveted on which give you models and candle power. Also there seems to be only two suport rods for the globe cage supporting the top ring and there should be four. For some reason these two lamps have been rebuilt and I would be concerned that the dimensions for height may not be correct. Mind you they might still work OK. I think these will be either 350 or 500 cp rapid lamps and the parts look right for either. They used to be either H302 or H502. Here is an image of a complete and origial 500cp H502. ::Neil::
Thanks, It does not look like there are any holes for more support rods. Also the handles go into holes around the top ring. I have not seen any like this. Do you think the valve stem presurizers have been installed by previous owner? What does the Seahorse mean. Thanks
I can't see the top ring in your images but given the collar and support rods are not right it is also possible the top ring is not original either. The handles should be located with two knurled nuts which lock the outer hood to the top ring. These are also missing which is a detail I missed before. I now see the globe cage base plate is not right either. It should have an out facing flange which is what the rods are fixed into but your base plate is bigger and the rods are fixed inside the rim. So I conclude the base plate is not an original part to these lamps either. Seems to me there are a lot of home made parts in these lamps. The outer and inner hoods might be right but from above the tank little else is. If you can make one of these run, and you may well, then someone has done a pretty good job of repairing a pair of near destroyed lamps. I have no idea what you mean by valve stem presurizers. The Seahorse is the Hipolito logo. ::Neil::
Welcome aboard! The lantern on the left has it's outer hood secured by what looks like a Coleman hood nut. They are interesting lanterns, but I reckon that they have been cobbled together, Jeff.
The valve looks like one for a tire that has been welded into tank. Here a couple more pictures. The lanterns seem to go together correctly and everything fits. They are rather strange though.
The seahorse represents Hipolito and comes from the Ancient Greek, 'hippos' or 'hippo' meaning 'horse' and 'lito' in some language or other (I've forgotten which), meaning 'sea'. Click [url=http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/993 to learn how to put pictures into your posts. Be particularly careful to read and follow the text in red. Hope that helps...
Yes the whole globe cage is a home made cobble. It will probably work fine but original it is not. The Schrader valve is a later addition. These lamps were never made with a fitting like that. Again no reason why it should affect the working though. Interesting pieces and it would be nice to see one run. ::Neil::
Wow, someone really did those lanterns injustice. Looks to me like he tried to make a quick buck with the spare parts he had left over. Personally, I'd strip them for parts and build a complete one.
They look like the sort of creative fetting that comes from Peru. Those Peruvian miner types did some strange things to keep lanterns running. I would certainly have a go at making one work and then scrap the other for parts. Somebody went to a deal of trouble to make these and it would be a shame to just throw all that effort away. ::Neil::
Mack, interesting that you mention Peru, I grew up there and I can confirm that I have seen strange contraptions down there, the interesting part is that most small Andean towns have a blacksmith, and they do very good work with almost nothing, just an old gasoline torch and scrap metal, I would love to know more abut the origin of Damato's lanterns.
There was a time when some guys were selling lots of lamps out of Peru. Quite a few had been creatively fettled although not always successfully. In fact I bought my Primus 1060 from there but that had had a stove jet welded on top of the generator which shoved the globe cage out of line and made the lamp look a real crock so I was the only bidder and got it for near nothing. Just needed a new generator. Not easy to fettle a generator when you don't have a spare nipple the right size. It seems to be a place where in remote villages a master fettler is an essential member of the community and these guys can be pretty clever and do good creative work to keep things working. We might deplore the result as in these two lantens when in fact we should stand in awe of a guy with a hammer and some scrap metal who can rebuild most of a lamp in this way. ::Neil::
