Built by Leacock Coleman utilizing the stainless steel fount and burner assembly from the 107ss lamp. This lamp is still available. Amish craftmanship. Bob
I have seen that Amish craftmanship with seriously blown tanks. With typical convoluted thinking some Amish folk wil use a hand cranked deisel engine to power a compressor. No electric starter so that's OK. So with all that power they pump lamps up to 100psi or better with predictible results. Can't blame Leacock but they did have to make a stronger tank. ::Neil::
I know what you mean about the "over pressure" scenario. This might be the reason for the metal forming in the fount bottom shown here. Bob
Yes they did try that but I remember standing in Ed Erb's shop a few years back and he showed me one of those with the bottom blown right out. Shaping the metal certainly strengthens them but 100 psi gets you around 9 tons of thrust on the base plate and they won't stand that for long. ::Neil::
Perhaps Leacock should fit their lamps with a pressure gauge, which is marked to show the maximum pressure allowed.
Doubt that would work. Compressors run at around 113 psi and that is how they are connected. Besides everyone knows that more pressure means more light so pump it up is the way to go. The best solution is build 'em so they don't break. Trouble here is these guys are used to using Coleman CQ lamps which will stand 100 psi for years without a problem so they assume the new ones will as well. Jake King understands this because the tankls on his Night Hawks are welded SS and will stand these pressures. ::Neil::
I put the tire valve stem fuel cap on this. I pump it with a bicycle frame pump sold by Specialized. I pump it until it gets VERY hard to push the handle in. I read the pressure in the fount and it was 35 psi. It burns for a long time at that pressure. The stem cap/frame pump allows you to pump it while it's hanging. The pump has a "stem lock" on the outlet. Bob
Hand pumping is self limiting. It is not an accident that most lamp pumps are around the same dia. A cycle pump is near enough the same so has the same limitations. The area of the tube and force you can apply will only generate a max pressure of around 50 to 60 psi in a lamp pump and possibly slightly less in a cycle pump. Slightly bigger area means you need more force to achieve the same pressure. So in most lamps the max you can hit it with using the built in pump is going to be maybe 55 psi. You might get a tad more if you were very strong but then the pump also limits pressure beause the swept volume is compressed into a small volume under the leather cup and that cannot be changed. So in most lamps the max possible in the pump tube is perhaps 60 psi. Now this is sound engineering. Working pressure 30 psi. Customer test double is 60 and that happens to be the max designed into the pump. Smart guys those old engineers who designed lamps. So shoving a lamp on the end of an air line is actually giving the lamp a factory test pressure as a working pressure. Not a good idea. A cycle pump is not a problem though but there is the temptation to use a compressor if you have a schrader valve in the filler. ::Neil::
Hail fellow CPL members. My name is Captain Mike De Long and I'm a yank who owns a modest collection of kerosene burning pressure lanterns. Amongst the collection is an Amish built stainless Night Hawk that I regularly pump up to 50PSI into it. I use an oiless, one gallon air-compressor that can be regulated to whatever outgoing pressure you want. When I pump up my Coleman's, I drop the pressure to just 40. It seems to me that the higher the pressure, the higher the rate of fuel being consumed. I also find that generators tend to last longer if you don't burn them too cool. I regularly increase the pressure to maximize the amount of heat being generated to 'burn off' any excessive deposits inside the generator. Thank you for reading my dissertation from Hampton Roads, Virginia. Captain Mike.
I agree with Captain Mike here. There is no sense in pumping a Leacock up to 100 psi. When the lamp is started it burns very very nice and bright just after a few pumps and the gain you get by pumping them even more is theoretic and a unnecessary risk. Its a fantastic lamp. Claus C
Inevitably - since energy can neither be created nor destroyed, greater light output will be at the expense of more fuel consumed. You never get anything for nothing; that's how the universe works...
Hail & good morning my time in America, Neil. Being an authorized Night Hawk reseller for Jake & Mel King provides me with unique opportunity, one of them being interacting with Night Hawk buyers. My second sale of a Night Hawk went to a gentleman here in the states. Within about three days I had a phone call from him stating that whilst pressurizing the unit, it leaned over about 10 degrees. I rolled my eyes and asked, "how much pressure did you give it?" He said, "only about 60 pounds." I knew I was being lied to and said,"I would suggest you send it back to the Kings for analysis" which he did. Mel King, Jake's son, called me up a few days later and said the fount had been severely over pressurized. To finish the story, the Night Hawk owner had to cough up an additional $105, manufacturer's cost, for a new replacement as the fount had been clearly 'misused' for lack of a better word. The Night Hawk owners manual clearly states 40 to 50PSI. I suggest that there is a clear line in the sand, Neil where the founts will give up the 'ghost'. Where that line is I can not say; but, I know when I pump my NH up to 50 pounds I am no where near the critical threshold. In summary, I would never consider putting 100 pounds into a NH and Jake said, "60 pounds is the limit". Thank you for your valued opinions, Neil. I remain, Captain Mike in Hampton, Virginia in the 'Colonies'.
