I just bought this lamp. Seller says it is stamped "ZVAI GZNE RIGA". I thought shortly it was a Hasag 52 but the controlhandle dont look right. Cant wait to get it home. Does anyone recognize this? Claus C
Pulling the 2 Words ZVAI GZNE together to Zvaigzne Riga, means "Red Star" on latvia and I by doing that I found out that the country Latvia, had a motorcyklefactory called Zvaigzne Riga and they made "Riga"-motorcycles during the cold war. Maybe they made headlights for them too Anyone who knows about eastblock-lamps? Claus C
This lamp certainly has the style of a MEWA, Hasag or Leipziger Werke lantern from East Germany but there are subtle differences which indicate different tooling for the hood. I guess it is possible a Latvian factory licensed production in the 1950s possibly making some parts and buying in the rest. Be nice to see some more images of this one but right now it looks like you have discovered a previously unknown maker and brand. ::Neil::
Well it could be funny to find a forgotten lamp But could it have something to do with the german "Red Star" brand? http://www.motormuzejs.lv/uploads/content/73cc0106b39183c507c101fc2a6449cd.html When I get the lamp home, I clean and photography to get better pictures for CPL. Claus C
Juhu, I finally got the lamp home today. The lamp has got a basic Building I have never seen gathered in 1 lamp before. This is Pictures before cleaning.
The Zvaigzne Riga is 500 cp according to the jet. It reminds me of a mix between a Primus 1020 and a Hasag 51, but it is completly its own. I'll be back with a Photo of it in action and it anything beneath the dirt show up. Claus C
I'd be more inclined to say H J. Very interesting lantern. There are a couple of similarities to a Valmet, but then again there are similarities to a few different lanterns.
It could look like HJ. Summing up the strange-ish things on the lamp. 1. it uses a glass Ø 120mm X hight 125mm or else there will be a gap. Hasags used 120X120. 2. there is a fuelfilter around the needle-stick inside the vapourizer-tube. 3. the axel for the control-wheel has a inner-nut using 10 mm and an outer-nut using a 11 mm. 4. The control-wheel is made of rubberish fibre and has unusual shape. 5. The preheater-cup is mounted around the vapourizer-tube. 6. the needle is interesting. It is divided in 3. The shaft, the needle and a ajustable, app. 1 cm, needleholder. This makes it ajustable from the top. 7. brass-nozzle Beside that it has a hood made of 3 parts, like hasag 51, but all three parts is not alike a hasag 51. I can not regonize handle or wheels from other lamps. I changed my mind on the jet, it is not a 500 but the number 300. A scratch confused me. The pumpleather must have the large hole and fits from that type optimus. The name, Zvaigzne Riga dont mean "Red Star" but "The Star of Riga". The lamp is old. It carries all symptoms of a old lamp ex. good quality chrome, very thin and fragile brass-tophood, the tankcaps shape, the fibre-controlwheel, unajustable u-tube and so on. I have no doubt this is a pre-war lantern. And there could still be a connection to Riga Motercycle industries (link above) It surely looks like some mix between the sweedish (or finnish) lamps and the german lamps, but then Again thats where Riga lays Claus C
I recieved a letter from Mara Ozolina today. I just copyed it as shown below: Dear Claus Carlsen The lamp You have, could be made in Riga corporation A/S Zvaigzne. The corporation engaged in metal processing and is listed in adress book of Riga for the year 1936. Judging by the photos the lamp is produced before 1935, because "A/S" to name of producer was added in year 1935. Best regards, Mara Ozoliņa Repository Departament specialist Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation Claus C
A little "aber dabei". I finally got out the NRV (thanks Christer and Steve) because it was dripping and I wanted to take parts from a Primus to fix it. Again this lamp shows it is completely its own this time on the measurement. It looked like a Primus valve but the nuthead is 4,9 mm to the Primus 5 mm. The coil for the springtubediameter is bigger and with another coil-type than Primuses so Primus simply didnt fit + of course the springtube is bigger/wider. Here it is: Zvaigzne is in the bottom and Primus on top. Even the sealing is almost the same but Primus has a sharp-edged sealing and Zvaigzne a soft lip-sealing. Zvaigzne is on the right side of the photo. So taking parts from a Primus simply didnt work, so back to handcrafting. I finally got the glas for it and was a bit lucky finding it in the measures 120 mm wide and 123 mm high. A normal 120X120 would have left a lagerish gap. I be back when the lamp burns Claus C
Thanks Arturo. The lamp had to be cleaned, straigthend and polished while the shape was too bad to let it be as "usertracks" what can be a charming thing sometimes. Yes Neil the rubber just needs to be shifted, but this also dont fit from the Primus. The cork(rubber) of the Zvaigzne is almost 1 mm larger. But what I find interesting in all this is that the I didnt find any parts on the lamp that fit from another lamp yet, but the pumpleather. This indicate there still is a unknown manufacturer to be found and the lamp is not made out of "imported" parts. It is completely its own. The Riga Museums has only an idea of the producer and I am still trying to find out who made this lamp. I could use your skills here Claus C
I don't know much about Latvia so I can't comment on what industries they might have had in the 1930s. However from the Museum they are indicating Zvaigzne were an engineering company. I think with this lamp there are so many minor diferences to any other make we have to assume it is made in Latvia. Further if the company name on the tank is an engineering manufacturer we can also assume with reasonable safety that they actually made it and were not just a retailer. So in the absense of any other evidence the probability is this was made in Riga by Zvaigzne. More research into possible advertising in newspapers and such from the 1930s might yield some clues. Sarkanā Zvaigzne was the factory that produced a moped from the early 1960s and it seems that they were made in an existing Engine factory which implies it was an established business at the time. I did find this on Google Given this is obviously an engineering factory and in the same place maybe these are the guys who made the lamp. Wants more research in Riga I think and I can't do that because of the distance and language problem. We need a research minded Latvian. ::Neil::
This evening I just made the Cork for the NRV and it worked. Before I knew there was something wrong with the NRV, I tried to light the lamp and the mantle didnt blow up to the right size because of pressureloss and the mantle was not changed Again if it should go wrong Again. First I preheated it with 2 full cups alkohol and then turned on the pressure. The lamp flickered like a signal-lamp and the mantle was orange I thought it might be a vorn jet and wanted to change it - but no jet would fit the Zvaigzne-coil so I had to leave the origin jet. Zvaigzne obvíously only use Zvaigzne parts. The lamp was started up Again and started immediatly to flicker and turned red and flames came on the outside, just as before. The cleaning-needle did not heip. After 3 minutes the mantle turned from red to White and the mantle got 4-6 Black spots, but remained White. I thought the lamp was broke but it remained lighted. Then after 3-4 minutes agaín the Black spots dissappeared and the mantle came bright-white There was no flames at all on the outside and despite the bad-ish shape of the mantle the lamp shined as the star over Riga - still flickering but bright. I couldnt help thinking the lamp was just as funny and special lightning up as a Coleman 252 Milspec Another lampcollector had his Optimus 930 going in the yard and we compared the two, side by side. Almost no difference but the crappy shaped mantle missing abilitys to shine 100 %. When they were standing side by side, we noticed that the Optimus 930 actually was a bit annoying, because you got blinded by the mantle. The Zvaigzne was much more comfortable and while the mantle was high in the lamp, it worked just as a shade. The lamp still lighted up the surrounding area just as well. So here she is with her bright Optimus 930 friend: The red is disappearing and the Black spots are coming - here I almost just shut it Down. Enjoy because now she is a shelfqueen until I get a user Claus C
Thanks David - yes I know I have been writing a lot about this Zvaigzne - but it is also much rarer than a SDR you know and I have not seen a lamp where you only are able to use the pumpleather and mantle from other known lamps as the only Things - everything else is completely different and therefor unique. You are like my cat, so ingratiatingly that I just start to pat it without thinking about it - I fear that I suddently give you my SDR without thinking just the same No this was yet another lampcollector, they must be nesting somewhere around me - they show up everywhere Claus C
Problem solved : http://0flo.com/index.php?posts/38846 A bright american Fellow collector send me a link to a almost similar Zvaigzne Riga and under the name there was no monogram but the letters J.H., who ever she is Claus C
You made a fantastic job of fettling this one Claus... Its a super lamp and probably a very rare one too!
