Veritas 350?

Hi again
One of my 'new' lamps is a Veritas, it is similar to the 350 that I have seen on this and other sites. It has an old invoice marked 1956 (?)

My reading of comments about these lamps is that they are temperamental and not neccesarily the best designed lantern on the shelf (?)

That said I've dismantled it and replaced all the washers,NRV's and pump leathers. I can pressurise the font but I can't get it to lite. In fact there is no indication of any vapour coming through the jet at all. I've removed the jet and cleaned out the vapourising tube and the cleaner wire to no avail.

Are there any tips/hints that can be shared?
Is there a source for new jets/cleaning wire/parts?

Or is this doomed to be a non-worker until I can get another one that I can cannibalise for parts?

regards

Paul

 

Hello Paul, the date is correct, Veritas parts are scarce.

Have you pressure tested this lantern under water?

It's the quickest way to see if it's leaking, as you will see the air bubbles.

The control cock may be blocked with muck, Jeff.

 

Thanks Jeff
I've had a quick go at dismantling the control cock. I could get the large wheel out of the main body by undoing the nut and unscrewing the rod. I could not get the cleaner wire activator (for want of a better term) lever out and so I stopped not wanting to break anything. I will have a more detailed, careful go tonight.

regards
Paul

 

Hello Paul, it's many years since I tried to fettle a Veritas 350, but a good rule of thumb for fettling any lamp, is not to try and force anything apart.

Perhaps Neil will have some other tips for you, Jeff.

 

Assuming it pressurizes try pumping it up empty with the large wheel removed. The air should come out of the threaded tube where the wheel screws into. If no air is escaping then there is probably a blockage in the fuel pickup line that goes into the tank.

 

Been too many years since I even tried to run a Veritas of any persuasion never mind fettle one. I do recall they were generally not worth the trouble but that does not mean you should not try. This is one of those times when I find it is better to have hands on than to try to advise by text. Basically you just dismantle until a pressure test gives you air flow. Then the last thing you took off is blocked. It is common for a lamp that has been stored for many years with fuel inside for the fuel pick up to be clogged with the varnish like residues of evaporated fuel. One simple thing to try first is to fill it with boiling water and a little detergent which might just soften any hard deposits enough to give you flow again. If not then it is dismantle and ream out the tubes. ::Neil::

 

Guys

thanks for the above hints and tips

I've dismantled the entire lamp and cleaned it out as much as I can. (Hot water/detergent/carbureter cleaner).
I can presurise the tank. It does not indicate any leaks using the under water test.
I can see fuel come out of the control cock once the tank is pressurised and the tap opened.
I can pump fuel to the top of the vapouriser, without the jet, I can also see a "dribble" of fuel coming through the jet.
I still can't get the lamp to light. It appears that the fuel will not vapourise. I have preheated, with meths, x2 and I still do not get a stream of kero out of the jet.

In my limited experience, this indicates a blocked jet (?).

Questions
... are replacements available?
... is there a substitute that I can use
... would the 300cp & 500cp jets that I see on fleabay be able to be utilised (rethreading?)?

regards
Paul

 

Hello Paul, now you know why myself and other collectors don't bother with Veritas lanterns.

You could try soaking the jet in clear lemonade or vinegar overnight, that usually cleans up brass.

I do not know of anyone who has Veritas spares, but someone here may, Jeff.

 

In my experience, dealing with Veritas lanterns isn't difficult and consists of two simple steps:-

Step 1. - Buy a reliable lantern such as (in your country) a Handi Keropet.
Step 2. - Chuck the Veritas in a skip.

There, wasn't that easy...

As an alternative to step 2, some collectors have been known to clean, polish and respray Veritas lanterns back to a new appearance and then put them on a shelf to look at.

But if you're determined to have a go with your 350, I've a scrap Veritas Superb vapouriser here, complete with a clear jet and pricker wire. My presumption is that the jet will be OK for the 350, although that would need to be confirmed. If you want it, it's yours for the price of the postage to Oz. Let me know by PT...

 

I had a superb and it worked,but did suffer from black mantle syndrome, but as David said they do appear to be a bit of a challenge, perhaps I was just lucky with mine, Rise up to the challenge Woolbay, make it work or better still find out why they didn't and then share the info with all of the non believers.

I now run Vapalux as my lamp of choice and love them to bits.

 

As far as I can see, the problem with them is that during operation, the mantle needs to be sufficiently close to the vapouriser to maintain a temperature high enough within it to ensure efficient vapourision of the fuel and produce an adequate quantity of kerosene in the gaseous phase.

In practice, what this means is that the mantle needs to be a globular-shaped one that is inflated fully. The original Veritas mantles seem to be in short supply (although I do have a very few to hand) so suitable replacements need to be used. Coleman mantles are useless for this because they tend to inflate almost as a cylinder and don't get near-enough to the vapouriser. I may have tried Petromax-types of a suitable size but I can't remember the outcome of that. I think the best bet are probably Bullfinch gas mantles, although there are at least two types of those, and I can't remember which I tried...

 

hi, if you contact me, i've got some Veritas 350 jets and prickers,n.o.s ...... Paul

 

Thanks Guys ... your responses made me laugh.
I've sent PT's to David and Paul_M thanks
I am a stubborn old cuss and determined to make this lamp operate.(my first pressure Lamp)

By the way I read my son's Harry Potter Books so I went out side and cut my self a decent sized wand from our lemon scented gum tree. I said all the right words from the books (not sure if I was pronouncing them correctly) and waved the wand furiously over the Veritas ..... But it didn't turn into a Optimus/primus/petromax/Handi Keropet so I guess I am stuck with it.

 

Hello Paul, the wand was worth a try!

I hope that you do get that Veritas working, Jeff.

 

A gum tree wand will never work for a Veritas. Best kind to use is a Hickory one with a 14lb head. ::Neil::

 

Neil

your describing "Plan B"

The lemon scented gum wand is part of "Plan A"

Paul

 

Woolbay, here is the correct spell

"Veritasium Light Shinium"


David is it the fact that the vaporiser tube does not run through the middle of the mantle that causes less heat to be transferred to the vaporiser set up?

 

Paul
I have just joined this forum after reading your post about your Veritas 350. I have just got one of these lamps going after a lot of trouble. The lamp was in quite a bad state but complete. The main problem I had was loss of pressure, I thought the problem was the NRV as after pumping the stove the pump would push back out with air pressure. I changed springs and seals but still the pump pushed back out. In final desperation I unsoldered the pump tube and on inspection I found it had a crack at the NRV thread. I tried to silver solder this up but still it leaked. Finaly I found that a Bialaddin pump and tube were virtually the same so removed a pump tube from an old fount I had and soldered it in the Veritas fount. The next problem was similar to yours in that no paraffin would flow through the nozzle on the vaporizer tube. This was due to dirt in the nozzle and again after several attempts I got it clean. Last week I put a Coleman 21 mantle on it and got it fired up, at first the mantle burnt orange then there was a pop and I got full brilliance. I know there is still dirt in the system as I regularly need to operate the cleaning lever. This may not be one of the most reliable lamps I have got but I feel very pleased every time I have it going.
I am just glad I am not the only masochist around.
Peter.
PS The cam/shaft that operates the cleaning wire will separate from the cast brass housing, mine pulled out but was held in with what looked like a very old rubber seal that had gone hard and swollen into the internal thread, took quite a bit of force!

 

Nice to know there are still some guys out there who will ignore my advice to fill Veitas tanks with concrete for use as mud weights or door stops and actually have a go at making them run. I guess the law of averages will mean that some will actually do what they were made for. Koool stuff. ::Neil::

 

I remember 4 or 5 years ago at Newark walking over to Neil's caboose with my newly fettled Veritas Superb to be met with a comment like 'you have a heap of s***e there' after about 10 minutes sure enough it did exactly what he said it would.

Shame because I think they are one of the most attractive lamps about, lovely Rubenesque lines to it. Better than those horrid continental ones
The one I have has a hood that is like new.



Not to be outdone, like David S, I tried every kind of mantle that I could get my hands on.
New jet and needle, never did try the magic wand bit though.
All to no avail I might add.
The number of times that I cleaned the hood and glass of soot

A couple of weeks ago I spied a new vapouriser on fleabay.
Fitted it along with a genuine Veritas mantle and here is the result.



It lights in no time at all and I've had it burning for hours. Works like a dream

Now what I need is the art work for a new transfer, Can anyone help.

 

Looks a tidy lamp now henry wonder if dave has one maybe he has the decal ?

pete

 

It's that law of averages thing again. So one in maybe 50 Veritas lanterns actually work. Got to be a few out there made so much out of spec that they actually function. I feel sure the guy who designed them will be amazed that two or three are still working after 50 years or so. I reckon they were made to work for six months and our problem is we expect them to be restorable after 60 years in a shed.

I really should't slate them so much because they are fine looking beasts especially the Superb. I have most variations here and they look OK on the shelf. I just gave up trying to make one run some ten years or so ago. I mean there is only so much grief a guy can take when there are lamps that will work after a little light fettling. So for me All Veritas lamps fall into the same category as Tilley X246Bs which is Interesting but not for use. ::Neil::

 

Hi again

The "prince of Darkness" still eludes me ....

Thanks to a fellow CPLer I now have a new jet, cleaner wire and mantle to install in my Veritas.

HOWEVER ... the previous owner of this lamp has obviously installed a non standard jet because the thread size is not compatible with my new jet.
The two jets look identical but the new one will not fit.

Does anyone know what thread size is applicable for this jet?

I want to be able to buy a suitble tap and recut the thread rather than trying to jam the new jet into the old thread track.

I will get this b*$^!rd to light

 

Hello Paul, the saga contunues!

I hope that you succeed, Jeff.

 

Paul
I am in the process of rebuilding my Veritas Superb and will check the thread diameter/pitch of the jet at work tomorrow
Peter

 

Paul
I measured my spare jet and as best as I can check with thread gauges its a 2BA thread.
Peter

 

cheers Peter

Paul

 

Hi Henry,

Don't know if anyone has supplied decal but here is something to work with. It didn't matter what angle I took the photo it still had the reflection on the Elephant logo

Colin

 

I’ve read the posts above and the general consensus seems to be as Neil said, that the Veritas lantern, 1 in 50 may work, and to be filled with concrete and to be used as a door stop or, from David S. to actually bin Veritas lanterns.
Well, I have restored 7 Veritas lanterns from the 9955, 350s and Superbs and without exception they have fired up with no fuss, in fact almost too easily.
My experience with the Veritas lanterns is that the Veritas models are very reliable and consistent lanterns.
I have a Veritas 350 as my “go to” lantern when we lose mains electricity supply out here in the country.

So the questions …..

Where and how did the Veritas get such a bad reputation?
How many were overlooked, destroyed or simply put on the back shelf because of, as far I can see, flawed and misleading information?

Cheers
AusssiePete

 

Spot on Pete.