Here is an unfettled Austramax 3/300 that I picked up on eBay from a scout group in Victoria (Australia). This is how it should have looked: ... except that it came with a Coleman 242E cap, and what looks like a bail from a gas (propane) lantern: It has a Schott Suprax replacement globe: Even though the tank is stamped 3/300, the collar is stamped 2/300. It could be an early transition 3/300 lamp using an old 2/300 collar; or it could have been replaced that way by the scouts: The pump has the locking stud and a Coleman-like wire clip: The control wheel is mottled a bit - I've not seen one like this: Tank stamped Austramax 3/300: The burner is the older 2 part burner: The tank has the additional blocked-off port like some other (including the Pat Pend) 3/300s in the Gallery: All in all I would put this as being close to Nils Stephenson's Austramax 3/300 V1 - but I'm happy to be corrected. Cheers Tony
...Nice work and photos Mr P. ...Please bear with me for asking these simpleton type questions, but was the Coleman top a good fit; i.e. did it sit ok? ...And likewise was the globe a Schott pattern of a Coleman or a pattern of an Austramax please? ...Obviously I don't own either of these lamps Best wishes, pb
G'day Tony, Worked out well for you and the money went to a good cause. I saw that lantern in their sold listing and thought it looked interesting. This was after I purchased their next lantern advertised as a Austramax 3/300. It was actually a Coleman 249 Scout (date 2/51) with a Austramax globe and a hood from a Coleman 200? maybe.
That's a nice interesting piece. The hood, globe and most likely the pump cap clip are replacements, but the collar is either using up parts in the factory or a later repair. Maybe the scouts had several lanterns and some parts got mixed up during servicing at some time. Does the pump cap have thread in the holes. I assume it is just like all the others and should be held with two screws. Has the thin steel cup at the top of the burner been turned upside down to make room for the Coleman hood? Normally they are the other way up.
Nils The cup-washer is turned upside down to accomodate the Coleman hood. I'll check for pump threads later today. The other thing about this lantern is that over at the Coleman Collectors Forum the hood (vent) appears to be a much wanted item. I posted a pic of it so that I could get it identified and have been asked by a number of people if it's for sale... (Scouterjan was first in, so if I decide to pass it on, he will have first refusal). Cheers Tony
Martin I saw the lantern you bought - I'm glad you got it. Pod The globe is a replacement Austramax globe, although you often see Austramax with Coleman globes and visa versa in Australia. I'll get the callipers out later and measure up Coleman and Austramax globes and see how different they are. Cheers Tony
Bob That's my instinct as well... The other issues are that postage to Canada and the USA is very expensive; I don't have a good spare red Austramax hood; and I like the quirkiness of the Austramax with the ring-in hood. I'll have to get this one fettled and up and running, but I won't be able to do that before I head off on my next road trip (to southwest WA). Cheers Tony Tony
Nils The pump holes are (or should I say were) threaded. Pod The Austramax globes (including the Schott globes) I measured are almost identical to the Coleman globes I measured - the Colemans being about 0.5mm to 1.5mm smaller in every dimension. This, of course, may well be a just a production phenomenon. I have Austramax globes that are etched with just "Austramax"; globes that are Austramax & Schott; and plain Schott ones. The latest model of Austramax has straight sided globes - I use these in my "users" to protect the old bulge globes. Cheers Tony
That's part of the history of the lamp, so it tells a story. As long as it doesn't fill a hole in the collection I would be tempted to leave it as is. All the Schott made glass should be the same size, whether they are for Austramax, Coleman or Optimus. All the other glass manufacturers for these brands have at least used the same dimensions for the top and bottom openings and the height. I am sure it was a conscious choice so that they could sell more spare glasses.
Thanks, Nils. I suspected that was the case for the globes. By the way, when I pulled the pump out, it had been converted to an O-ring. I'll convert it back to leather, using one of Kerry's pump leathers. Cheers Tony
