Here is another Blesk lantern found here in the Netherlands on an auction site. I forget to make some foto's before cleaning.
Thanks for the nice reactions. It is not possible to light it. The lantern is missing the needle and a mesh in the burner and something to hold the mesh in place. So I have some work to do before it's possible to light. Johan
That really is a very beautiful old lantern, Johan! It could be that the mesh fits between the burner cap and burner tube. If it was in the mouth of the burner cap, maybe it was kept in place by a steel wire ring (circlip) like on many AGM and Sunflame lanterns. It should not be too hard to make replacements. Also, are you sure there was a pricker needle in the generator? Many oldies did not have a built-in pricker and I could not see a pricker lever on the valve body. If (as I suppose) it was meant to burn white gasoline, the generator probably had asbestos stuffing which you could replace with either new asbestos string or fibreglass. If it used paraffin / kerosene (possible, looking at the pump non-return valve, but unlikely without a built-in pricker) the generator may have had a brass spiral or mesh inside. It would be really great if you could get this grand old lady working again.
Phil, If you look good at the pictures of the other Blesk lantern in the galery, this one is exactly the same as mine. You can see there was a pricker with needle in the generator. The mesh on that lantern in the burner is hold in place by an cap, this cap is also missing. The generator looks like the coleman ones. If you turn the knob you see inside something going up and down, that is where the pricker was hold. It's not an fuel valve, like the most Colemans, AGM's have. Johan
Yes, my Blesk has a pricker. But I'm not sure if it is needed to burn properly. A pricker is only used to clean the jet. I had lamps that burned well without a pricker (but it was hard to keep the jet clean). As for the mesh: try improvising with a "hose clamp". And again; I'm not sure if it is really needed. Presence and shape of the mesh did not affect the burning of my lamp . No roaring or flames that burned inside when I tried without . On the other hand, with its too rich mixture it produced more heat and soot than light . BTW; nice cleaning job. As for "before" pictures; see mine.
