Hi! I stumbled upon this lantern and know zero about it. It says Optimus 200p made in Sweden with jenaer suprax glas, schott&gen Mainz made in Germany. If anyone knows anything, I would appreciate some help!! TIA
Hi Sarah, The Optimus 200P has an output of 300 CP so it's bright but not blindingly bright. You should look at the Lamp Reference Gallery. Here's a link for the Optimus 200. 200 (and 821) You've come to the right place for answers but I'm not the one that can answer your questions but someone will chime in very soon who can answer your questions. Cheers, Norman
Hi Sarah, Optimus 200 (with or without P) is one of my favourite lamps. Bright, easy to lit and reliable, it just works. P version has fuel level gauge which is nice and not a typical feature. Any particular help we can offer for you? -tommi
Hi @Sarah Lee The Optimus 200P is a very reliable lantern, as well as looking good. 200, 250 or 300 mantles work well in it. Here is mine with instructions.
Welcome, Sarah! You have found an amazing little lantern. They are rated 200cp but will out-shine most small single mantle Coleman lanterns. A Coleman #99 mantle will be a good fit. The Coleman 21A mantles are definitely too small for it. If you decide to polish the brass, do not use common brass polishes that contain ammonia, but rather something like Autosol or Mothers. It is a kerosene-only lantern and requires a good 2- minute pre-heat indoors with alcohol in the pre-heat cup. Only pump pressure after pre-heating. The "valve wheel" is not a fuel valve like on the Colemans. It is only a pricker (cleaning needle) control. The lantern is shut off after use by opening the air release screw on the fuel filler cap (this screw seems to be missing on yours) You will probably need to replace the rubber fuel cap seal and the pump non-return valve seal pip as they may have become hard with age. If you are not confident in doing the work yourself, there are many collectors in the US that will be happy to assist you.
As far as I can see, the fuel filler cap isn't missing, the cap has the safety valve Version of the cap. -See attached pic of my brass 200P. Regards
Yes it's true, but there are many variations out there. My chromed 200P has the cap with a screw on it. Also my brass 1200 has the screw on the cap. Regards
The brass 200P from the Swedish civil defence does not have a positive shut off valve. It is identical to all the other 200P lamps. It does have the filler cap with the pressure relief valve though. Why is a good question, but that is how they are.
That is very interesting, Nils! I wonder what is the designed shutdown procedure? Lacking a foot valve, turning up the pricker would not seem to be a good solution, nor would unscrewing the fuel cap. Unless the fuel cap had a pressure venting feature of some sort.
