Hi Love the forum, so Im hoping for a little assistance if possible. My Father had a KL80 in terrible condition, I've rescued it and brought it back to life, fully renovated it and got it working brilliantly!!!! But... There was the tiniest hole in the bottom, so small I could see it, but it weeped Paraffin. so in my infinite wisdom Instead of Soldering the hole, I didn't want to destroy the lovely look of the lamp so I decided to use PETSEAL. Its a Petrol Tank Sealant. Can you guess whats happened!? SO I have inadvertently sealed the hole for the Paraffin to go up through. Now seemingly PETSEAL remover should disolve this sealant and let the Fuel back through, but has anyone had any experience of this stuff before? If I had thought about it all I needed to do was to blow through the hole job done! But Brain wasn't active that day!! Cheers Glen
Glen Can you force (steady does it) a piece of sharpened wire through the pickup tube? I use brass wire. Alternatively, put some of the remover in the pickup tube (not the tank) and try to clear it (with wire). Tony @Glen Campbell
Thanks Tony Stupid me, If I thought about it I could have blown through the tube job done!! But I think its way too far set for a Brass wire, Ill poke some PETSEAL Remover down the hole and hope and pray!!!! I really didn't want to Solder it as it will look rough and spoil the lamp. But Ill post bits up once I get it fixed, as it is a lovely lamp. My Dad had it over 40 years that I know off and couldn't get it running, I had it 2 days and off it went, except for the tiniest of leaks
Welcome to the forum. Don't worry about the brain not working! I have that all the time, they're called "brain farts" . I think they come with the hobby!
I would try the suggested brass wire and file the end at 60deg angle then a flat on one side so you have a rotating cutter use with some remover you may work it through I would avoid steel as you may damage the font (tank) base if you hit base
Hi Guys Totally appreciate the advice, I think my Brain has IBS It has way more Brian farts than it should So Ive Tried Acetone No!, MEK Methyl Ethyl Keytone Nope! SO I have the proper stuff coming tonight so Ill let you know how it goes.
I would try a frayed-end Bowden cable - probably bicycle sized - rotated in a drill chuck. It should work its way through eventually
I think its a little too late for any solvents and removers to dissolve the PETSEAL, @Glen Campbell . That would be cured and cross-linked hard by now. The remover only works nicely when the sealer is still fresh and uncured. You'll need to remove it mechanically, i.e., wires, bicycle brake cables, etc.
I think your right!!! I’ve had it sitting in the doubt now for 2 days and it feels like nothing has changed so yes it will be the Brake cable thing. Hope and pray
Maybe you can try soaking it in some strong paint removers containing a high percentage of methylene chloride(dichloromethane). These could sometimes swell up cured epoxy-based coatings, soften them, and make them easily removable.
Just checked an 35-40 ML deep socket "XN" cock and a 50's KL "GF" cock a 1.65mm copper wire slid in 80 and 74mm respectively then encountered a slight bend in pipe with a smaller wire XN went 135mm to bottom of font, the Gf font hit bottom at 132 mm the bend felt sharper
So... it’s good news Can I say thanks for all your help, as there is a little story be hind this lamp. This was in my family and I’m sure it was my Grand Fathers. It sat in Dads shed for at least 50 years, Dad tried hard to make this work but couldn’t. Dad died about 5 years ago and I found the lamp in the shed in a tight old state. I took it home cleaned it, put a fit kit of washes on it, and it fired up!!!! I was so chuffed!! But then I discovered the tiny hole!! But I thought I’d show you the job done
Have a look at Caswells web site. Caswell Europe: Online Metal Finishing, Restoration & Renovation products They sell a tank seal remover solvent to remove POR15 which will probably shift the resin liner you have used. Kinda expensive though since they only seem to have the 5Lt size available. ::Neil::
Thanks Macburner, I’ll have a look at that. I used PETseal originally because there was the tiniest hole, and I didn’t want to Solder as it would spoil the look, but hopefully I cured it, but I’ll give these guys a look, cheers for that
Hi Again So I have cured the problem with loads of advice from here ;0) The Wire and Drill worked, I did have a problem with the Pump not sealing but I've cured that as I was to gentle with it. Only issue is that before I discovered the hole, I fired up the lamp and it was very bright, I load brighter than my Tilley lamp, SO when I fixed the hole and put a new Mantle on it, its not really that bright. Ive check the tube and made sure its clear, there is a load of pressure but not that bright at all, and that goes for my tilley lamp too. Would it be the mantle or should I be checking anything else? There is nothing blocked and everything is clear, but Im quite stumped with this one. Any help as always im grateful for ;0) Cheers Glen
It's possible that some part of the burner is loose, but if that is the case then there would be a strong smell of paraffin.
Hi Jeff, Its quite strange, The KL80 I paid no attention to it, I filled it of Paraffin stuck a Mantle on it and it lit brilliant, But once I cleaned out everything, made sure everything is spotless, fitted a new Mantle and now its pretty dim, and that for the KL80 and the 246, its really strange, the only thing I can think of is its something to do with the new Washers kit ive fitted to both?
You probably disturbed a bit of muck which is now clogging up one of the small passageways. Try cleaning it again in the first instance...
Glen, what happened to the outer part of the gallery on your KL80? It seems to be present in the ‘before’ pic but not in the ‘after’ pic.
Hi Jean, I’m not too sure! It seems to work ok on mine! But I’ll try it on my PC to see if it works Hi David I was meticulous with the KL80 because I had to drill out the pick up tube, so it should be spotless, the main tube was cleaned and blown through about 10 times, I’ve no idea where I may have gone wrong but both these lamps are now identical in colour, and it’s half the brightness of when I originally lit the KL80. I’m just wondering if it’s the new washers etc in the tap no allowing proper flow? But I’ll follow that advice and strip it all apart just in case, but it’s weird why it’s both lamps
