This is a lamp that my brother in law had for many years without doing anything with it. I have now cleaned it up and got it working. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of it lit. It is basically the last variation of the 1051, so no surprises there. This one though has been used by the old Copenhagen telephone company (KTAS) and still has the decal on the tank. It has been well used but is in quite good condition. An interesting thing to note is that the glass is marked Optimus. These must have been ordered by Optimus to have as spares for the Primus lamps after they bought the Primus rights. It has date mark AO 17.
It's actually just a line of carbon. For some reason it wont burn away and has been there for some time. These are still the mantles that were on the lamp when it was bought, so who knows how old they are. Still going strong though.
they look to be very well made I wonder if it is possible to get that small dent out of the tank? I have successfully pulled out small dents on car panels using dent pulling repair kits. basically you use a glue gun to stick on a mushroom shaped plastic attachment to the dent then with a slide hammer a quick hard whack backwards pulls out the dent. I have an old dented Tilley so I must try it one day and report back
A very fine lantern indeed. Interesting way to adjust the needle is that the original way? Or was that an addition using a different generator or a vaporizer as it may be called over there? I’d be interested to find out it reminds me of a Coleman generator vaporizer if it isn’t one
@bonza I'll probably leave it as it is, as it is part of the history of a working lamp. I do have another one in much better condition, but I actually like the looks of this one. @Stovie21 The burner assembly and generator are all Primus. There were two generations of the generator for the 1051. The first one was almost identical to the Coleman R55, but this second generation one is a bit different. It can be disassembled and the larger diameter of the tube probably helps with the vapourisation of the fuel. All the 1051s had the long wire to move the cleaning needle arm.
Oh very good information I did not know that! Amazing how similar they can be countries apart. Most definitely beautiful also reminds me of a Coleman to four to be with that long pump on it in fact I have one in my hand right now I just rebuilt I just have to have it re-chromed it should look beautiful again but it works wonderfully they used a ball bearing in the check valve as opposed to a PIP or a standard Coleman check valve this one you can’t replace you just have to clean is it the same on those? I do have a radius 119 and a Primus 1012 I believe? I am not at home to look unfortunately but it is the model that can burn alcohol as well as the kerosene though it requires a larger jet and Air restriction tube an adapter and larger jet, However it came with it and I believe that was standard for that model to come with it but I may be wrong but since I have it running on alcohol I needed another set so I can get the 119 run and alcohol real well I tried a Half Ass method to burn alcohol but The lantern did not so well did it burn it well at all it was more like a fireball I had to put out quickly lol oh well I’m excited for the arrival of the conversion kit and will definitely post pictures with many thanks to you for the help and kindness. And patience for that matter :/ Life loves to throw a curveball and most definitely women for the better I know this doesn’t fit the post but I wanted to give you a thank you publicly
I can see the person who designed that lamp in my head everything looks wonderful but how do we start at sir? Scratching his head….. more allways… silence..,, well…. let’s just attach a wire and call it Good, we will call it a “working mans lantern” and it’ll save us money…!! Sounds great let’s do it! LOL Maybe I’m just too tired not funny lol
I'm sure Primus had a good look at a Coleman lantern when they designed this model. There are too many similarities to ignore. The pump uses the standard NRV design but has a larger diameter. To ensure positive closing, they have a screw down pump cap that forces a conical end of the pump rod into the NRV hole. Simple but effective. The pictures aren't the best, but I hope you can see the details.
That's a really nice example! The design cues are neat and subtle I must get my 1051 fettled over the Xmas break. I was holding off until I got the 1050 as I was going to do the two of them together, but that doesn't look like its happening sadly Alec.
Are you sure that date code is AO and not AD? These are 1930s lanterns—so far as I’ve ever seen—and (again unless I am mistaken) long out of production by 1950. Best, Ulf.
The 1051 was in production until 1950. A couple of the differences between how it would look in 1939 (AD) and 1950 (AO) is there are only six 'knobs' on the valve wheel instead of 12, and the handle only has a kink in the middle instead of the loop they used earlier. I have seen several 1051s from 1950, so there is no doubt about them being produced that year.
Hi Nils! Thanks so much for this information . . . I stand corrected, gratefully! Much appreciated. Ulf.
