The dangers of eBay, and can anybody help?

I recently gave myself the little reminder that happens every once in a while that there is always a risk of less scrupulous sellers on ebay.

Recently bought an FL6 on ebay that was "restored" but untested. I already knew i would be stripping it down to do a better job so I wasn't too fussed about the detail and importantly all the parts were there. Seller cancelled the sale after the auction clearly unhappy with the price it made (which i thought was fair for an untested item). Later on we agreed a slightly higher price and it's now with me.

Closer inspection (fresh smelling kerosene, slight burn marks, freshly polished surfaces, missing mantle previously present) shows that it has indeed been tested and fired since the original auction. I went through the usual safety/function tests that anyone would with a new lamp, and quickly found that the base of the tank around the solder joint is full of pinhole where the rust has come through from the inside, so it leaks like a seive. The seller must clearly have known about this and was happy to pass it on without making the buyer aware which is pretty shameful. Especially considering there was a fair bit of dialogue and therefore plenty of opportunity.

I feel like naming and shaming just to save anyone else having a similar issue, especially as this seller regularly has (seemingly) good quality lamps for sale.

I myself have sold damaged parts, but always make people aware, one of the things that i enjoy about this hobby is that people seem really down to earth and genuinely want to help each other out, but clearly not this individual that wants to push up prices and happy to screw over fellow lamp folk.

Of course it is my own fault for buying sight unseen, but after around 12 months of looking, there has been nothing for sale at a reasonable price that isn't the other side of the country, so sellers happy to post became the obvious answer.

Anyway, if anyone has a good condition FL6 tank that they would sell, I'd be very happy to hear from you. The rest of the lamp will restore well and I can't afford to buy a whole new one in better condition, so hopefully someone has one so I can save this from becoming a parts donor!

 

Sorry to hear.

If the bottom is basically sound the pinholes can be patched or sealed with lead solder or there are tank sealers available. Por 15 or Caswell to name two.
I'd suggest cleaning the tank inside and removing the rust to determine the extent of the damage. It may be salvageable.

 

Unfortunately I'm 3 rounds of soldering in and chasing my tail, every time I seal one, another pops up nearby, and there's only around 2 or 3mm in places of sound joint between the main tank and the base, so a bit of a safety risk. Short of cutting the bottom off and trying to make a new piece to sweat in, it's pretty far gone

 

This link shows a splendid restoration of a very rough FL-6.

FL-6 Restoration started

 

@Sploosh33

Trying to make a new bottom is a good solution.

Gilles