Vapouriser Flame Test

Discussion in 'Pressure Lamp Discussion Forum' started by Muzzleflash, Apr 3, 2018.

  1. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    What tell tale signs should I be looking for, to know if a vapouriser is shot by doing a flame test?? TIA
     
  2. ROBBO55

    ROBBO55 Subscriber

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  3. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Thanks. I bought a Guardsman that basically had a very poor condition hood and the burner had essentially welded itself to it - terrible state of affairs! I'd assumed the vapouriser would be toast too, but after doing a flame test this morning it appeared to be a near perfect bunsen flame. I'll stick a hood with a mantle on later and see what happens
    ...
     
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  4. ROBBO55

    ROBBO55 Subscriber

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    @Muzzleflash
    It's hard to tell the condition of a vapouriser from the outside. With a mantle on the lantern the sign of a worn vapouriser is a orange halo / flame around the mantle or black spots on the mantle that don't go away.
    Hope it works out for you.
     
  5. JonD

    JonD Subscriber

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    @Muzzleflash You sound as if you are on the way to sorting out your new guardsman.
    If you don't mind me asking (because I'm trying to research similar problems) what had welded the burner / hood to the vapouriser, in your opinion?

    Were they stuck together by corrosion or old carbon deposits - so they worked free with some WD40 or such and some movement?

    Or was the vapouriser swollen up and you had to take drastic measures like filing or squashing it back to shape?

    Good luck with it. Hope your vapouriser has survived.
     
  6. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    For the most part none of the above - the burner had essentially melted and had a huge hole blown into it's top, and had fused with the hood top. Vapouriser and burner separated easily, but due to the condition of the burner/hood I'd assumed the vapouriser would be scrap as well. Not so, both flame and mantle test proved today..
     
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  7. JonD

    JonD Subscriber

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    @Muzzleflash oh dear - it was in a bad way then.
    It sounds like that was allowed to run with the equivalent of underburn in a stove, combustion going on inside the dome.
    I guess in this design it could be called overburn :roll:

    Lucky your vapouriser is still good!
     
  8. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    That raises the question of what causes overburn in the upper dome?! Could be due to an enlarged vapouriser jet perhaps - but I'm not getting any incandesce outside the mantle. Perhaps it was a faulty or blocked burner? It certainly was in a mess
     
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  9. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    Weak mixture usually.

    BTW, there's no need to quote the entire immediately preceding post - you'll give the moderator nightmares! =; ;) :lol:
     
  10. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Ok then - well if that's standard fare here, I won't do it. Never had a request like that though in over 20 years of net usage.
     
  11. Tony Press

    Tony Press Australia Subscriber

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    @Muzzleflash

    I’ve noticed on other sites that there is a general tendency to do the whole quote thing. I find it odd, because it doesn’t help me as a reader work out easily which part of the quote is being responded to.

    The advantage of the way this site is set up, is that if you want, in a general way, to respond to what someone has posted, you can use the “@“ function to identify and alert the person to whom you are responding. It is a function that many other sites should use.

    Cheers

    Tony
     
  12. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    I wondered about the '@' function as it's not something I've come across before - makes sense though of course! Also, I use a Smartphone 90% of the time, so it can be difficult sifting through various responses/functions et Al.

    On a different note - what would cause a bulging mantle I wonder?? I have an X246B I purchased on Ebay c/w original box, that had never been lit when I bought it. As there are no shortages of unlit B's with original box, I decided to light it and after a couple of hours the mantle started to bulge a bit to one side. I replaced the mantle only for it to do it again. I'm thinking an assymetrical vapouriser jet or something. .?
     
  13. Tony Press

    Tony Press Australia Subscriber

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    @Muzzleflash

    Light it without the mantle and see if the flames are lopsided.

    Cheers

    Tony
     
  14. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    It wasn't a request, just a word to the wise...
     
  15. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Will do!

    Cheers,

    Stuart.
     
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  16. ROBBO55

    ROBBO55 Subscriber

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    I had this problem on a Coleman 249 when the mesh holes in the nozzle / flame spreader were too large. I replaced the mesh with a smaller size and the problem went away.
     
  17. Nils Stephenson

    Nils Stephenson Founder Member

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    My guess would be poor spacing between the flame spreader holes. Hopefully an off centre jet stream would be evened out in the mixing chamber.
     
  18. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Sounds feasible and I guess that's the lottery that is an X246B purchase..

    I won't bother buying another burner for a lamp that has already cost me over 50 quid and won't be lit that much - though I am slightly concerned about uneven heat distribution in the globe and consequent cracking? Possible! ?!
     
  19. JonD

    JonD Subscriber

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    welcome to the world of X246B owners down the years.
    We are a happy bunch in the main - with thin wallets.
     
  20. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    I love em - they're cheap and plentiful and do the job...
     
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  21. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    On the other hand, you could simply have done with it/them and buy a Bialaddin or Vapalux lantern instead. They work on the same principle as Tilley but are far better engineered - that's 'engineered' as opposed to 'chucked together'. There are plenty of ex-military examples out there and can be had quite cheaply from eBay as long as you avoid the daft BIN prices some sellers are asking. In fact, plan A for today is for me to list an unlit Vapalux M320 with some slight cosmetic issues only - watch this space... :D

    IMGP0002a.jpg
     
    Last edited: Apr 5, 2018
  22. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    If anyone's interested, it's now listed on a well-known UK auction site. Am I allowed to say that? :-k :-$ ;) :lol:
     
  23. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Cheap and plentiful was the key.....bit like an old MK5 Cortina back in the day. Chucked together, but if looked after will serve you well...:lol:
    :roll:
    I have my eye on a 320 funnily enough. There's one on a certain website listed with two Tilleys not far from me..
     
  24. ColinG

    ColinG United Kingdom Subscriber

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    I can confirm that Bialaddins and Vapalux are excellent and work really well. You can also pick them up for reasonable prices an eBay and some other similar sites.
     
  25. JonD

    JonD Subscriber

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    Hehe - that's the ticket.
    Maybe a Vapalux one day. I stopped at Mk4 Cortina.
     
  26. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    The Mk4/5 was essentially the same car of course with the exception of the rear light clusters and front grille....I ran one well into the early 00's...but I digress and Mr. Shouksmith will be along in a mo to tick me off for going off topic...:roll::doh:
     
  27. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    Why would you even say that? - I simply gave you some friendly advice yesterday intended to save you some wasted effort and the rest of us unnecessary scrolling... ](*,)
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2018
  28. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Lol, I know it was a bit of friendly banter, intended as such..
     
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  29. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    Wot he said.....
     
  30. Muzzleflash United Kingdom

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    This is the Guardsman I recently purchased which had a totally shot burner, so I bought a 'new' one off EBay. I lightly sandpapered the vapouriser head and did a flame test today. I've never seen a flame with such a green hue to it to start with - which after a half hour or so slowly turned an iridescent blue.

    Initially, I could spin the hood freely on the vapouriser like a spinning top and it would just keep turning. Thanks to JonD for the advice on reading his thread on the fettling page.

    DSC_0083.JPG
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 8, 2018

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