My next lantern project will involve the cleaning and service of a Veritas Superb. I’ve never worked on one before and, so far, haven’t been able to find any good visual (video or pictorial) resources on how to correctly strip down the various parts and get on with the fettling. I’ve seen many posts showing the same parts diagram, but my primitive mind does a lot better sometimes with a monkey see, monkey do approach. Once I’ve got all the bits laid out in front of me, I’me sure the parts diagram will make sense. The lantern is in very good condition and the last thing I’d want to do is mess something up by not taking it apart correctly.
I have not seen one, but I have rebuilt a few, as has @ColinG. You can always put pictures up here and ask if you get stuck.
Definitely post some photos and I'll help where I can. I'm not aware of any instructional videos chiefly because their reputation was once so bad nobody would have bothered! Seals are still available (forget the source but either base-camp or the fettle box) or you can buy a sheet of viton rubber and make your own with some hole punches which is what I do. Also, bear in mind these lanterns are nothing like Tilleys or Bialaddins in operation and much more similar to Coleman's with a positive shut off valve. In fact, the Superb was rebadged by Coleman and sold as a 239E Ranger! Replacement jets are unavailable although Austramax jets will work with a bit of adaptation but that requires a lathe. I've used a variety of mantles: Coleman, Pearless, Cheap Chinese sock and ball types and they all work reasonably well but Ive had more success with the ball types as they get closer to the generator/vaporiser. My main piece of advice would be... protect that glass with your life as they are getting damned rare now and there are no real alternatives that fit properly! Hope this helps.
A big thank you to @Fireexit1 and @ColinG for the information provided! I'm trying to get started with the cleanup of the lantern today and already have a couple of basic questions. Assuming I’ll order a seal kit from the stellar folks at Base Camp, will I want to bother disassembling the entire fuel control section (apologies for my imprecise wording) from the top of the tank or is it better to service the lamp with that part of it in situ? I can’t seem to work out how the rod that turns the cam to raise and lower the cleaning needle removes from the rest of the assembly, so is it also best left alone as long as the cam actuates properly (which it does)? For today, I’d just like to get it stripped down as far as necessary for a good cleaning of the parts pictured. I’m very hesitant to give the tank an acid bath, so I plan to see how it goes with a good soak and gentle scrub in warm water with mild detergent followed, if necessary, by a careful buffing with automotive metal polish—unless it’s ill advised. I’ve used that method with tremendous success on several Tilley X246’s.
It may be best to remove it, I can't remember if there is a filter on the end of the fuel pipe or not. Take off part 3 - 213V and part 3 - 212V. In theory, the rod should just pull out with only a little effort. BUT, part 3 - 211V is made from some type of rubber and it often goes hard and jams in the fuel control section. I've found that a little heat from a blowtorch works wonders. If that doesn't work, give it some serious heat and burn it out but if you have to do that, take part 3 - 201 out of the tank so that heat does not conduct along it and soften the solder around the fitting.
@Henry Plews Thanks for the detailed instructions. The teardown is pretty much complete at this point. I removed the fuel control assembly by fixing it upside down in a vice with shop rags wrapped around for protection and just turned the bus to the left with the figurative steering wheel. I did have to briefly blow torch the part of 3-201, once removed from the tank, on the outside of part 3-211V. Carefully gripping the stalk of part 3-210 with the flat/smooth tips of the jaws of my locking pliers, I gently tugged a couple if times and everything popped right out with no damage to anything. Please see the closeup picture below of the fuel pickup tube. Is further disassembly recommended/required at this point? I don’t know if there should be a filter under the gauze or what else might be involved there.
Looks like you are on your way Jaska ! The seal kit from base camp is for both the Superb and the 350 so don't panic if you have a couple of bits left over. The seal kit is a "made up" one so not everything will look the same - I seem to recall o rings substitute for the 3 - 211V but they work fine. You were lucky yours came apart easily as Henry says they can be difficult to get out. I also unscrewed the filter so I could clean it well, in addition to cleaning inside the fuel pickup pipe
Great, @Fireexit1 . Nice to hear from you. The NRV came out easily with the tool I made for Optimus lanterns and stoves. I’m surprised at how much use can be gotten out of an intentionally mangled bolt . Any advice on servicing the vapouriser? The cleaning needle was really stuck. I had to use penetrating oil and locking pliers to twist and wrestle it out. It was literally stuck from end to end. I can see that there is a tube of some kind installed in the vapouriser. I assume this needs to come out…right? If so, what’s the recommended way to do that?
From memory I removed the jet and cleaned the inside of the vaporiser with an air rifle bore brush. There was no tubing inside the vaporiser but somebody might have added something maybe to improve heat conductivity much like people put mesh inside petromax vaporisers. Give it a clean and see what comes out
Could someone have used a Coleman vaporiser, which do feature inside tubes I think? Bearing in mind it's nearly a 239 someone might have done a straight swap? Chris
Well, there is a spring in the vapouriser. It comes up to just shy of the internal threads where the jet sits. If I press against it with a toothpick it just compresses and returns. I can’t see the other end of it from the bottom of the vapouriser so I have no idea how long it is or if it would be removed from the top or bottom, or how that would be accomplished. It’s possible there is an asbestos or cardboard tube at the other end but I cant see clearly enough to tell. Does this sound like a Coleman “generator” or a proper Veritas vapouriser?
I can't remember if there's a spring inside the tube or not, there's certainly a woven sleeve of something - probably asbestos. It is possible to remove the threaded brass fitting from the end of the tube like you can with the earlier Tilley vapourisers. I'm away from home tomorrow and Wednesday but I can take pictures as soon as I have time if you like.
Is that a picture of a Coleman lantern? The parts are clearly different from what I see on my Veritas.
The picture above is definitely a 350 veritas, if yours is different it may well be a Dutch army model which is designed to run on petrol, model p350, there are a few in the reference library, well worth a look.
Here is a link to the coleman version break-down pictures , with info from Daryl and Henry. Veritas superb vaporiser/ generator
@Mr cod I’m puzzled then as to why @Henry Plews mentioned that “It is possible to remove the threaded brass fitting from the end of the tube like you can with the earlier Tilley vapourisers.” To my eyes, the vapouriser in the picture @Fireexit1 posted does not fit Henry’s description. It looks nothing like a Tilley vapouriser, yet my vapouriser does .
The candle power may be the same but Veritas Model 350 and Model Superb are two very different lanterns with very different vapourisers. @Jaska, I can understand your confusion, the image posted by @Fireexit1 is indeed a model 350 and you have a Superb. I'm sure that by now, you've seen the correct images in the LINK posted by Fireexit!
Indeed, @Henry Plews . The picture posted in that thread of your broken-down Superb vapouriser is mucho helpful. I haven’t ever had the occasion to unscrew the bottom of this type of vapouriser and I’ll obviously need to be careful to not knacker the fluting or damage the vapouriser body, die from asbestos exposure, and so on. The one time I attempted to break down a Tilley burner it didn’t end so well . I’ve been holding off on my seal kit order until the vapouriser hurdle is successfully cleared, so hopefully it will be smooth sailing after this.
Since I’m dealing with parts that cannot be replaced, I’m taking every precaution. I have some old Tilley vapourisers and I decided to unscrew the threaded base from two of them before attempting anything with the Superb vapouriser. Both of the Tilley vapourisers are now trash. With each of them, the base loosened with modest force, and then continued to spin around and around indefinitely. Why would this happen? Looking closely at my Superb vapouriser, I could swear it looks like the base is welded or soldered to the tube. If recent experience counts for anything, I’d say it’s practically guaranteed that my lantern will be destroyed if I try to take apart the vapouriser. Is there any chance to service it well enough without full disassembly and, preferably, also without heating and quenching? Chemicals? Manual removal of carbon from the pricker?
@Jaska On the older Tilley vapourisers, with the brass knurled end and stamped with the patent number, the brass fitting was screwed into the steel tube. The later, steel ones were pressed into the steel tube. So... only the screwed ones can be removed by unscrewing. Do not despair, if you've loosened the base of one that is not screwed in you can silver solder the join and it will be fine. As to your Veritas vapouriser, I'll leave that to the Veritas experts here... Cheers Tony
You could certainly remove the carbon manually by careful cleaning but be very careful of the needle. Ultrasound cleaning works well with tilley vapourisers ; there was a thread recently about reasonably priced ultrasound machines From your photos everything looks in good order.. good stuff
Yes, good luck @Jaska, just to confirm too, the Base Camp seals kit is excellent for the Veritas. Can't really fault it... I do prefer the 350 though - the Superb is nice, and a looker, but the 350 is a beast of a thing. Especially given that my Superb has recently starting to look like a flare stack on lighting up C
I bought an ultrasonic cleaner a long time ago and still haven’t unboxed it. I was planning to use it for lamp parts, so I’ll definitely give that a go with the Veritas vapouriser and other parts. Is there a particular commercial or DIY cleaning solution you’d recommend for cleaning the carbon out of vapourisers?
@Jaska The stuff I have used is similar to this? Have a look online for things that are directed for use with engine parts? Carburettors, valves pistons etc.. things that get carbon buildup regards pb
