New hobby/addiction

[ErnieG]

Anyone know what type of fuel this thing uses? Same as a lantern I'm assuming but not sure. I believe it's a very old type of road flare out of an 18 wheeler. Not 100% on that though.

I'm fairly certain you can burn citronella in those ..it's nice outside evenings to keep the bugs away .
Ernie

 

[FergusonTO35]

Anyone know what type of fuel this thing uses? Same as a lantern I'm assuming but not sure. I believe it's a very old type of road flare out of an 18 wheeler. Not 100% on that though.

That is a small smudge pot. They were used to produce a thick soot that attaches to fruit trees to protect from frost, and also used as road flares. Citronella would be a good choice, but you can burn just about any type of fuel oil in it. I think a mixture of diesel and used motor oil is what was used for smudge.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

Yesterday my GF and I were in the big city and scored a brown lantern for free from a pawn shop.
Today my GF comes home with these.
Two brown ones in two days.
Can’t remember when I saw a brown one last.

 

[ErnieG]

Yesterday my GF and I were in the big city and scored a brown lantern for free from a pawn shop.
Today my GF comes home with these.
Two brown ones in two days.
Can’t remember when I saw a brown one last. View attachment 460933

Those easi-lites are great lanterns !
Old Coleman parts sells the o-ring rebuild kits for those lanterns just fyi

Ernie

 

[old 040]

I started collecting several years ago, sold a bunch but still have quite a few. Here's just a few examples.

 

[FergusonTO35]

I promise I'm not engaging in a weird tractor sacrifice ritual! Actually, using my Dietz lanterns to light the area I'm scraping.

 

[Steve]

I promise I'm not engaging in a weird tractor sacrifice ritual! Actually, using my Dietz lanterns to light the area I'm scraping.

View attachment 479064

Did you ever get them big ones going? Bet you would only need one of them to light that area!

 

[FergusonTO35]

I got them cleaned up and inspected. It appears that one has good enough sheet metal not to be a fire hazard and there are enough parts between the two to make one good lantern, and maybe a decorative piece with the other. Hopefully I can make it happen this spring. Thanks again!

I've also found that Rust Oleum flat black rust converter primer works great for lanterns. It is fairly fuel and heat resistant and makes a nice old-looking patina. A lot of lanterns and stoves were painted flat black back in the day so it is a restoration correct finish in many cases. This would include most tubular lanterns and railroad lanterns. In fact I think some "economy" single mantle Colemans were painted flat black, I remember us having one as a kid.

 

[cuinrearview]

I picked up a real nice looking 275 at a sale this fall with an extra picket fence globe if anyone is looking. No case.

 

[FergusonTO35]

Santa was good to me again this year, brought a very nice English made Chalwyn Pilot hot blast lantern. Gonna see if I can get it going!

 

[FergusonTO35]

And she's a runner! Didn't even need a new wick, seems about as bright as my similar size Dietz lanterns such as the Little Wizard and Junior.

 

[Yukon Stihl]

GF came home with this one today
First one i have seen

 

[legdelimber]

Been a long time since I've seen one of those with the tubes routed back into the burner. Does anyone know what to call that type of lamp? As a kid, I always thought that they burned a little brighter and perhaps cleaner?

Could you, safely, run alcohol or a blend of alcohol and kerosene in one?

Santa was good to me again this year, brought a very nice English made Chalwyn Pilot hot blast lantern. Gonna see if I can get it going!

View attachment 479482

 

[FergusonTO35]

As far as I know, kerosene and lamp oil/paraffin oil are the only fuels that a wick lantern are intended to use. The biggest problem with alcohol is that it's hygroscopic and draws moisture from the air. Meaning, not only will the fuel be contaminated but the metal will corrode pretty quickly. The Chalwyn design is called a hot blast lantern. Supposedly, the heat from the chimney pushes air through the tubes and into the burner producing a cleaner and brighter flame. Most Dietz lanterns are the cold blast type, where the air tubes are indirectly connected to the chimney on the sides, with the heat pushing cooler outside air into the tubes. Railroad and signal lanterns without tubes are called dead flame types, the only oxygen the flame receives is through the vent holes around the burner. These lanterns were intended more for signaling than to actually provide illumination, and so making the lantern simple, rugged, and compact was the primary concern. See my previous post with my Adlake C&O railroad lantern.