Kero Lanterns

[onetrack]

Did you know that Chinese lanterns are banned in many U.S. States, because they're deemed an unacceptable fire hazard? They have caused a substantial number of house fires in the U.S.

 

I guess oil lanterns are just a tiny bit safer - but fires started by kerosene lanterns were quite common before electric lighting, and they're still common in developing/third world countries, where they're still used.

[facthunter]

Crook, bad connections and rat eaten wiring causes fires also.  Nev

[willedoo]

This is one of my favourite old lanterns, a Dipti brand made in India. I don't know how old it is but I'd guess 1950's or 1960's. It's a great old lantern, very solid metal and thick embossed glass with the name Dipti Oriental Metal embossed on it. That's the old company name; they're Dipti Metal Industries these days. It also burns perfectly and never gives any problems. It's in the top three in lantern status around here. Fairly rare in this country and not easy to find one.

 

[ClintonB]

You never know Willie, you might be the only one with the lights on if power prices keep rising.

[willedoo]

That's if you can afford the kero, it's over $6 per litre now. Mind you, they burn a long time. The kero these days is a bit funny, it doesn't burn as clean as it used to. Probably some additive. I remember in times gone by, the glass would get a bit of black soot that was easy to wipe off. These days it leaves an orange-brown stain on the inside of the glass that cakes on hard and is very difficult to remove.

[willedoo]

As said previously, I'm not a fanatical collector (at least not of lanterns) and have no use for something that won't be used and burnt. Having said that, I saw this Dietz Blizzard No.80 on eBay last night for sale at Hervey Bay and bought it. At $25, it was a steal as they're worth a lot more than that. You'd probably be lucky to pick up a working second-hand one much under $80-$100. The one I have already is my top lantern; they're a great bit of gear. Solid as a brick dunny, always works as advertised and a large lantern to boot with a big tank that gives 80 hours burn time on a moderate setting (hence the No.80 designation). You can burn a lantern like that for a few nights without having to fill it.

 

This one should arrive next week sometime. It's got a bit of surface rust but that's good in my view; I like them to have a bit of character and history. It's also got a slightly bent chimney cap which is easy to panelbeat. It has the thicker, older glass with the logo embossed instead of the etched logo like mine has. I think they stopped embossing the globes in the 1950's, so it's possible this one has been retrofitted. The photo is from eBay.

 

Edited February 26 by willedoo

[nomadpete]

So, is that one in your picture a cold blast type?

I keep a couple of lamps. 

I have a new Cokeman pressure lamp but it isn't a patch on my dad's old Aladdin that we used when I was a kid.

 

The chinese copies look just like the originals, but seem to be made of plasticine. Not at all sturdy.

[willedoo]

Yes Pete, that is a cold blast lantern. The Chinese lanterns these days are like a lot of their stuff; it looks the part but el-cheapo made. I've got one that's a copy of that Dietz blizzard in the above photo and the metal is paper thin. Even with a big tank, it would be lighter full of fuel than an empty Dietz. A lot of the Hong Kong made lanterns were good in the days before it was all China. I think in those days the manufacturers had some pride in making a decent product.

[willedoo]

The lantern in the last photo arrived from the eBay seller. It has a bit of light surface rust from age so I sprayed some inox on it to free things up a bit. When I took the burner cap off and pulled the burner out, I found out it was NOS and never used. It had the original factory wick lying in the bottom of the tank. She had two of them listed and I thought of buying both at that cheap price, but after receiving mine I checked back and the second one had been snapped up. A rare find in that condition. That particular lantern is one of the best types you can get if you like the large size lanterns.

[facthunter]

Shining light in dark corners is a good idea but kero is a crazy price. Nev

[willedoo]

It's expensive all right. Probably cheapest from Bunnings where it varies from $24 to $27 per 4 litres. Buying it in a 20 litre container only saves a couple of dollars. It must have been cheap when we ran tractors on it.

[facthunter]

Yeah and you get Bugga all Power from a kero tractor with a lot of Oil dilution as well..  Nev

[willedoo]

I still haven't got the new/old lantern going yet. The biggest issue with a lot of lanterns that have been stored for many years is that the fuel tank bung gets seized in place. It's not easy to get lubricant between the threads so it just needs a lot of patience. Forcing them is usually a bad outcome and can break off the outer thread section. Sometimes it's an option to decrimp the bung cap, take it off, then get some lube down between the threads. It was too wet to go down to the shed to get the wd40, so I've sprayed the whole lantern with lanox. Now it smells and feels like a big greasy sheep.

[onetrack]

Willie - The best penetrant is some stuff called Cyclo Breakaway. Made in Murrica, so you know it's good! 😄 

 

https://www.sparesbox.com.au/products/cyclo-cyclo-breakaway-penetrating-oil-lubricant-475ml-c10?srsltid=AfmBOoqnIE2KmSBy_Top4bH_Wyd1uNgWy5LMVv4KrSOOY9ANKEIhi67g1vE

[facthunter]

I've never FELT a big Greasy sheep. I'm Australian.  Nev