Hurricane lamps

[On Our own]

I have a large hurricane lamp, and have been trying to figure out since the wick holder advancer piece (that's the technical name LOL) is curved should I trim the wick in a curve or straight across for better efficiency?

 

[MorelCabin]

curve the wick.

 

[TanksHill]

I have collected several lanterns. Could you please explain this curved wick thing.

thanks, gina

 

[On Our own]

The part of the lamp that holds the wick and moves it up and down - in this lamp it is a large round shape. A semi-circle.

The wick comes out squared so the edges are out way farther than the center and so they burn funny.

 

[MorelCabin]

Any lamp wick burns better curved, whether in a curved advancer or not. Try it, you'll see

 

[MorelCabin]

http://www.ehow.com/how_5199279_trim-kerosene-lamp-wick.html

 

[THEFAN]

HI just a refs from a member of the peanut gallary. I use these lamps everytime we hava a outage. Which has been a lot this past winter on our island. I found they work better with curved wick.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I have a number of these lanterns. Some are older and some are brand new. Two of them have a small wire rack so you can cook on top of them. The kerosene is brutally expensive out here...around $5.50/gallon. Needless to say, in a serious power problem, the kerosene will become even more expensive or unavailable. So.....I have changed to a solar emergency kit.

The solar panel ($160) came off of a electric fence and I took the electric fence charger out of the box. I got a deep cycle battery ($74) and a charge controller ($75). So now I am into this for just over $300, but then I got some 12 volt LED light bulbs which draw next to nothing and have a system that provides light to my entire 1st level of the farm house without any appreciable drain on the battery. This will allow you to be off the grid for quite some time...should you need to be off. There is essentially no fire hazard such as is with the kerosene lamps and it is self-sustaining for quite some time. Kerosene goes pretty fast and carries with it some serious odor issues and fire hazards so while it is handy to have them, *(and yes, curve the wicks) a small solar rig will afford you a lot of light for a long time without the fire risks...

My next chore is to rig up 16 solar panels (170 watts each) and power my entire farm!!!

 

[opiemaster]

Hey great advice here, but I have a question, I have some old oil lamps I bought at an auction with no Globes. They are dark green and round. The wick 's in these are also round. I bought some globes that fit them and when we had a power outage I tried using them, but the globes broke as the heat was to much for them. Any idea on where I might find bigger globes? And also someone told me that lamps with round wicks can explode is this true?
Thanks

 

[~gd]

Hey great advice here, but I have a question, I have some old oil lamps I bought at an auction with no Globes. They are dark green and round. The wick 's in these are also round. I bought some globes that fit them and when we had a power outage I tried using them, but the globes broke as the heat was to much for them. Any idea on where I might find bigger globes? And also someone told me that lamps with round wicks can explode is this true?
Thanks

I suspect your lamps with round wicks are actually "mantle" lamps that heat a special mantle to white hot heat. This in turns throws out very bight white light. much of the heat of these round wicks are converted to light. I know of no globes that can stand the heat of these burned without the mantle. In some uses the mantle (which is very fagrile) will develop a hole. If not tended to the mantle will blow-out and the heat causes the globe to break. They really do NOT explode but the result looks like they did. The GOOD NEWS is these old lamps are widely sought because of their huge light production. AS always Value depends on the model and starts around $100 Each.
The most famous ones were produced by the Aladdin Lamp Co. (NO I am not kidding) who also used to produce Vaccum bottles, the ones used in old kids school Lunch Box Kits like the Thermos and other outdoor gear. Production was moved to China and you can still get parts for them. Mantles and globes are fairly reasonable, the lamps themselves not so much. I suggest you google for a specialist dealer's website which usually have pictures of the lamps as well as replacement parts that are available. You may have a major find on your hands that could pay for a years worth of power. Or maybe not. ~gd