First of all, happy new year to everyone. In the last days of the previous I found the following 2 donutlamps. I think they are 2 Continental 390 Ideal lampen. Given the information is quite limited, however, I am not sure, so if anyone knows more about it, I will gladly be corrected. Maybe there is also someone who can tel me if there any parts are missing except the glass. I would also like to know how old these lamps are, or in what period they were made. It's very appreciated if someone can answer my questions or have information.
@Johan Osinga Two ? You lucky fellow. I think your lamps are from around 1919 to 19?? They are very similar to this 390A posted by @Erik Leger Continental 390 IDEAL
@Johan Osing, these lamps certainly look like the Ideal Series from Continental Licht. I wonder why they are not marked. You would expect markings on the shade, on the lamp corpus and on the pressure gauge. With that copper tank they were the top end of the product range so certainly not a war-time product. I have very insufficient information on the range of time these were sold. All I can say is I fond them in a dated catalogue and I did not find them in an other paper from an other year. Henry provided the matching link. These lamps would come with a ball-shaped globe and a straight inner draft chimney. One of them lacks the burner screen. The vaporizer is a real mess to fettle and there (most likely) will be a quantity of asbestos seals and packings in the cast iron inner part. Erik
@Johan Osinga , ah you bought them. Donut lamps where often hired by market men to light up their market stalls. After the war the "German Made" stuff was most likely not so well appreciated. So removing such marking may have happened.
Yes, very common here to see all sorts of items from clocks, tools even kitchen utensils marked 'foreign'
No Wim, not in connection with Continental Licht. They were cut off the supply of raw materials and subsequently put out of the lamp manufacturing business in 1942. And you would not remove the embossing of the company name on the lamp corpus and from the lamp reflector and then re-enamel the the whole thing or replace a dial of the pressure gauge... Does not make sense to me at all. Erik
After taking a closer look at the lamps, I discovered that on one of the pressure gauges has the brand name Continental. And on one of the reflectors a number of letters are still vaguely legible, namely, NTAL. So I suspect that one of the pressure gauges has been replaced over time, and that both reflectors must also have the brandname on it
Can anyone tell me how to light this lamp. I have cleaned one completely and rebuilt it, now I want to test it. I will of course place photos of the lamp and parts here later
The burner head has been repaired, and the rest I think is intact. It keeps fairly good pressure, but I think the top valve is leaking a bit.
I think there is a piece missing from here Look at part number 38 on this diagram from a Petromax, the small black spot is a hole which provides a horizontal flame to ignite the vapour when it comes into the mantle. If you are lucky, it's possible to do without it. Most donut lamps of this size will need 10 or 12 ml of spirit to preheat them. The same as with any other lamp, I would do a test burn first with reduced pressure. So, add fuel. Pump in air until manometer reads 0.5 or 0.75 kg - even this may be too much, you will have to experiment. Use 10 or 12ml of spirit in the preheat dish and light it, it is not easy to see the spirit burning but from memory it burns for about 3 or 4 minutes. Use your watch if you have to and open the valve after 3.5 minutes and see what happens. If the spirit has burnt out use a match or lighter. If it flares up, let it preheat some more and perhaps reduce the pressure a little bit. Practice makes perfect ! When you're ready, tie on a mantle and enjoy the light. I like to start these lamps with only 1 kg of pressure in the tank. Once the lamp is burning correctly, increase pressure until it burns brightly. After fitting a new mantle, I like to pump to maximum pressure to make sure the mantle makes a good shape.
I once made a webpage about the Petromax 834. This may be of use since the basics are the same. Like said the lighter of the pre heater disc is missing. Henry pointed at this in a picture. I don't like to give a hands on how to. Its beter you know what you have and how it works. I once had a run away donut gasoline lantern and that is no fun.
@WimVe You have a good point. I should have made it clear that the method I described is a suggestion and NOT an instruction.
@Henry Plews, Well pressure lamps still are filled with flammable liquids under air pressure with an open flame nearby. So knowledge is a first priority. In this case @Johan Osinga did not ask about the "lighter" I mentioned. Which can mean he doesn't know its there, its function or both. In this case it doesn't make the lamp more dangerous but harder to light. Since the pre heating is done a fair distance above the mantle. Usage of the reflector and globe was not intended for this. in case of a "run away" donuts have more fuel and are harder to calm down.
Well, it's a nice problem to have.. and not just one lovely lantern but Two? Thanks for sharing and good luck with the light-up
