With the risk of opening a can of worms I throw this idea in the group: I would like to have a wick light section on the forum. So non pressure light sources. Like most of you I collect pressure lanterns but I also have some easy to light up and sometimes even very clever made wick storm/hurricane lanterns. And with the dead of BBL and Guild forum I miss a good forum to ask questions and look for information. So what do you think: is it time to open this forum and welcome a new group and give it its own space?
I would like to support this suggestion. I too have a fair collection of wick lamps and nowhere to discuss them. The snag I see is that the name of the forum may preclude it.
This has been suggested before! It's ancient history now but you wouldn't believe the effort it took me to persuade Ross to even include radiant heaters from the likes of Tilley and Bialaddin on these forums. Without going into the details, it's why '& Heaters' appears tacked on to the main site title. Also why there are 'Other pressure products' sections for some manufacturers. As far as a wickie section is concerned, I wouldn't support the idea but I wouldn't be particularly bothered if one appeared - I just wouldn't be going there. If it had to be, I'd prefer wickie lamps on a third 'sister' site, although thinking about it, I'd prefer that to deal with blowlamps (=blowtorches to some of you) - at least they're pressure-related. Just my two penn'orth - YMMV...
Since being infected with the (pressure) lampitus, I’ve also unwittingly acquired a small collection of wickies. These wickies came to me with pressure lamps in job lots. There are certainly plenty of wickies still hanging around here in the UK, I suspect many other countries too. From cheap simple examples to more elaborate and sometimes over the top designs. I think it would be safe to have a section for wickies, I doubt the pressure lamps would get drowned out by a sudden deluge of wickieness. As for blowlamps/blowtorches as David mentions above, they should have a place here or on CCS.
The idea is good, but it should probably be a sister site. could imagine that it is a big job to make such a page. Tom
I would support a wick lamp section, I think it would add further diversity to the forum. There is only so long you can discuss the same topics..... A lot of people start with wick lamps then progress to pressure lamps, I would be happy to contribute to it, even if it only had limited appeal...
Possibly, but CCS doesn't seem to be suffering at all in this respect and it began in (I think) 2004 - six years earlier than this one...
It could become a big part of the site. Primary categorisation: domestic/interior; industrial; mines; railways; marine; transportation (autos, bicycles) ‘Regular’ wick lantern - flat, round section or tubular wick types. Flame spreader or no flame spreader. Famos or Aladdin type of incandescent mantle lamp based on a ‘blue flame’ tubular wick. Tito Landi incandescent Then .... carbide lamps? - industrial - domestic - transport.
@presscall do we use these category's also for pressure lamps ? The only thing I thought off was indeed the mantle lamps. A wick fed burner makes light or a hot blue flame which heats up a mantle. For me there is no differences in Famos , Aladdin or Tito Landi lamps. After this would be or would not be a success there maybe space for wickless light apparatus like carbide. I find it silly (?) to suggest a complete new forum, which is way more work then a pressureless wick section.
Maybe you do, Wim, but this is Classic PRESSURE Lamps - so why would it have a section for "pressureless" wickie stuff? There'd be more justification for having most stoves and blowlamps here before wickie stuff finds its way in. And then, as John has suggested above, further diversification into all sorts of other things. What about miners' safety lamps? greenhouse and sump heaters? rushlights? a bit of string lying in a pool of whale oil? a Christingle candle stuck in an orange? Then there would be all kinds of lamps using electrickery to consider. Where would it ever end... I must add that I've nothing particularly against any of the above mentioned contrivances just, please, not here. One further thing, Wim. You have your own website which is, I think, dedicated to Petromax-type lamps and lanterns. You could always add your suggestion for a pressureless wickie lamp section to that and post the link to it here. Just a thought...
Wim - you certainly used a can opener ! This has been discussed here before, but I think this "theme" could be interesting for many of our newer members. Well…. incandescent mantle lamps of all sorts are depending of making a blue Bunsen flame to illuminate a mantle. Here we are talking about the different ways to do that; either by pressure, self pressure (gravity), or by capillary means (incandescent wick burner lamps). Kerosene wick burner lamps using an Aladdin or Famos burner are using different kind of burner tubes, flanges and flame spreaders that together with certain air drafts produce a Bunsen flame; no pre heating or jet involved. However there a lot of alcohol and gasoline wick incandescent burners, similar to Tito Lando burners, that use jets, pre heat cups or alcohol torches, cleaning needle, and that produce pressure by heating inside the burner body that ejects vapor through a jet to illuminate the mantle. These are components that we know from our beloved pressure lamps. I would say several of my odd wick incandescent burners are far more technical complicated than the most simple pressure lamp burner. We still have the "Open Forum" for anyone wanting to display non-pressure lamps! /Conny
I might as well add my personal opinion. I don't think there should be a dedicated section for wick lamps. As mentioned before, this forum is for pressure lighting (with fuel that is liquid at ambient temperature). We could go back to when the forum was established. Back then we could have made a lamp section on CCS, but it made more sense to keep the two separate. The same applies with wick lamps, in my opinion. I have nothing against wick lamps and have a small collection of Aladdins as well as the odd kosmos or matador burner lamp.
Yes, I've several Tito Landi indoor lamps and even a mint Aladdin Model 23 which, I'm sure, have their place when a lower level, more, er, romantic ambience is required... Mind you, I do recall one occasion at Newark when a short Tilley table lamp (fitted with a correct shade) in the caravan awning, provided a most conducive 'atmosphere'...
Very good that you raised it Wim; it allows for a healthy up-to-date airing of views. I, for one, started out as a collector of pressure lamps and stoves but expanded into pressure irons, blowlamps (are they not a type of pressure lamp ), kero fridges and some wick lamps. Thus I love the term @bp4willi used, 'liquid fuelled appliances'. I have often used the term liquid fuelled devices but perhaps that is too broad and I think @bp4willi use of the term is what I am as a collector. PS I have not started on carbide lamps as that would open a can of worms for me cost wise. This discussion in this thread clearly shows many CPL members also dabble in other types of lamps. I note also that CCS covers both pressure and wick based stoves. I believe that there is a huge hole online for a similar site to CCS and CPL to cover blowlamps, pressure irons and generic, across the brands, wick lamps and wick heaters. The lack of this online is evidenced by the regular creeping in of questions from relatively new members asking about wick heaters and even blowtorches in the Open Forum. I suspect that both blowtorches and wick lamps warrant online sites since both of these are very extensive in their diversity. Perhaps, a section for advanced wick lamps could be trialled for a limited period of time or even the posts in the Open Forum moved to such a section. So thanks Wim for raising the issue and thanks to all who have shared their passionate views on this topic. Iain
Well it would because CCS stands for Classic Camping Stoves - no mention of pressure there. Obviously Classic Pressure Lamps (& Heaters) is a different beastie altogether. It was never set up to deal with wickie-stuff - trust me, I was there!
David, you write this more then once. But why not consider another point of view? I know you where there as well as on the BBL forum. Would it not be "normal" for a forum to change/grow with interests of members as well as questions about related lamps.
You're assuming I haven't considered another point of view, Wim - I have, and rejected it. Yes I was and when Bart, you and I discussed the structure of the site, I suggested five separate areas of interest - pressure, wick and mantle, wick and two other categories I can't remember now, possibly gassie and, maybe, carbide. That seemed logical and encompassed our respective areas of interest, although it got nowhere in the end. I can remember why but it wouldn't serve to go into it all here. This site arose from discussions between Ross and me when (unsurprisingly!) he wouldn't let me post pics of my lamps and lanterns on CCS. There then arose the suggestion that he set up a lamp site on the lines of CCS (which I didn't have the IT skills to do) and I would administer it (which he didn't have the time, or inclination, to do). It didn't quite work out like that in the end but here we are today. At the time, neither of us wanted a non-pressure section and my distinct recollection is that Ross was even more vehement about it than I was! Maybe he's mellowed (sorry!) a bit with time and perhaps he'll chip in before long. I've twice been a member of an organisation called NECPWA - the North-East Club for Pre-War Austins. When I first joined in the mid-'70s there was a little diversification into other British marques such as Morris, Triumph, Riley and MG and post war cars were tolerated - at the time I had a 1954 Austin A30. When I re-joined around 10 years ago, I was a bit surprised to see that even fast Fords from the '80s and early '90s were accepted along with all sorts of other things. It was still called NECPWA but, jokingly, this had become the Nearly Everywhere Club for Pretty Well Anything! The club had clearly lost its focus although I didn't mind too much because I'm interested in cars in general (but still prefer pre- and just post-war British stuff). However, when it comes to lamps, pressure (including gassie types) is all I'm really interested in, apart from a certain French make which still somehow intrigues me. I'd hate to see CPL go the same way as NECPWA. Just my opinion - YMMV...
As a new "kid" on the block I hesitate to put my head above the parapet here. But I have been involved in running other clubs (and businesses) etc for a few decades now, and offer the following thoughts: Diversification is normally a reaction to one or more of the following: falling custom, threat from the competition or a perceived opportunity (need). Three different things. If membership of this forum is increasing and general interest in CPLs is growing and expected to continue to grow then point one is out of the running. I do not feel that CPL has competition per se but rather complimentary sites that do co-exist catering for specialisms. (CCS for example) as well as in other languages. As for opportunity, well I am not aware of (but have not actively sought out) forums of this quality and level of participation in other related arenas so there well may be a "demand" or opportunity. However I will observe (from experience) that like all these things, those good souls that do run it on a day to day basis have a limited amount of time that they can, or are willing to spend on such an endeavour. Maybe if people offered to be a moderator (in line with the current rules) for extra groups or even a sister site such as the pressure stoves one ?. But you must be able to convice the encumbents (Not the audience) that you are in it for the long haul and not just to get something to happen and then leave the regulars holding the baby. (Club politics at it's finest !) I am going back below the parapet now... Chris
Personally, I wouldn't worry about a parapet - polite debate is to be welcomed surely. Anyway, as I've indicated previously, I've no objection at all to a third site that complements the two currently existing. At one time CPL was the 'young pretender' to CCS and now they co-exist happily. There's absolutely no reason why a site for wickie lamps couldn't do the same. In fact, I'll go so far as to suggest a title for it - the Fully Undifferentiated Club Concerning Anything We Like. Perhaps not as snappy as CCS and CPL but it's a start...
As said before, wick lanterns are away from pressure, and in my opinion CPL is about only pressure lamps. Having some wick lanterns myself there's one main aspect: they are missing the skill and thrill of lighting a pressure lamp and are just a step above a candle. These are my five cents, and the Open Forum may welcome wickie topics. Matthias
