I try to flush my lantern founts at least every six months or so, no matter how little they've been used. Must have missed this one, flushed it many times but the crud kept coming, just in smaller particles. Thought it was rust at first, but a magnet waved over an Austramax reveals only the bail, the pricker wire, and the little cup up top which supports the hood, are steel. So it must be carbon, but such an amount ! It crumbles up like the carbon from a two-stroke engine, but not as oily or sooty. The matchstick is only for size comparison, floating in the kero. Most of the big bits have broken up. I assume the carbon forms into lumps in the fount, since some of the pieces were too big to pass down the pick-up tube. (These lanterns don't have a control shut-off valve). The thought has occurred to me that the fount may have been treated with some sealant, which is now breaking up, but a brass or stainless steel fount hardly needs a sealant. I'm still in shock - must have got a teaspoon or so of crud all up. Funny thing is that the lantern gave no trouble, but now that I've disturbed it the pricker must be used quite often. (Needs attention). It handles a 500 c p Peerless 24 A mantle quite well, and gobbled up 500 ml of kero in about 4 hours.
It is amazing what comes out of a fount sometimes! It is good to have a routine to flush out any nonsense that builds up.
Looks like there's a fair bit of it inside. But that's not surprising. After a while of use, part of the fuel breaks down when residing in the hot generator. Some would get cycled back into the fount. Not all of it will be fully-coked hard in the generator. Some are partially pyrolyzed fuel which is a little easier to remove.
@Paul Aslanides Looking at the detritus that you got out of your Austramax has spurred me on to doing similar with my lanterns and lamps. It’ll be interesting to see what I get .... Thank you for sharing Cheers Pete
Fired up a 242 B Coleman this evening at dusk with 250 ml of Coleman fuel. That didn't last long ( should have timed it ) so when it ran out I decided to flush the fount before putting it away. Have only had this lantern a few months; it was cleaned and flushed back then. Some small particles of carbon came out this time, but luckily I noticed something stuck in the neck of the filler tube. Was able to extract it with tweezers. Clearly a lump of Rust. Hey - why should I have all the luck ? Can't say I'm flushed with success ! Perhaps it's time to get away from lanterns with steel founts ? The underside of the fount looks good - no rust. Very deceptive. Anyone using a camera to inspect the interiors ? Any link ? What to purchase ? Thanks.
