I was searching through a Coleman collectors web site, where it was stated that the Amish run their Kerosene lamps with a 65/35 mix of Kerosene and Coleman fuel, as this extends the life of the Generators due to less Carbon build-up. All thought could be interesting, on the principal and the ratio's
I have been mixing up a roughly 70/30 kero and Coleman Fuel (or shellite) mix for my Coleman lanterns for many, many hours of run time camping/fishing etc. But how would you quantify the improvement in pre-heat time, brightness (doubtful of change) and the big one - less carbon build-up. I just figure Amish must know what they are doing and the science/logic behind it seems sound. Very subjective, but at least using Amish blend wont hurt, and it might help. Would love to know others thoughts.
yep have heard that too David. And that for decades they have used only CF etc. No Amish communities down here in Oz to go check first hand. Here Kero is cheaper and historically the dominant fuel. I presume price differences, availability of fuels and a whole range of factors would impact on whether people tried blending or not. I'd imagine there is a grain of truth in the term Amish blend, but who knows? have you heard of people blending fuels in England? My parents grew up far from cities and electricity here in Queensland and they said they don't recall anyone ever mixing fuels in with Kero when they used wick lamps and pressure lanterns for day to day (or rather night to night) lighting.
I have not (yet) tried any blends in my pressure lamps/stoves so have no experience. However, I remember having read (on CCS?) in the good old days kerosene might have contained more light fractions than our modern fuel. The reason would have been simple: kero was used an awful lot in all sorts of wick stoves/heaters/lamps and early pressure lamps & stoves while gas (petrol) was a rather useless byproduct. Once The Car took over the world (say, between both world wars), gas (petrol) was in high demand so kero lost its lightest fraction. Fact or fiction? But this might explain why a mix of kero/white gas performs better. Best regards, Wim
Yeah, I've mixed fuels previously and I guess most of the Brits here have at some time or other. It's as Wim says - modern kero is less volatile than, say, the 1950s stuff. Since 'our' lamps were designed to operate with fuel of that particular volatilty, some of them aren't happy with the modern blend - the Veritas Superb, for example, may be one of those, although there are other factors to be considered. I think I may have added up to 20% panel wipe to kero in the past but 10% is more my 'norm'. Having said that, I don't make a habit of doing this - why faff about when I have so many other lamps and lanterns that run quite happily on common-or-garden 'agricultural' kero intended for wickie-crap greenhouse heaters. My 1922ish Kildark table lamp is one...
After talking with a number of Amish folk here in central Pennsylvania, it seems as though whether or not they mix fuels is a matter of personal preference. Honestly, a lot of families in my area have gone to all LP gas lamps and lanterns, but those using liquid fuel seem to prefer straight Naptha for it's ease of use and low odor. Those that use kerosene, actually often buy the cheapest mineral spirits from the local big box store and may "cut" it with naptha depending on the lamps they are using. In short, the blending of kerosene and Coleman fuel is not fiction, but not universally practiced. I have a few Amish made lamps that are designed for kerosene, but seem to work better with a kero/naptha blend. (also note that the use of LP gas lamps and even allowing more progressive means of lighting such as solar LED's is up to the discretion of individual Amish communities. Some more conservative communities won't even allow pressure lanterns, only wick lamps.) Hope this helps! Doug Eisemann
