I got this nice old Handi QlD lantern from Australia a while back. Ater cleaning it all up and servicing the consumables and adjusting the cleaning wire, the only problems were a rather noticeable pulsing (chugging) and the need to frequently clear the jet. It was annoying enough for me to try and get rid of the pulsing. It ended up being quite a bit of head scratching and experimenting but I did manage to fix it. With the lantern and vent attached (no glass or handle), I hold the lantern upright in its normal position. It chugs. I then slowly tip and hold the lantern so it’s horizontal. The chugging stops. Back to vertical and it chugs. My first thought was that there was an air leak problem with the fuel pick up inside the tank. Perhaps a stress crack in the tube or a loose solder joint at the top where it's joined to the bushing. I've had both of these problems occur with different lanterns. The valve in this tank was really stuck in there and I know when to stop trying before creating a real problem. So I decided to do a little more testing on the fuel line air leak theory. If it was air entering through the pickup where it wasn’t supposed to, then fuel should do the same. I had the generator off, as well as the cage and collar. The shut off and cleaning wire valve were present. I filled the tank to the base of the fill cap, closed the cap and shut off and pumped it up. I then flipped the tank upside down so the fuel pickup tube was in the pressurized air chamber and the “leaky” end was submerged. I then slowly opened the shut off and after the left over fuel in the tube came out the generator port, no more fuel came out. Keeping the tank upside down, I pumped it up again as obviously all the air all came out. I did this several times and no fuel came out. I then opened up the shut off all the way and let it sit upside down for an hour or so under no pressure, just atmospheric. If there was a leak, there should have been some fuel leakage. Nothing, zero fuel leakage. Seems like the lantern working on its side or tilted was a red herring. There is no air leak. I decided to not try and remove the valve, but go back to square one. Thinks I knew: 1) A brand new generator made no difference. 2) Replacing the Handi generator stuffing with that from a Coleman 201 kerosene generator (thicker and tighter spring) made no appreciable difference. But this had to be a vaporization problem. So I went back to the theory that the kerosene is not gradually vaporizing, but flash vaporizing. And this is cured by stuffing of some kind. I’ve seen all different kinds, from springs, to asbestos, to cardboard, or a combination of all. Below is a picture of a Handi generator and the AGM L593 from which I'm sure the Handi was copied from (the AGM cleaning needle actually fits in the Handi valve). The AGM is a gas version, but note the stuffing difference. As asbestos string is hard to come by, I’d successfully made stuffing from fine brass screening before, very similar to how Austramax does theirs. As I have this material, I carefully wrapped some around the cleaning wire (as a guide). I made it the full length of the generator tube. The diameter was such that it fit inside the generator with very little slop. I forgot to take a picture at the time, but it looked like one I did a while ago. It was for an impossible to find Akron Insta-Glo generator. I had to drill out the original packing, spring and all, as it was completely clogged. I used a spring from another common generator. For the Handi, I did not use a spring. I put everything back together, re-adjusted the cleaning wire, and fired it up. It worked perfectly! Not the slightest pulse. Nice and bright. I ran it for a while and did not have to work the cleaning wire at all, where before the jet would get clogged up around every twenty minutes or so, and I’d have to work the needle. I don’t know why it worked before when I held it on its side. I now suspect it had something to do with the fuel inside the generator being shifted. I also have no idea why my lantern had this problem. Obviously many thousands of these work just fine with the original design. I could have quit there, the lantern was bright enough with the Austramax mantle but I thought it could do better. I have light meter which I use to make relative CP measurements as I’m not sure the CP reading I get is super accurate. The 10” cardboard tube is there to negate the effects of the ambient light, i.e. only the light right in front of the opening gets to the meter. It’s 10” long and I hold the tube end 2” from the light source so I can properly measure CP in “foot” candles. The Handi with Austramax mantle measured about 120. I took off the Austramax mantle and decided to try a Coleman 999. This is a 350 CP mantle used for lanterns like the 200,242,335, etc. It’s a bit bigger than the 250 CP Coleman 21A and smaller than the Coleman 500 CP 1111. There was a reason that I did not go with one of the spherical mantles this time and here are my thoughts… I believe this burner (AGM heritage), like most American burners, was made for a tubular mantle and not a round mantle. The distance between the edge of the burner outlet and the edge of the generator is rather narrow. A round mantle touches (or almost touches) the generator tube and concentrates a lot of heat in a small section of the generator. I’m not sure if this is good, bad or indifferent. The tubular, straight sided, mantle distributes the heat evenly over a longer portion of the generator. Is this better? I don’t know, but I do know that round mantles are almost unheard on most US made lanterns (The Aladdin PL-1 is one exception). Even the original Handi instructions showed a standard US shape mantle. I don't know why or when they switched to the round mantle. I’m guessing the reason for the round mantles is that they are more commonly used for UK and EU mainland lanterns that were designed for that style. The manufacturers are used to knitting round mantles and it’s easy for them to make different sizes. Tubular mantles are very US centric and would require different tooling. Just my thoughts. When I fired the lantern up with 999, it was much brighter than with the Austramax mantle. My CP meter read 180. This is bright enough that you can only look at it directly for a split second. It’s one of my brighter lanterns. The only lanterns of mine that are significantly brighter are the 500 CP models like the Coleman 237 and Petromax style (Hipolito in my case) lanterns. I really like this lantern (a LOT). Dan
Very interesting and well documented. I'll have to try this on my Handis. The only problem is if I can remember it when I get out to Asutralia again next year.
Hi, and I also really appreciate your research on that topic. It is congruent to what I found with some of my (kerosene/paraffin) lanterns, however I didn't investigate further on it. The shape of the mantle (sometimes) seems to have a big effect on how the lanterns work. Also excessive production of carbon just in or on top of the jet seems to be an issue with using the "wrong" mantle. I remember a Mewa of mine that I could not to get into proper operation, although I've fettled several of them and similar lanterns successfully before. I tried nearly everything including the exchange of parts that proved to work in other lanterns. The generator of that particular Mewa clogged quickly, and before that happening I had to use the pricker frequently. There was also a kind of carbon filament building up on top of the jet which obviously disturbed the gas flow. I had never seen this before and couldn't believe it. So the only thing that finally fixed the trouble was changing the mantle to another one which didn't get that close to the vaporizer. However, there are many lanterns which really don't seem to have a problem with that "close" setup. BR, Martin
Hi Dan, I've still to find one of these characterful lanterns (still searching the right price). The difference in the mantle size's working correctly, pulsing or chugging, reminded me of the very same problem I'd had with the JC Higgins single, way back. Completely different burner set up' & also conflicting fuels, but even when I'd whipped out the main valve to clear the F/A intake below; the lantern still spluttered & struggled along, using Coleman 21A's, it sounded like it was rhythmically pulling in for more, piston/ clock work like. Advice sought, then led me to try the larger bobby sock 99 mantle (longer); which then, rather surprisingly stopped it all off completely & it's run right ever since, thank holiness's ! Put a 21A on the Kooklite, it might not be problematic , but if your flush, check the same lantern with a 99 between days; I bet you'd markedly notice the difference ? More concentrated heat towards the base or mid section of the genny, seems to me to always improve perpetuation; fitting a healthier or plumper filter, I don't know, I think that might depend on it being a guzzler or not ? Strangely enough, I had the very same issue (rhythmic pulsing) with a Tilley 606 vapouriser, but that was the newer & poorer made ones in an X246B. Cleaning it out made little difference, nor the burner either, but when I accidently broke the mantle off & had to replace; I then tried it with the older better quality ones I'd just bought & the problem was solved, a pure burn & easy with it! Neat topic & great pictures BTW. . . (new sun glass's on the agenda, with those readings I expect ?!) ... . that is one bright mantle, "yikes" ! Jon .
