Hi. I have a Monitor 134A Blow torch, The Pump works fine but It leaks Paraffin from Between the top of the Brass nut and the 1/4" Pick up pick up pipe that sit in the Meth bowl on the top, i have stripped it and cleaned it as best I can but when I put it all back together, put Paraffin in it and pressurized the lamp it still seeped fuel between the Brass nut and the pick up Pipe, I Part filled it with paraffin and tried lighting it using Meths as shown but the leaking paraffin went up as well and had a hell of a job putting it out..scary stuff. Is there any fire proof sealant I can use to stop this leak or am I just doing something wrong, It could also use new set of seals for the Pump and the release/filler screw but I cant find a seal kit anywhere for it. Can't understand why something so simple in it's operation is being so difficult to fix Any advice or suggestions much appreciated. Cheers in Advance..Jock
Hi and welcome to CPL! You could try using 'Copper-Ease' ? It is good at sealing up on threads and some joints? Well worth speaking to Mike at Base camp stoves, they do have some spares for blow lamps and are very helpful.. www.base-camp.co.uk Hope that helps and good luck with things!
@Jock the Scot This may not work because of the temperatures involved, and being very close to the hot parts, but I had a recent weep on a stove, where the burner attaches to the riser tube, under the spirit cup. I tried washer after fibre washer made for the job and always had the weep. in desperation (I have used the same after advice given by another member re my anchor lamp where the lead seal weeps on the tank) i wrapped the thread with gas ptfe thread tape and it so far after many uses, it still does not weep and has not so far caught on fire! I have also used thread tape on NRV seals and no washer and so far this too has worked after a long time immersed in paraffin.
Hi Podbros, I've ordered some copper ease to try, if it works great if not it'll come in handy for other projects around the Man cave. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers. Jock.
Hi Plantpot, I'll try the copper Ease first and if that Fails I'll try the PTFE tape next and if both fail I'll try a combination of both and if that fails the torch goes back on Fleebay and I'll play on with my Tilley Lamps instead. Many thanks for your advice. Jock.
@Jock the Scot Hi and welcome to the forum. I have not had much experience with blow lamps other than freeing off and fettling my late Fathers 1950’s Max Sievert which fortunately had no leaks. Hopefully the copper-ease will work for you however should you go down the route of using PTFE tape make sure it is the gas version as @plantpot stated and not the standard plumbers type. Please let us know how you fare and good luck. Regards Jeremy
Hi Jeremy. Thanks all for the warm welcome, I've followed this site for a while before joining as I got myself involved with Tilley Lamps, now have 2 I've fettled and a third on the way (geeze, just like babies)...but It's the Blow torch that has me perplexed, I'll take a look on Fleebay and buy some Gas Version PTFE if I can. I'll let you all know how I get on, but should you see billowing smoke from a northerly direction you'll know the Blow lamp and man cave are no more. Cheers. Jock.
Hi all. I’ve just acquired one of these beauties, and although I got it to light pretty much “out of the box” I’m not getting the lovely blue jet I was hoping for. There’s quite a hiss coming from the unit, as well as the roar from the flame and I’m wondering if I have a leak around the but you’ve mentioned. I have no flame there, and the unit seems to hold pressure, but I don’t think I should be hearing that hiss. Any advice gratefully received!
The flame from a working lamp very rarely looks like the flame in the picture on the box. Any chance of a picture ? A hissing sound is not unusual but if you're concerned about a leak perhaps you could do a dunk test. Empty out the fuel and partially dismantle the blow lamp so that you can hold a fingerend over the jet, build up some pressure and immerse the lamp in water. Bubbles will show where air is escaping.
Holy moly! That’s the kind of flame I’m after! This is what I currently have; I haven’t tried immersing the tank in water yet, but I definitely have a leak as I’m getting paraffin weeping up around that nut now.
@DarkDave The weeping burner-to-tank joint has to be sorted for sure. The feeble output could be due to a couple of things; tank not pumped up anywhere near enough (understandable with a fuel leak), or a partially blocked jet nipple. Maybe both. There’s a good chance that tightening the nut will cure the leak. That joint on a blowlamp relies on metal-to-metal sealing - no washers or sealant. To get proper access remove the handle and burner windshield - filler cap also, which projects into the arc your spanner will operate in. Here’s a Sievert paraffin blowlamp with the same type of burner-to-tank joint as yours. John
Thank you. It’s clear I have some disassembling to do! I’m going to try and strip it down today (in between brewing a black IPA) and I’ll see how I get on!
It has (or should have!) all the hoppiness of a light beer, but made with dark malts to give it colour and character.
Maybe wrong but in the video clip the flame seems to be directed downwards inside the burner. Is gas escaping down the side of the jet ?
Hmmm. I see what you mean about the downward flame. Could that be leaking fuel burning off due to a drippy jet? I’ve established that it was partially blocked, so have cleaned out it, but I’m not strong enough to undo (or tighten) that wretched nut, so the weep remains. Looks like I might be stuck with an ornament!
Hi. Just wanted to thank you all for your helpful advice. I managed to get the tank pipe nut off, cleaned, and tightened. I’ve cleaned the jet several times, and although it kept gumming up again it’s working well at the moment. The torch now looks like this - a glowing red shroud (which you can’t see in the video) and a good flame. I’d just like it to be longer and more blue, but it’s progress!!
That suggests sediment and debris in the tank, fuel pickup and valve. Certainly well on the way to perfection though. Bear in mind that the tank can probably be pressurised more - up to a point - to maximise output, but your reference to the recurring partial blocking of the jet suggests a clean-out would sort it, subsequently with fresh fuel, or the old stuff well filtered.
These blowlamps can get pretty hot after operating for a while at full output. The vaporizer coil can get hotter than what you'd get in a pressure lamp(sometimes even red-hot near the end of the burner nozzle/shroud). I have a Monitor No.36 where the fount eventually gets too hot to touch. The same goes for the metal pump knob. Under this condition, the fuel would degrade faster than usual. It also favours gumming and coking up of the generator and jet. You might need to prick it often or the flame could become weak and insufficiently hot for proper vaporization of the fuel. That might even lead to the blowlamp becoming a flame thrower which, you certainly wouldn't want inside the house.
@DarkDave Hi Dave.. good to see some improvements You’ve had some good advice regarding further ‘tweaks’ as well. Just another question.. are you using a standard paraffin in it? Regards
. Yes, I’ve had plenty of flamethrowers! Once it gets warmed up and going, it’s fine, but getting to that point is very difficult!
Hi. Yes, standard paraffin. I’ve swilled the tank out several times, filtered the fuel going in, and the swills coming out (I’ve collected quite a bit of ancient tank debris that way!) and have invested in some prickers with which I’ve been repeatedly cleaning the jet. I’m still having lots of scary flare ups when I start it though. I warm everything twice with meths, pump gently to get the vapour flowing but instead of a nice clean jet of paraffin vapour, I get a dribble of liquid paraffin that drips back down the fuel pipe and starts an inferno! If I stick with it, and build up pressure, whatever blockage is there eventually clears and I get a reasonable flame, but getting to that point is terrifying! If I run the blowtorch empty, I get a nice clean jet of air coming out of the jet, and I’ve now fixed all the leaks, it’s just……I’m running out of eyebrows and arm hair!!
Assuming that my problem is some kind of recurring blockage in the vapouriser/fuel pipe, something that I can’t get to with just the tip of a jet pricker……..is there any merit in taking the pipe and vapouriser off and soaking or washing it in something?? Or is there something that I could put in the tank to pump through the system to clear it out a bit?
@DarkDave I use a POR (trade name) motorbike fuel tank cleaner solution, not cheap but can be re-used umpteen times - filtered after use. The debris in the tank and fuel pickup pipe would respond to that. Removed from the tank and with the jet nipple removed from it, the burner would benefit from being taken up to red heat with a butane or propane blowtorch and on letting it cool tap it with a spanner to dislodge carbon residue. Ideally, blow through it with compressed air.
Sometimes, especially if there is a heavy buid-up of coke inside the vaporizer tubes, it can be pretty tough to completely clean them. For blowlamps, its often more difficult than those in pressure lanterns. That's due to a more tortuous fuel path with multiple turns of the coil instead of one(Preston loop). For these, I'd usually inject a small stream of pure oxygen(from my oxy-acetylene torch) into one end of the vaporizer that has been preheated to slightly red hot. Whatever carbon or fuel residue would just burn off inside the vaporizer. The jet, must of course be removed first. A spurt of ejecting sparks can be observed from the other end(opened, with jet removed). Great care must be taken not to overheat and melt the vaporizer in the process. Whenever I notice that any external section gets 'too vividly' bright from internal burning of the carbon, I'd just move away the oxygen source. Otherwise, the vaporizer would just melt or burn through in no time.
Some of the burners on the Sieverts do have little cleaning plugs that you can undo.. you have to take the shroud off and probably other stuff too.. not sure if Monitors have them but could be worth checking? On a sievert once I found a fine roll of gauze that was in the fuel pipe.. looked factory fitted with a loop soldered on to pull it out, so perhaps there may be something similar on yours too? Just some things to check to rule things out? Does he pump work ok?
