I recently bought a pretty rough Optimus 930 off Craigslist and decided to fettle it today. I had almost no problem tearing it down and inspecting the parts. I needed to disassemble the fuel valve and seal it up. After a little fettling of the bubbles escaping from the wrong places, I was satisfied with the lantern seals. The pump leather was in need of soak in Neetsfoot oil. I pumped a few shots of Kero through the air pump to lubricate the pip. The pricker was present and worked well with the 200CP jet. I made a mixture of flour, citric acid, dish washing liquid, and water to make a paste to apply to the brass parts (keeps the citric acid in place like a wet paste). A little agitation with a brush for about 5 minutes got rid of the crud and turned the brass to a copper color. I polished the parts with Simichrome and 0000 steel wool. After, I polished again with Simichrome and a terry rag. Nice result! (Polished on the left and post-citric acid soak ready for polish on the right). The fuel valve wheel was a little bit of a challenge. It slides onto the valve shaft and is fixed in place with a nut and lock washer. The problem was, that the Bakelite wheel had spun on the shaft and was free spinning on the shaft. I decided that 1/4" staples from a staple gun would suffice as shims. They worked! I put it all together and fired it without a mantle. It looked good, so I put a 21a mantle on it and fired it up with a Coleman globe (original cracked). For a wall hanger, I can put the cracked globe on and show it that way. This must not be the correct globe since the whole globe is frosted. It's tough to see what I'm doing when I prime the spirit cup with Denatured alcohol. I believe the correct one has a clear lower part with a frosted top. In any event, nice fettling day with this lamp. It's the first brass Kero lamp that I have restored. It should look nice next to my Colmax 500. Chris
Well saved, Chris; it is looking good! To preserve the shine for longer you could seal the brass with a good auto wax like Turtlewax or similar. Wax on, wax off
Thanks Phil. I didn't wax it thinking that the wax might melt or discolor due to the heat. I could wax the fount and collar but he vent might get a little too hot. Have you tried waxing the vent? I'll give it a try! Chris
I think the vent will discolor from the heat no matter what you do. The wax works well on the fount and burner cage though. I used wax on the vent of a brass Optimus 1200 and it certainly did no harm but I can't say that it retained the shine.
@seavandal Hi Chris. My 930 also had a fully frosted glass which made it awkward to prime. The correct frosted glass was clear for the bottom inch. I solved the problem by using a Dremel and polishing rouge: Optimus 930 300cp The best thing I've found for protecting a polished brass fount is two coats of Rustin's Metal Lacquer but I don't know if that's available in the US. Terry
