I recently gave myself the little reminder that happens every once in a while that there is always a risk of less scrupulous sellers on ebay. Recently bought an FL6 on ebay that was "restored" but untested. I already knew i would be stripping it down to do a better job so I wasn't too fussed about the detail and importantly all the parts were there. Seller cancelled the sale after the auction clearly unhappy with the price it made (which i thought was fair for an untested item). Later on we agreed a slightly higher price and it's now with me. Closer inspection (fresh smelling kerosene, slight burn marks, freshly polished surfaces, missing mantle previously present) shows that it has indeed been tested and fired since the original auction. I went through the usual safety/function tests that anyone would with a new lamp, and quickly found that the base of the tank around the solder joint is full of pinhole where the rust has come through from the inside, so it leaks like a seive. The seller must clearly have known about this and was happy to pass it on without making the buyer aware which is pretty shameful. Especially considering there was a fair bit of dialogue and therefore plenty of opportunity. I feel like naming and shaming just to save anyone else having a similar issue, especially as this seller regularly has (seemingly) good quality lamps for sale. I myself have sold damaged parts, but always make people aware, one of the things that i enjoy about this hobby is that people seem really down to earth and genuinely want to help each other out, but clearly not this individual that wants to push up prices and happy to screw over fellow lamp folk. Of course it is my own fault for buying sight unseen, but after around 12 months of looking, there has been nothing for sale at a reasonable price that isn't the other side of the country, so sellers happy to post became the obvious answer. Anyway, if anyone has a good condition FL6 tank that they would sell, I'd be very happy to hear from you. The rest of the lamp will restore well and I can't afford to buy a whole new one in better condition, so hopefully someone has one so I can save this from becoming a parts donor!
Sorry to hear. If the bottom is basically sound the pinholes can be patched or sealed with lead solder or there are tank sealers available. Por 15 or Caswell to name two. I'd suggest cleaning the tank inside and removing the rust to determine the extent of the damage. It may be salvageable.
Unfortunately I'm 3 rounds of soldering in and chasing my tail, every time I seal one, another pops up nearby, and there's only around 2 or 3mm in places of sound joint between the main tank and the base, so a bit of a safety risk. Short of cutting the bottom off and trying to make a new piece to sweat in, it's pretty far gone
Proceeded to cut the bottom off and take a look at a proper repair. What started as 2 or 3 pinhole in a seemingly solid tank actually had this inside. As you can see, very very little left of any kind of solder joint! A good warning that patching and plastic tank linings don't take away the risk of a blowout. This one was just waiting to be a fireball!
@Sploosh33 Not good news mate, I had one the same rusted from the inside. I replaced it with another solid tank, you should do the same and scrap the rusty one. You're lucky it's only a FL6, mine was a SL1. Cheers Marko.
I'm hoping to find a solid tank, but I can't remember the last time i saw one for sale and no takers on the forum. In the meantime I'm exploring options of potentially remaking the bottom swage section completely, or putting a false bottom in around an inch up where the metal is still good and tinned.
Was it the later profile with the inverted base plate or the earlier type? some of the pig heaters used the same sized tank but quite a bit of alterations needed making a new base plate and inserting it like the old ones would get you going while hunting for a spare?? excuse the sketch
Hi Podbros, your sketch is exactly what i had planned. The easiest and safest way of having a structurally sound lamp again. I don't have any pictures yet, but I'm using a thicker steel plate and have brazed a return around the edge to create the "upstand" part. Hopefully over the next couple of days ill re-tin the inside of the tank and get the new base sweated in. Hoping to put the original rolled section back on the bottom too so it looks correct. A lot of work, but worth it to save another lamp from the scrap/doner bin!
