Preamble Some months ago, on the Bay of Evil, I won this Veritas Nova Lantern. Although the lantern is badged as a Veritas Nova, it’s clearly a NULITE Storm King manufactured by the National Stamping & Electrical Works in America. It was then rebadged by Veritas as their NOVA lantern and sold. The approximate date appears to be somewhere between 1917 and 1920. The following name disk, with the Veritas logo, was installed onto the frame’s base. The nickel-plated brass lantern was fitted with a mica chimney/globe and it appears to be original to the lantern. The lantern was found to be in a clean and tidy condition however, on a closer inspection the following issues were evident: The fuel filler cap, that once housed the external pump connection had the pump connection removed and the remaining hole in the cap soldered up. The control valve wheel/knob was at best a sloppy fit, it appears a bush was missing. The lantern’s jet pricker wire was missing. The lantern's hood components had their original nickel plating removed showing a polished brass finish. This model of Nulite Storm King lantern utilised an external hand pump. At some time in the lantern’s past, an after-market pump was installed into the fount/tank. The pump was not working. Further, the foreign pump knob, shaft and retaining cap were unplated brass. The mica chimney/globe is whole but the in a poor structural condition. Notwithstanding, the lantern was found to be in a reasonably good condition. The Fettle The lantern was dismantled into its various components and cleaned. It must be noted that all parts appeared to be clean and tidy. The generator was found to be clean with no build-up of carbon deposits. Notwithstanding, excepting the mica globe and fount, all parts were immersed into vinegar bath for about ½ an hour, removed, rinsed in clean water, and put into a sonic cleaner to remove any rubbish and dirt from inside of the generator, jet, burner, and other related parts. The Fount (Tank) To preserve the original finish, the brass nickel plated fount was carefully cleaned with a hand detergent using a soft brush and then polished with Mothers Mag & Aluminium Cleaner. The gentle cleaning exposed the original nickel-plating in reasonable for age condition with multiple blemishes caused by age and use. The Filler Cap The original Nova's filler cap had an external pump connection thumb screw fitted in the top of the cap to allow pressure to be added to the tank. A similar type of connection was used by Coleman, Akron, and other manufacturers around the early 1920s and 1930s. On this Veritas Nova’s filler cap, the solder was completely removed, and a new brass disc was machined on a lathe and subsequently nickel plated. Once the cap and new disc were put together a viton washer was used to complete the seal. The finished cap is shown installed onto the fount/tank. The Control Valve Wheel The control valve wheel had a bush missing that would have fitted between the shaft of the valve and the valve wheel. A new brass bush was made and fitted. The valve wheel is now firm. Frame and Hood The lantern’s hood components were found to have most of the nickel removed and the brass polished. The nickel-plated frame had most of the nickel plate missing possibly through age and use. I decided to re-nickel these components whilst still preserving the used and worn look. The results speak for themselves. Pump NRV (Non-Return Valve) Although the internal pump was not originally provided for this model, I decided to leave it installed as being part of this lantern’s history. The sealing pip in the pump’s NRV was too hard and needed to be replaced. A new seal pip was punched out of 3mm thick Viton sheet and installed into the NRV. Pump Leather The foreign pump’s original leather was almost non-existent. I was able to replace the leather pump bucket with a new one making the pump operational. The leather bucket was softened and oiled by soaking the leather in Neatsfoot Oil. Jet Pricker The jet’s pricker mechanism, although operational had the actual pricker wire missing. Further, the actual pricker rod was cast into the eccentric block. This meant that if the pricker were to be replaced, a new eccentric block would have to be sourced. As far as I’m aware, there are no pricker parts available for this lantern. What to do? The pricker rod was cut from the eccentric block and then the eccentric block was drilled and the hole tapped to M2.0 such as to allow a replacement pricker to be screwed into place. A new pricker was manufactured from 1/16” brass tube threading one end with a M2.0 die. The new 0.006” stainless steel pricker wire was crimped into the other end using my home-made for purpose crimping block. The following is a picture of the now functioning pricker with the tip of the pricker wire appearing out of the jet. Now, anytime the pricker needs replacing, its now a simpler process to replace the actual pricker without the need to replace the eccentric block. Assembly The various components were gathered for final assembly. The Money Shot The assembled Veritas Nova lantern's single burner was fitted with a mantle and then fuelled with Shellite. After a few pumps of pressure the control valve was opened for a second and closed. After a bit of fiddling the lantern was lit. Pumping a further 60 strokes on a near full tank of fuel, the lit lantern settled down and ran flawlessly for over an hour. After the hour’s test run the lantern was turned off by closing the control valve. Further Information I have a seen where NULITE or the National Stamping & Electrical Works in America has supplied a table lamp to Veritas for rebadging as a Veritas Nova table lantern. There is one in the reference gallery. There is some conjecture that the National Stamping & Electrical Works in America also supplied lanterns and lamps to other manufacturers although I have only seen the Veritas examples. Summary In this fettled Veritas Nova lantern, all the original parts excepting the seals and pricker, were reused, including the generator’s jet and mica chimney. The fettled Nova lantern lit and ran flawlessly, with a pleasant hiss, for its 1-hour test. I had a lot of satisfaction resurrecting and seeing this centenarian strutting its stuff again. Thank you for looking. Cheers Pete
Well done Pete well done indeed. Your Veritas Nova is running very well and also quite a dark chaser. Cheers, Norman
You did exemplary work, Pete, and the result is a credit to your fettling skills! Now, I may be wrong but I'm seriously wondering if your Veritas Nova is unique? For sure there is a Nova table lamp in the gallery but not an outdoor, storm lantern! If anyone either has or has seen another Veritas Nova Storm lantern it would be an excellent opportunity to compare the two, but failing that, I honestly think you may have found an extremely rare lantern. As to how it found it's way to Oz... well that's a mystery that may never be solved! This was an excellent presentation that should definitely make its way into the Lamp Reference Gallery.
@Carlsson Hi Would you mind putting this post/thread into the reference gallery for me please. Cheers Pete
This is Veritas Nova model P 49781 which is as you say a re badged Nulite Storm King. It was on sale in this style from about 1918 to the late 1920s as a Nulite but as a Nova I only have it shown in a 1924 Veritas catalogue. Great fettle and good to see it in action. ::Neil::.
Thank you @Mackburner for the actual model number of this lantern. I have saved the document that you have so kindly presented. @Carlsson thanks you for looking after and attending to my post, I appreciate it. Cheers Pete
I am sure there will be others out there but so far this is the only example I know of. I have an image of the same lantern dated 2002 from the previous owner and I have yet to klearn of another. ::Neil::
