Conference unifix::sailing

Ok, owner comments. Our lamp is a Dutch-made Den Haan. Veddy nice. It is
only about 15" high, by the way. We use clear kerosene from our local
hardware store. It doesn't smoke (unless the lamp wick is turned up too
far) or smell when burned in the lamp. I've installed a padeye on the
overhead, and hang the lamp with a brass S-hook. The lamp will swing
freely (which it is supposed to do) hung like this. This is fine on a
calm night, but not so fine when sailing. We tie a short length of 3/16"
shock cord from the lamp down to the half-height galley bulkhead under
it. With the shock cord streched snugly the lamp will swing just a
little. Only in really rough weather is more restraint needed. Then we
tie a couple of strings from the lamp to a handrail as the lamp is
really too large to stow. 

Enjoy!

    I also use shock cord to limit the swing of my oil lamp (not a Trawler
    Lamp, but similar).  I use the lamp constantly when sailing.  It
    takes the chill of the night air below and gives a nice warm glow
    to the cabin.  I have had my boat heeled to 40 degrees and didn't
    have a problem with the lamp.  The flame doesn't burn as efficiently
    when severely heeled, but still works and doesn't smoke.
    
    I have 3 cords running to my lamp, which is over the dinnette table.
    One is fairly straight down to the back of the table and the other
    two angle slightly down and out toward the centerline of the boat.
    It works fine, but it is a little inconvenient to duck under the
    aft shock cord to get to the table.  
    
    Enjoy.
    
    

    Does anyone know where you can buy chimneys for oil lamps?  I have
    a crack in mine from tightening the retaining screw too tight and
    want to replace it.  So far all I can find is large ones.  I need
    a very small clear glass one.
    
    Thanks,

    Both West Marine and Boats US sell a large number of lamps and
    replacement chimneys.  I have both catalogs.  If you can describe
    your lamp, I will see if either/both have what you need listed.
    
    
    Thanks for the suggestions about securing the lamp.   I had imagined
    the lamp over the dining table. We have a pilot berth cabin with
    fold up, on the forward bulkhead, table (which we now do when underway).

    I may rethink where I planned to put the lamp, or change our 'stowed
    for sea' habits a bit. Since the table has 3 positions; 1) folded
    in half and up (up is 'away', down is 'in-use', 2) down with one leaf 
    dropped, and 3) down with both halves out. I can change from 1)
    underway to 2) underway if I secure a leg to the cabin sole.  That
    way maybe the table can help hold the bottom of a shock cord and
    keep folks from denting the lamp brass with their noggins.
    
    Thanks again,
    Walt

    Defender out of New Rochelle, NY has the best assortment of chimneys
    (sp) I've seen including those weird shapes and sizes associated
    with oil lamps for boats.  I can send you the address if you need
    it.  
    
    P.S.  The only problem with Defender is that they don't tell you
    how much the freight is.  You either have to guess or pay UPS collect.

    Well, Santa got the lamp for me.  I added some lamp oil and fired
    it up.  I now have a couple questions since I have never used a
    lamp with circular wick before.
    
    Should the flame resemble a perfect ball when full up ?  
    
    I noticed that the wick on mine is split vertically where the wick 
    control rod passes thru. This seems to cause a gap in the flame.
    Is this normal ?
    
    Are there any tricks to trimming wick or adjusting the lamp ?
    
    Any fuels to stay away from ?  Clear Kerosene would be my choice
    unless warned away. 

    
    Thanks,
    Walt

    Good lamp; for light and heat as well.. No magic on the lamp except
    to get a good trim when at max (ie right before it smokes when hot)
    I run mine for a time to get everything up to temp, say 10 mins
    at full throttle. Then, whilst leaving wick in plave blow/snuff
    out the flame while at the same time noticing any irregularities
    in shape. When out take a small scissor (Swiss Army knife appropriate
    here (-: ) and trim. Fire up and see what you have wrought. When
    running at lower levels there may be some irregularities but I
    trim mine for max output and not worry at lower levels. These things
    put out almost as much as a 60w bulb, and more heat too. 
    
    I use good kero when possible; sometimes the 'flavored' kind and
    have even used diesel in a pinch.
    
    Good sailing!
    Ed

    The lamp has worked out very well so far.  It provides enough heat
    to warm the main cabin (in March in the yard, and early May at anchor),
    a nice warm light, and a couple introductions.
    
    You would be surprised how many folks have seen the lamp from the
    dock and stopped to look and say how they liked it. A couple folks have
    even bought the same lamp for their boats (they had said they were
    afraid to because they thought it might be too big).
    
    I find that I can get a very circular even flame, but I cannot turn
    the wick up very far before the flame curls into a ball and smokes.
    When the wick is up about �" this not only occurs but I burn lots
    of wick. I found that leaving the well trimmed wick down nearly
    even with the wick sleeve works most economically. Fortunately it 
    produces a lot of light and heat with the wick quite low once the
    little brass cap in the center of the wick gets hot and starts
    preheating the incoming air.
    
    Walt

    My Trawler's Lamp has developed "pox".  The lacquer looks like it has
    worn through in quite a few spots and the brass underneath has
    tarnished.
    
    What's the best way to handle this?  I suppose I should remove the
    lacquer, but I'm not sure of a good way to do it.  Should I relacquer
    after I'm all done cleaning?
    
    -gayn
    

    Best lacquer stripper I have ever used on brass is Easy-Off Oven Cleaner, 
    applied with appropriate precautions, and well rinsed afterward.  Unless 
    the solution has changed in the last few years due to environmental or 
    other concerns, this is the best way to go.  Stripping and redoing is
    the only real option unless you are into constant polishing.
    
    Can't recall any specific names, but there do appear to be several
    products on the market for brass finishing, non-tarnish type.
    
    R.
    

re .9:

Our trawler lamp and brass cabin lights have the same problem. I'm not
sure the lacquer has worn away -- my suspicion is that enough 
moisture/salt/whatever permeates the coating to cause tarnishing. I
don't have a good solution. I removed the lacquer from the cabin lights
with a buffing wheel and polishing compound. This was quite a bit of
work, but the lights are now very shiny. I decided not to relacquer, at
least not yet. I think fingerprints and any slight contamination will
cause tarnishing and/or discoloration under the lacquer, eventually. I
just waxed the lights. Repolishing will be easy, and so will the waiting
to see how long before they tarnish again. If I have to polish before
next winter, I'll reconsider relacquering. For now I'm ignoring the
tarnishing of the trawler lamp. A bit a green brass is traditional 
anyway (except on yachts with professional crew). 

re .10:

Does Easy-Off remove paint? Since the underside of the reflector is 
painted white, it might be hard to avoid damaging the white paint.

    Re: .11 re .10
    
    Don't know for sure since brass I stripped was entirely lacquered, but
    I would guess that Easy-off would work as effectively on paint, and
    thus might be a problem for reflector unless it were masked or similar-
    ly protected.
    
    The reason I liked Easy-off is that, having tried several commercial
    strippers, propane torch and whatever else on large brass bed, nothing
    had really touched the old, orange finish.  As an initial experiment,
    Easy-off worked like a charm in very little time and washed right off
    (with dissolved lacquer) in fresh water and with very little further 
    sponge work.   I hadn't the patience for buffing/polishing, for which
    you have my admiration.
    
    If reflector is bell-type and can be removed, placing it on tin foil
    and taking care not to slosh stuff in under edges might do the trick to
    avoid damaging paint.
    
    Nasty job any way you do it, either noxious fumes, strong chemical or
    extensive elbow grease.
    
    R.
    

    We have used a Trawler lamp on our boat since last year. It provides
    good light and much needed heat on some foggy and rainy nights here in
    Maine. Ours is the large DEN HAAN. We have had a problem with is
    pulsing or strobing from the second filling. When I try to turn it up
    high enough to read by it begins pulsing about every 5 seconds.
    When I first used it I filled it with a quart of lamp oil I purchased
    at a marine store. We used that up quite quickly so I decided to buy in
    larger quantities. I bought 2 1/2 gallons of HOLLOWICK lamp oil, liquid
    paraffin, no odor. Ever since I began using this fuel we have had this
    problem.
    
    Any one else out there have a simular problem and if so how did you
    correct it?
    

On both Coleman laterns and Svea white gas stoves one of the sources of this 
problem is a low pressure on the fuel container.  The pressure can be increased
by adding fuel, pumping in air, or heating the tank.

The opposite is also true. The white gas units have trouble when the fuel tank
is about 1/4 tank or less.  Do not fill the tank up more than about 3/4 of the
way.  The 1/4 left, is filled with fuel vapor.  This is the pressure
equalization chamber.  If this is too small a volume, the flame sputters.  I
have overfilled to the point that liquid fuel came out of the jet on my Svea,
producing very unpredictable results.

My typical error is to overfill.  Try removing some fuel from the tank.  On the
Svea I bring up pressure by burning a few drops of fuel in the burner area.  It
takes a few cycles of this to warm the tank and jet properly.  A little patience
is warrented on a boat as well as the mountains (where most of my outdoors
experience comes from).  This approach is far safer than appling a few drops of
fuel to the outside of the tank itself.

Hope this helps.

Doug Claflin
dtn 244-7042
wk 508 264-7042

    The Trawler Lamp is not pressurized it has a large circular wick that
    sits in the bottom of the fuel container and feeds up into the burner.
    The lamp pulses whether the tank is full or nearly empty. It draws air
    through a screen type assembly at the bass of the burner. I have tried
    triming the wick and cleaning the burner but nothing I have done has
    helped. Could it be that the Liquid Parrifin fuel is not suited for
    this Lamp? 

>> Could it be that the Liquid Parrifin fuel is not suited for this Lamp? 

This is certainly a possibility. Try buying your original brand of lamp oil
again, and test it with that oil. If the problem goes away, you've answered your
own question! If the parafin is the problem, you can probably use up the
not-so-good parafin by mixing it with the other oil in some experimentally
derived proportion.

I've burned kerosene in various wick lamps in the past. It's cheap and
reasonably clean-burning, if you don't turn the wick so high that it smokes.

--RS

    The problem was with the fuel I was using. I purchased a gallon of
    Kerosene from a hardware store, water clear and odorless. Once filled
    with this fuel and wick trimmed again the lamp works better than ever.
    Lots of heat and light and no smoke nor odor and no pulsing.
    
    I now have a 2 1/2 gallon container of liquid parrafin for sale, any
    takers?