Blowtorch/Lötlampe

    Hello to you all,


    I'm a newcomer to this very fine forum, forgive me but unfortunately I don't speak a word of German...


    I just have a brief question for you friends out there: Are there any of you who are interested in old blowtorches (Lötlampe I think, I looked it up at the dictionary)?


    I'm thinking of purchasing one from an antique dealer here, I have made a very little research on them and I still haven't quite understood, do they work on paraffin/kerosene or gasoline (car fuel)? Are they dangerous? Have you guys ever heard of them being unstable for the user?


    The one I found here is very nice, brass all over, no dents on the tank, good condition. I thought it would be a good display, and maybe once in a while I could light the coal of the barbeque with it?


    Any help would be greatly appreciated.


    Kind regards,
    Hakan.

    Sorry, I just saw that there's a big section in the Forum saying "LÖTLAMPE" out loud, I overlooked it apparently...


    Is it possible for me to transfer this post under that subject?


    Sorry for the inconvenience again, many thanks.

    Hi there, welcome Pyro/Hakan,


    no problem, one of our Mods will transfer this into the Blowlamp /Lötlampe-section.


    There are both varieties, Gasoline and kerosene Blowlamps, but I can read made in Sweden on your picture - so it is possibly a "Max Sievert" blowlamp?


    Normally they run with Gasoline, unproblematic and very reliant. Ordinary blowlamps work with Gasoline, but there is a small number, working with kerosene - but if it is a "MAX SIEVERT - SWEDEN" blowlamp, it is possibly carved in the tank wich fuel id needs.


    Never fill in more fuel than 2/3 of Tank-volume, under heat the fuel expands,


    preheat the vaporizer with two cups of alcohol. then start slowly opening handwheel and it should burn. Good Luck, Björn :done:

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Sorry Björn, but I cannot see anything on the picture, that looks like a handwheel.
    Maybe it is a Blowtorch without a handwheel, I remember a thread, in wich two Blowtorches without handwheel were mentioned.
    But how to start them?
    First preheat, then start to pump?


    Here is a picture of one of my Blowtorches, it is a Max Sievert 221 and it runs on gasoline. There is "FOR BENZOLINE" (wich means Gasoline) stamped on the tank.



    Stefan

    Oh yes, sorry, not my day - it is a self-starting blowlamp, there is no handwheel... when the heat expands air and fuel within the tank, the Lamp will start itself - after that, you have to pump a little more to erase the flame on working level... the only problem is to swich off the lamp - possibility one - use until empty, option two, leave out pressure, danger, gases could explode - this makes me wonder, if it may be a kerosenelamp - are there windes under the burner-hood? I believe, this could be a petrol-lamp....


    I will search up... till later, Björn

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Found it....


    there is a very similar Model to yours, and the owner tries first gasoline, then kerosene - kerosene worked better..


    here the link... Max Sievert-kerosene-Löla
    Best Regards, Björn

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Benz-ihn ()

    You guys are great, thank you.


    The same questions go for me as well, I'm a little scared of gasoline blowlamps, kerosene seems much safer, with it not being combustible and all.


    The blowlamp is on a web site (Turkish ebay), I haven't brought it yet, I asked the guy for some other pictures but he didn't reply.


    So, there's a good chance that the lamp I'm after could be a gasoline operated unit. And this isn't dangerous according to your experiences?


    If we get back to Stefan's question, I too am curious about the handwheel, how is it possible that this lamp doesn't have one?


    Many thanks...

    Apparently I was writing at the same time with you guys. All of my questions are answered. I cannot thank you enough, Björn & Stefan.


    Kind regards.


    Sorry- just an additional question: this brings us back to the problem of extinguishing the lamp, one should do this by letting out the pressure then? (Kerosene gases are non combustible if I'm right?)

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von pyro ()

    It is possible, to turn a Blowtorch without a handwheel on and off, you just cannot regulate the size of the flame as easy as if it had one. But you can regulate the flame by changing the pressure.


    All my Blowtorches (about 15) run on gasoline. It is as dangerous as if you use propane or butane. If you use gasoline for your Blowtorch, you must not open the vent screw/tank cap while the blowtorch is running. If you use kerosene, you can open the screw/tank cap while it is running, so you can turn off the Blowtorch in a safe way.


    Stefan

    Hy Pyro,


    you can enlighten kerosene-gases, but you need much higher temperatures for that, like a Piezo-burner, the chance to enlighten them by an ordinary flame are very low.


    And Blowlamps running on gasoline are almost as safe as ones, running on petrol. I am proud owner of a Missler K5512, this gasoline-running blowlamp is about 35cm high, and has a steeltank from worldwar 2 - so it is over 60 years old and still working proper and safely.


    The only big risk on Gasolinelamps is, when the pump-valve isn't working proper and you want to pump- by pulling out the handle, you could stand in a burning cloud of gasoline-gases - this happened once to me - but nothing harmful happened :naughty: Lucky me, Here is a picture of my monsterlamp


    Best wishes, Björn

    referring to the aditional pictures,
    it looks to be in good condition and it is the same Vaporizer as in the link i'd postet-Kerosenelamp!


    The prize is OK, let it burn :naughty:

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Benz-ihn ()

    Your Missler really is a flame gun... And the picture taken in the dark proves everything...


    So, can we say that if the blowlamp has windings under the hood, it burns kerosene? Gasoline consuming ones don't have that I believe (by gasoline we both mean regular unleaded fuel that you pump in your car, right?)


    And about the part I marked with red dots, do you have an idea what that thingy is for anyway, Björn?


    Kind regards.

    Yes, gasoline means car fuel. The Americans call it gasoline, the British call it petrol, wich is a bit confusing. But there are cars running on diesel, too. :naughty: (But please do not fill diesel into your blowtorch!)


    The thing you marked is a mounting for a solderin iron.
    These thing are mostly made of copper.


    Not all blowtorches wich have windings are for kerosene.
    My largest one has very large windings but an embossing on the tank says that it is for gasoline. But here the windings are outside the burner.


    Here are some pictures, the long Blowtoch was especially made for beeing used with a soldering iron.


    Stefan

    Edit - Stefan was quicker ;.)
    There are several varieties, some have windings, some have a vaporizer, lying under the flame, the needed fuel is part of the construction.


    Kerosene needs more heat to be vaporized, so mostly you will find a longer way around or under the burner, like windings, ore a special vaporizer, being placed in the flame (Like the ones on your Pictures) what doesnt mean that they couldn't be otherwise used with gasoline (unleaded for cars, yes)


    But blowlamps for gasoline sometimes have windings within their vaporizer too, but aren't able tu run on Kerosene.


    The two steelhooks you've marked are to fit in a hammer, hanging within the flame to be used for finework when glowing red.


    Those hammers had a steelwire with a wooden handle. You hung in the steelwire and took it out to solder when the hammer (mostly copper or steel) was hot enough. sorry, i didn't find a good picture.


    til soon, Björn

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Benz-ihn ()

    You guys are both like encyclopedias, thank you so much for the long, explanatory answers and the pictures. Everything is much clearer now. I will no doubt contact you again with more questions once I get the blowtorch.


    As for the appropriate kerosene/paraffin to put in these blowlamps (or Petromax lamps)...


    When I was a child back in the 70's, everyone used to have a heating stove in the house, one in the living room, one for the bedrooms etc, because we didn't have a natural gas infrastructure in the country. We all used to burn wood or kerosene (gazyagi - gasoil would be the mot-à-mot translation from Turkish) in these stoves, and this fuel was very easy to find and widespread in the country, everywhere. We also used to have constant power shortages, so nearly every family had more than one wick lamps which also used kerosene.


    Now that we're using natural gas, kerosene has become more and more difficult to find. A few years ago petrol stations used to carry them, now they don't have it either. All that I can find nowadays is this blue/orange/yellow colored 1 litre kerosene bottles they sell in Bauhaus/Praktiker... They are artificially colored and have fragrance added in, so that when you burn it the room smells of a stupid pine, orange or lemon odor...


    My question is, what do you guys do in Europe? Can you still find the old style kerosene? Is this new colored fuel harmful for the Petromax lamps and blowtorches? Do they leave soot after burning (rußgeschwärzt?)? What would your recommendation be?


    Kind regards...

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von pyro ()

    You should never use colored Kerosene. Not in any devices having a vaporizer or a wick. It leaves particles in the vaporizer/wick wich causes malfunction.
    In fact it is not even Kerosene, it is paraffine oil.
    It should be obtainable without colour. You can use the liquid paraffine wich is normaly used to light the coal for the grill, but paraffine oil has a higher boiling point than real kerosene, so you might have to preheat longer.



    Stefan