I need some helpful advice on this project please. This is what I have done so far. I naively thought it would be simple to convert a silent burner into a lamp. I started with a 0.23mm jet and a Campingaz mantle fitted onto perforated tube that fitted into the top of the burner. and I built a tripod thermal feed back 'loop' using brass rod and sheet. It kind of worked, but there was too much fuel and not enough air. So then I squashed the sides of the nipple to give a 0.17mm hole (my thinnest pricker) and fitted an 'funnel' extension above the nipple to get better mixing and smoother gas flow This works OK, but is not very bright (but no carbon deposits under the top). Since I am not a 'lampie' (yet), these may be dumb questions but.... 1. Are the mantles for Camping gaz and kerosene lamps inherently different, and if so what mantle do I need? 2. With a 0.17mm jet, what CP should I be getting if it is set up correctly? 3. Any other advice on how to get a better light, or am I wasting my time? So far the thermal feed back is sufficient to keep the lamp lit, at least for the 5-10mins that I have had it going. The feedback can be improved by silver brazing the bottom of the tripod onto the top of the burner vaporizing chamber, and therefore getting perfect contact. This should not cause any problem during maintenance, since the top of the tripod (and therefore the mantle, holder and jet) can still be removed. However I don't want to dedicate a silent burner to the project if I can't get more improvements. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
You are absolutely on the right track with the thermal feedback down to the burner for the vaporizing. It's always needed when converting a stove burner to a light burner. But you can't just put a mantle directly in the kerosene jet stream like that. You will still need a flame spreader of some kind in order to make a hot, blue flame. And a good proportion of mixing, as you already are in to by reducing the jet orifice in size. A pressure lamp has a flame inside the mantle that is similar to what a stove produce from the original silent burner, so you would almost be better off by using the entire stove setup, but that would be a bit clumsy since you would have to use a very large mantle. The mantle will only make incandescent light when it's properly heated, and that takes a blue flame from a kerosene burner. You will hardly get that in a stove by removing the two caps and light the jet of vaporized kerosene streaming up through the bare mixing tube, and nothing else. What you will need in the first place is a flame that look something like this (from a Primus 982) if you light your setup without any mantle attached (but of course directed upwards instead).: Have a look at this topic from a light attachment I made for a Radius stove many years ago, and you will get the meaning of heat being converted into light. Scroll down a bit, and you will see an original attachment for the Radius stove. Those burners are of course of a slightly different type than your domestic stove burner, but still. The camping gaz mantle would work as any dedicated kerosene lamp mantle, just as long as you get a good hot flame of a suitable size inside it.
@Christer Carlsson Thanks for a quick and comprehensive reply. I must have missed it when I did my initial search, but I will study it now. Just to clarify, I have a flame spreader under the mantle but didn't photograph it separately. Here it is.. However, I haven't tried to optimize the holes to give a good blue flame, so that will be my next test. Thanks for your help. Duncan
Ah! I see. That was better. But you will still need many more holes in a flame spreader than what you have there. Extremely many more... Perhaps a steel mesh of suitable size would be easier to use?
Thanks again. The mist in my head is slowly lifting . I will make another mantle holder/flame spreader and test without a mantle first.
Yes, absolutely. The look and shape of the naked flame tell you if it eventually will work with a mantle. Many a mantles has been saved by just observing the flame before attaching them. Keep going until you have a decently shaped and blu(ish) shaped flame. Once you got that, you most likely will get a thing that will work decently.
