VAPORISING TUBE RESTORATION

Not wishing to hijack a Master Fettler's tutorial, I thought it might nevertheless be useful to include an alternative approach to provide a handy reference under the same subject heading.

It's a method that might just save a lipstick tube in which the jet hole is just too enlarged for kaw550red's peening method to restore.

I first hit on the method in the context of this topic ...

Monitor fuel tube fettle

... but I repeat it here with some additional photographs and comments on setting the burner plate height.

I realised that a Coleman lantern generator might be used to restore a 'dead' lipstick burner. I cut the end with the tapped hole for the jet off and filed a screwdriver slot in it. The version (top) from a Coleman model 222 lantern was too fragile and didn't work, but the components from a Coleman 295 lantern generator (bottom, in the photo) were more robust and worked fine. The jet orifice was the right size too, tested by just being able to pass the pricker for a Primus 96 through it



I carefully enlarged the existing hole in the Monitor stove's vapourising tube to fit the new jet. I took care to dress the hole and mount carefully to ensure a gas-tight seal



I made the screwdriver slot in the component a snug fit for the screwdriver I used to insert it in the vapourising tube.



Here it is in place


Now to the burner plate height setting, which was easy on the Monitor stove because the plate's made of brass and the mounting legs are easily bent to provide the necessary adjustment. Firstly, I set the plate to a height that I felt sure was too high, and sure enough, the flame pattern wasn't as good as I knew it could be. It sounded a bit feeble too






Slightly lowered here, but I still wasn't happy with it



Finally, with a height pretty much exactly on the original specification, even though the jet aperture of the Coleman jet was about 2 millimetres higher in the burner basket than the original vapouriser tube tip. Perfect flame pattern and it roared beautifully






Kerophile calls this the 'jet transplant' as opposed to the kaw550red 'peening' method. My views? Well, if it's an otherwise 'dead' vapouriser tube that's not readily available as 'new old stock' I'd try to restore it using kaw550red's method in the first instance.

If the jet orifice is hugely oversized, as the one on the Monitor stove was, I'd be tempted to go for a 'jet transplant'.

A purist would probably wince at the sight of that jet nipple at the tip of the vapouriser tube though ...

Costs? It might not be possible to locate a replacement vapouriser that easily for some stoves and if one's available, it's likely to be at a price at least twice that of a new Coleman generator. If, as with mine, the generator cleaning needle had self-destructed and since they're not available alone as a service item, the tube and jet tip were languishing in my parts bin anyway ...

Regards,

John

 

Nice one!

I have thought on this myself a few times, here are a few of my concerns.

1) Pick a jet style and Mfg that will be readily available in the future and inexpensive.

2) Cut the vaporizer down equivalent to the length of jet in an attempt to minimize the burner plate adjustments.

Nice pics.

Thanks for sharing,

AR

 

"A purist would probably wince at the sight of that jet nipple at the tip of the vapouriser tube though ..."

Aye, he would until he got hungry then it wouldn't make a pile of cow droppings to him.

lance

 

Hello Ross. I noticed the pics I'd posted had dropped out again, though you'd restored them the first time. I PT'd David Shouksmith and he couldn't sort it so I re-submitted the post with pics again to ensure that you'd have the photos to restore.

John

 

Thanks John - I have kept them on file just in case. I'll keep my eye on this

 

I used a junker gasser nipple seat and nipple. (good for something.) Jets are common where I live and should be available for a long time to come. Some have a sintered plug in them and they can be a pain to remove sometimes. A cleaning needle can be made to ream out the jet to suit.

Barra

 

Hey John, if its a junker burner that is unsalvageable by peening I would not mind doing it or if you have 1 or 2 lying around in your parts bin that is usable. Have you ever tried just enlarging the hole and say silbraze it and redrill the hole to the correct aperture? Alternatively finding a piece of brass plug and drilling a hole for aesthetic purposes? Then again the thought of putting a serviceable jet is much more appropriate and easily replaceable.

Nice work

Ron

 

Ron ph Silbraze is way harder than brass to drill. Been there done that. Unless you got a lathe and a real 8-9 thou drill.

 

You've surely made a darned good point there Barra. I've personally never gone down the route of micro-drilling to such a small size, but the attempts I've made with small drills (in a Dremel) somewhat larger than jet nipple orifice sizes have been right on the edge of not working. I've managed ok, but it's tricky. That's in brass, so anything harder would be correspondingly more difficult to achieve.

Well, that's my experience, but from the evidence of the way Gary (Bernie Dawg) drills all those holes in his silent burner caps, I'm no expert and he surely is.

John

 

Really! Silbraze is harder than brass Well, if you get a hole drilled on silbraze I guess it would last longer even with constant pricking Must find me then a 8- 9 thou laser drill he he he if there is such one. I guess the next best thing is a brass plug with a predrilled .23mm hole

John, if ever one of my lipstick burners go south on me, I know who to send it to

 

Sure thing, Ron.

John

 

When your file is clean, or new, rubbing with plain white chalk will help to keep it from clogging in soft metals. Easy cleanup compared to the picking at each groove with a copper tool. Chalk is teap......or is it TALK is cheap. ? I keep forgetting. piper

 

Piper, shhhhhh!

I do that on my #4 Swiss pattern round and pippen files for fitting keys to locks by impressioning.

My fellow locksmiths can't figure out why my files last so much longer then theirs, and damned if I'll tell them, either!

Murph

 

Murph, we'll just CHALK ONE UP TO EXPERIENCE. And....file it away. piper

 

Hi Guys,

Micro drilling is very difficult, but when looking for a tailstock turret for my lathe (repetitive machining operations), I came across this on the Arc Euro Trade website 8)

First product on the list from the link below, 8) tailstock turret is the next one 8) & I made my own tooling for it

http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Machines-Accessories/Lathe-Accessories/Tailstock-Accessories

So I had a go at making my own & this is what I came up with, it has a very fine low pressure spring which should not break the micro drill bit or you can use fingertip control, just needs centring first & I use a BS1

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290648380696?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

The dreaded workbench


The turret & chuck attachment




& fitted together


This mini-chuck fits in my lathe/mill drill chuck or the new turret attachment, the small drill chuck is from a flexidrive shaft that broke, only experience will give the best results so I'll keep practicing

John, you're as inventive as ever, well done on the Monitor fettle, really cool 8)

Best regards Stu

 

@loco7stove

I am going to show my ignorance but is a "former" something you can easily purchase.. do you then just push it into the vaporiser ?

 

Ahh thats probably my problem with the 17b.....thanks for the good advice.