Oil Lamp Trouble

[ryanf1023]

This past weekend, I lit up my oil lamps for my speedster project for the first time. They look great, except the fact that I had a hell of a time keeping them lit.

With common lamp oil/paraffin, I used the original wick, a brand new wick, and several combinations of wick height, etc. but at best, only had them stay lit for about 30 seconds or so.

I feel I am missing something obvious. I would like to call on T-goers who use the side oil lamps for some guidance. What is the process you use, what are some troubleshooting methods, etc?

[JTT3]

What type lamps? If it’s the 15-27 style you can loosen the top cap & rotate the chimney flew to close it off a litte so your not catching to much air. If you have never loosen the cap be careful & put some PB BLASTER or some other penetrant and let it soak in. Remember not to force it because the bolt can be very rusty from the elements including heat. You can easily snap that bolt, don’t ask me how I know. On really tough ones I’ll try to bead blast the bolt and then spray with a penetrant if I can. Don’t be fooled thinking the cap is turning the bolt if possible you really need to se that the bolt is turning. Slowly work it back & forth with light pressure. Good luck.

[Mark Gregush]

For the common type, black era, air flow in the top down around the reflector and feeds the flame from the bottom. Somewhere could be plugged up, the inlet in the outer shell of the chimney, around the reflector or bottom where air feeds up to the flame.

[ryanf1023]

I guess I never knew the airflow pattern. I suppose I could light it again and keep the window open and see if that’s any better. With the closed glass, perhaps it’s suffocating.

Any suggestions on proper wick height?

[Mark Gregush]

Wick; tall enough to glow with a small flame but low enough not to smoke with the door closed. These are marker lamps, not head lights.