Dietz #40 Traffic Guard

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Seems I have gone backwards yet again. After grabbing the rather large Dietz Blizzard, I seem to be heading back into "little guy" territory.

On my wish list I have a Dietz Vesta (good luck with that at current prices), and a #40 Traffic Guard. Being the cheaper of the two, snatched a #40.

Now this is technically a lamp, not a lantern, as it is a dead flame. There are no real air tubes or other aids for increased light output. This lamp is meant to illuminate itself only and allow itself to be seen at a fair distance away so that night time motorists dont drive into a pit.

It is a very very simple lamp with a small round wick. This particular example is a bit  on the early side as  design #2 has had only a few changes made as compared to the original Embury #40. (Dietz bought out Embury in '52 or '53 and continued to make their #40 until the concept of fire as a traffic cone was banned.) This Includes the wire loop bail, reinforcment/gaurd rings go through the vertical posts, and the Y burner.

This one has been painted more than a few times. It originally was a bright yellow from factory (as seen on the burner) but now sports a dark grey/green.  Overall it is in great shape, original globe, and I do not plan on doing much more than the cleaning it has already received.

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Lanternnet still sells replacement globes for these but that are in the antique section #853, $20 each and only come in red and blue, no clear.

It's the design of a Fresnel Globe that allows it to be seen from a distance, just as old light houses had the same type of globe around their light source to make them visible from quite a distance.

Now, they do sell plain globes, #855, in clear ($10) and 4 colors (red, green, blue and amber) for $16 each if you wanted to replace the Fresnel globe for aesthetic reasons.

I guess all of the old Fresnel clear globes have sold out and they don't make them anymore.

And, serendipity was singing this morning for me. I discovered that Lanternnet sells repro heat resistant Bullseye lenses for the Lantern Doug had. A bit pricey at $20 but still or now available. As they say in their description "After several years of attempting a reproduction worthy of the originals, we were fortunate to find an American glass manufactory that specializes in heat resistant pressed glass. Using an original lens to create a new mold set, our new lenses are identical to the originals in every detail." The old lenses were not heat resistant and they all cracked from use.

So, your fining that Traffic Guard took me on a search of glass and we both got lucky.

Are you going to stay with the Fresnel or move to a clear globe? And what color are you going to end up with once it is clean?

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I assume that you mean color of the lantern after its clean? It will remain the dark grey/green color for now. Seems to have been that color for some time given the wear on the edges and chips missing in the paint.

I too have checked Lanternnet (great minds think alike!) and I am not surprised they do not have clear fresnel's.  A clear globe on these would sort of defeat their intended design as a warning light. Fresnel's are also a bit involved to make in terms of the molds etc, so a repro would be likely cost prohibitive compared to a plain-jane globe. I will look into a substitute clear globe simply to make the #40 a bit more practical than just mood lighting. But at the same time, thats what the Comet (or any other of my lanterns) is for.

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I have had continued issues with soot on this one, and it took a little for me to figure out why. Despite being cleaned a few times now (literally hosed down), these soot "nuggets" kept falling out of the #40. So as I often do when I get flustered, I took it apart.

Now inside the top cap is a chimney cone. This keeps water and debris from getting into the burner area of the lamp. This cone however is also great at catching soot and other bits that find their way in. On my #40, this same said cone was also rather rusted, which may have also added in collecting soot. After some playing with, it came out rather easily. 

When depressed into the cap, the cone has four nubs around the perimeter. These are what hold it into the cap. Lifting one edge of the cap out and slip two of these nubs out, followed by squeezing the top cap (to make it a bit of an oval), can slip the cone right out. The spring follows suit as its smaller in diameter. Reassemble is simply the reverse.

If nothing else on these, clean and de-scale the cone (inside and out) as well as the inside of the top cap. This will prevent any "where did all these black streaks on the table come from" moments cause by soot build up. Learning by doing.....and making a mess....

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Was it full of soot? Enough to cut down the dead flame air glow? And, does it work better now?

Interesting and great images, a how to remove the chimney.

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The flame was unaffected as far as I could tell between before and after.

The give-away was every time I opened to light it there were carbon crumbs left about the table top that would end up getting smeared all over. Once apart it was found there was a doughnut of soot around the inside of the cap along the cone.

Quite the mess but now clear as a whistle.

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The flame may be the same but is it deposting soot with use or is it "normal" clean after use?

Hard to see the flame behind a red globe, the soot coming off of it that is. Only way to tell is by checking the cap.

But, you learned something new. Always something with old lanterns.