Aladdin No.23 Loxon mantle lamp...

[twocvbloke]

It is confusing as I know of three things known as paraffin, there's Wax (for candles, and there's a classic joke there!), "Liquid paraffin" used on horses suffering colic, and of course, Paraffin fuel which is kerosene, rather confusing...

[dsk]

Searching a little here too, and you are right, parafinvoks (paraffin vax) used in candles and as sealing on the top of jam in jars.
Parafinolje (paraffin  oil) medical use for people and animals, to oil furniture +++

I hope Kerosene just are kerosene (or kerosine) :-)

dsk

[19and41]

Here, they sell the fuels as either oil lamp fuel (paraffin) or lamp fuel (kerosene).  There is a national grocery store chain that sells kerosene lamps for emergency use and they only sell the paraffin oil with them.  The lamps will not burn using it, and I have complained to them, but they say it is oil for oil lamps and those are oil lamps. The only thing the combination is good for is testing smoke detectors. 

[unbeldi]

Paraffin is an outdated term for alkane, meaning any saturated linear hydrocarbon, e.g.,  methane, ethane, propane, butane, ..., and all the longer chain hydrocarbons. So, the gasolines, such as octane, and kerosene are also paraffins in the old-fashion manner.

The longer the carbon chain the more viscous the stuff gets. Paraffin wax has even longer molecules, perhaps 30 or 40 carbons in a chain, and is no longer liquid, as we know.

[19and41]

Granted, it is outdated but we need to use the terms to get the material we want for the correct function. 

[twocvbloke]

Over here, so long as it conforms to BS2869.C1 (aka, C1 Paraffin, or K1 Kerosene) then it's safe for indoor use in lamps, heaters and cooking appliances...

Just have to be careful of unscrupulous suppliers selling C2 (or K2) as lamp fuel, which you really shouldn't use at all in a wicked appliance, and the same with diesel as some dodgy places in this country have bough in old diesel fuel, added a yellow dye to make it look like regular paraffin, and sold it as such, which is quite naughty indeed...

But anyway, I'm thinking of getting some of the slightly upgraded "Paraffin Extra" sold by Caldo for my lamp, £1 more per bottle than the standard Pre-Pac I have, but apparently worth it:

http://www.charliesdirect.co.uk/caldo-paraffin-low-odour-paraffin-4litres

Flashpoint is 70°C, or 158°F, not sure what the Pre-Pac is but is probably a little lower along with most other Paraffin/Kerosene...

[19and41]

I just looked up an equivalent product here on Amazon.  It is a bit over $25 a gallon.  Having seen what the residue is like, I would prefer the odorless product if you were to use it often, although the manner in which your lamp works is like a catalytic converter on the wick alone.

[twocvbloke]

Yeah, the blue-flame principle means the fuel burns more efficiently, it's like the equivalent of a bunsen burner burning natural or liquid petroleum gasses, adding oxygen to the gas (as the paraffin/kero fuel heats, it vaporises, so becomes a gas) and therefore burns cleanly and thoroughly, there is pretty much no smell to it when it's lit, about the only smell I detect with my freakishly sensitive nostrils is about the same as the smell from a natural gas flame, which is nothing really, the only "nuisance" smells it emits are of the fuel itself when the tank's open, but that's only a temporary pong...

[twocvbloke]

Well, got the mantle today, got it all set up, and the mantle's already got a hole in it, though it did have a split before I even prepared it, but the split seemed to spread round and break off a piece, so, need another mantle, but for now it does work as the hole is low enough that it's not really in the flame, but doesn't help with balancing the flame!!

Still, I like it, lights up nicely (still need to test it at night to see what it's like), doesn't smell, aside from spilling a bit of fuel on the frame just now (which has just burnt off so smells wonderful in here right now!!), just a pain that the new (but rather old) mantle has broken already, but them's the joys of vintage consumables...

Anyway, some pictures...

[19and41]

Looks very nice.  That mantle will burn any of the flames by products.  That's what causes the mantle to illuminate.   That ought to be as practical a kerosene lamp as you can get without using pressurization and carburetion.

[twocvbloke]

I forgot to include a video I did of setting it up & having a minor experimentation with a generic mantle (didn't work though unsurprisingly!), still need to do a follow-up with a night time test, but the sun's still up and my curtains aren't that great!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BimCsaZo7x4

Got it lit right now though, can't help but stare at it...

[twocvbloke]

Got the night time test done now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiFnXJMkj1w

[19and41]

That is impressive.  I'll have to cast about for one.

[twocvbloke]

I'm quite enjoying this lamp, have it lit right now and it's a nice comfortable level of light, quite relaxing infact...

[Doug Rose]

That is one cool looking lamp, I really like it. Does it throw a lot of heat. I saw the match lighting off the glass which is a tad scary...Doug