Making mantles last
Submitted: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 00:30
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nickb
Are there any tips/tricks in reusing or making a mantle in a gas lantern survive a road trip?
I used
mine for one night, packed it away in bubble wrap and when i went to use it the next night after going for a drive during the day is had broken off. This happened again to the next mantle I used aswell.
It is the first gas lantern I have used so any advice would be appreciated.
Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 10:49
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 10:49
The only solution I can offer Nick, is to replace the gas lantern with a Versalite, or the EvaKool Torpedo 12 volt fluro.
I experienced a similar problem to you. The original mantle seemed to last ages but subsequent ones, not very long.
Maybe it had something to do with more off road travel where corrugations have a higher impact.
I changed over to 12 volt lighting and haven't broken a mantle since:-))
Bill.
AnswerID:
304825
Reply By: nickb - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 17:40
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 17:40
Cheers for the quick replies!
It was packed lying on its side so maybe that was the problem. I already have some 12V lights, I wanted to try the gas lantern. Seems to put out heaps of warm coloured light.
What is the reason for changing the glass enclosure to a mesh enclosure? I have been told my glass enclosure won't last very long and I should expect to change it occasionally because they are a consumable item.
Will have to try the Coleman brand mantles, not sure which brand the camping
shop provided me with.
Cheers
Nick
AnswerID:
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Reply By: tonysmc - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 20:47
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 20:47
Nick,
about 20 odd years ago I did a trip to
cape york with a few other cars. Each night we would get out our lanterns and
mine was the only one that had survived the day. None of us could work out why, we looked at storage packing, etc and even tried putting their laterns in my car to no avail.
Then one night I was watching them put in a new mantel and light it up and I said "dont you burn them first?" as thats what I was told to do. "No, whats that?" they all said. So I showed them that you attach the mantel and light it with NO GAS on and let it smoulder away until the whole thing has burnt (may need to do this a couple of times.) Then once it had cooled down it is ok to light.
I have no idea why this works, however this was the way my father showed me how to do it and it seems to work. Their and my mantels still broke , however they lasted a hell of a lot longer than one day.
Cheers Tony
AnswerID:
304952
Reply By: trains - Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 11:31
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 11:31
Regarding the hairspray.
We did our central trip for almost 4 weeks over all sorts of terrain and road conditions.
Old 242b coleman lantern, sprayed mantle with hairspray before pre burning it.
Lasted the whole trip.
Been doing this since the Tilley lamp days, and have had a great run out of mantles, far better than those who dont do this.
Cheers
Trains
AnswerID:
305043