cracked lantern glass - again!!!

PS Its the larger Primus model - either a 200 or 300 CP.

Time to update to LED lighting. Call me new fashion, but lantern's a thing of the past.! LOL

P.S. Your camp site sounds beautiful , post some pics someday

Too hot in one spot, water splash.

Glass doesn't like sudden changes in temp, so a splash of water on hot glass or if the mantle is lopsided heating up one part more than the rest.

Hi MG, what sort of lantern do you have? When is the glass cracking- when in use or during cooldown?. doc. ps- how busy is down there ?

I have to agree with Terra Firma. LED or fluorescents are the way to go if you are camping from your vehicle. Just about bullet proof; fast to pack, lightweight, silent, if you have the yellow light leds they dont attract bugs. Very litle battery drain. We have now gone even better, and don't bother with bigger led or fluoros, we just carry enough head led lamps for everyone to have one and everyone gets the light they need where they need it

Somewhere, sometime ago, I read of a solution to your problem.
The solution as I remember was to immerse the new glass totally into cold water on the stove and then slowly bring the water to the boil for a few minutes. Then allow it to cool in the same water naturally.
This is supposed to relieve any internal stresses in the glass.

I can't vouch for this as, like others, I use battery powered flouro's and led's when in the bush.

Disco.

A hole in the mantle can create a hot spot and crack your glass. Always us good quality mantles and check them regularly. Don't listen to the LED,Flouro sissies. They wouldn't know what a decent camping light looks like.lol.

Hi Matt & Gloria

I use a hurricane lamp every night here at home, with citronella oil for mossies. I cracked a few, but then found out that I was leaving them too high, and ther glass was overherating, hence the cracks.

You simply need to have them running at minimum wick if they are burning all night.

Cheers

Turn the light down low for several minutes before extinguishing it altogether...

This will give the glass time to cool, and will greatly minimise the risk of cracking due to quick temp change..............

:)

as has been said already, buy a mesh surround instead, any camping store should sell them. i broke a few glass surrounds, so i went the mesh route last time, no more glass to worry about now.

Hi
We still use a lantern when camping ours is a duel fuel coleman lantern and we think your problem is your doing up the lid to tight
Ours has a spring in it so that we can't do it up to tight and we have traveled many many kilometers and never broken the glass, touch wood, have been through many mantles but.....
Hope that helps you
Cheers, Belinda & Brett

Hi Matt & Gloria, I have not got an answer for your dilemma but agree 100% about the ambience emitted from a lantern, so keep using it. Slow cool down sounds feasible, not sure about boiling it as I would have thought the manufacturer would have taken stress relief into consideration? Anyway chuck some veggies & a few bangers & a bit of garlic in the boiling pot just in case she cracks!! LOL

You are right about some rigs you see these days but I sometimes wonder what they miss out on. It is common for us to see people set up their van, (we have a van) but then out comes the Sat dish & laptop & they sit looking at their screens for a fair bit of the duration of their stay. Nothing wrong with that of course, just not our scene!

I'm convinced that those of us who choose to stay in a caravan park get the most social benefit are the people who use the communal kitchen/ entertainment facilities, whether they be tenting it or have a van. These communal areas, in my opinion, are a great place to meet & have a bit of a yarn to people & learn from their life long experience & just enjoy their company.

Happy travelling & hope you find an answer to your problem.

hi mattygloria
try turning the light down for a little while before actually turning it off to reduce the heat more slowly as at night the sudden change from very high and hot to zero will crack the glasses and
i also think the quality of the glass just aint what it used to be

yes i have seen those steel mesh replacements
and it was either an army surplus store or could have been ranger or bcf
or anaconda
bunbury has first 3 stores but not anaconda thats in perth if your coming this way and yes the alexander bridge site is a very nice spot
cheers

The common answer Google delivers is to cool the lantern down 5-10 minutes by turning it down before turning it off. I understand you enjoy the light ambience and noise, this makes sense, someone said keep using it..? Yess off course if it doesn't keep breaking.! LOL...

Kmart sell 3 sizes of the stainless shields.. It emits light about halfway between the clear glass and the frosted... I have bought so many damn glass shields, the costs far outweighs the cost of the whole lamp after a few broken glasses... the SS shield is the go.... Michael

Up until last year I was using my original lantern and glass that I got over twenty years ago. No breakages. Never once cooled down before turning off, and thats camping in the cool of the high country.

Last year while in the oiutback I decided to splash out on a new one. Same size.

First time I lit it, the glass exploded.
Got a replacement.
First night on replacement I was watching a crack go around the glass.
Got a replacement.
Third time lucky? Nope. It broke, but on the second night.

Got another replacement, but this time they also threw in a steel mesh unit as well.

I'm thinking the glass is not as good as it use to be.


Ps. ALL replacements were the complete units. Not just the glass.

Interesting reading!
We had a gas lantern once a while ago but never ended up using it much, the 12V flouros were just so much easier.
More recently we purchased a dual fuel lantern (since we brought a dual fuel stove as well) and a couple of those Primus Super Nova LED Lanterns so I think we've got all the bases covered.
Now just wait and see if we have the cracking issues with the dual fuel one!

matt

is the new glass a generic brand ?
i just broke my 20yr plus primus gas lamp glass my fault i dropped it . i then replaced it wit a generic glass and it cracked in the first five minutes not happy i then replaced with a schott made glass and have had no problems with it .also dont turn up onto high straight away and make sure mantle is burnt properly

David

Hi All!!!

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. Think we will stick with the gas lantern but opt for the steel mesh instead of the glass!

Just realised what an amazing resource this website is - where you can post a question whilst still sitting in your campsite and receive dozens of answers withing hours!!! Will definitely become a paid member now in order to support this site.

Cheers, Matt and Gloria