Posted by Rick K on April 2, 2008, 7:43 pm, in reply to "Re: 6 months of living with utility lantern"
Thanks Greg... they are still burning, and I am still learning.
Here in New England we have 5 seasons instead of the typical 4.
Around mid March thru late April is "Mud Season".
The snow melts, it rains, everything is wet. The humidity runs 90-100% many days in row during mud season.
I noticed that since mud season started that I have had problems keeping the Traffic Gards going. I kept adding more and more isopropyl alcohol to the kerosene, assuming that there was moisture in the fonts. I even soaked the wicks in alcohol to remove any moisture buildup.
While I'm sure there was a bit of moisture in there, I discovered that the inside of the "burning chamber" was also collecting water. The single row of air inlet holes are down on the bottom, and too small to allow water to reliably drain out. As the water rises, it starts to block the holes and cuts off the air supply.
At the same time, the Dietz 8-say and the Handlan just keep going.
The Steel Clad works as well, but I do discover that the font well is usually fairly full of water every other evening when I refill it. The Steel Clad has double rows of air intakes, so it is difficult for the water level to rise to the second row and block it off.
I know lots of #39 style lanterns had holes either factory or after-the-fact punched in the bottom to let the water drain... now I know for certain why that came to be. I will be taking a power drill to the bottom of by "experimental" Steel Clad this weekend.
Rick
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