I was dead wrong about those vintage oil lamps being junk

A customer brought one in to fix last month and I figured it'd be a waste of time. Turns out the thing threw more steady light than my $40 battery lantern and ran for 12 hours on one fill. Has anyone else had an old piece of gear surprise them?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_amy12d ago

Ask what kind of oil it was running on. Was it just standard lamp oil or did they mix in something else like kerosene? I've seen old wick lamps burn way cleaner or dirtier depending on the fuel, and that changes everything about how practical they actually are.

bettyroberts12d ago

Oh right, like asking about the oil is going to magically fix everything. "Just standard lamp oil or did they mix in something else" - as if the lamp cleaner is standing there with a fuel composition chart. I bet the lamp dude rolled his eyes so hard they almost fell out. Let me guess, next you'll want to know the wick material and the temperature rating of the glass chimney too. At this point just ask if it ran on regret and desperation because that's probably what's fueling this whole mess.

fiona98511d ago

Bettyroberts I think you're onto something but missing the real punchline here. Nobody's even mentioned the fact that if the lamp wasn't burning right, it might not be the oil at all. Could be the wick was old and frayed, or the chimney was cracked and messing with the draft. You ever tried to clean a lamp that's been sitting in storage for years? The burner assembly gets corroded and then nothing works right no matter what you pour in it. So yeah, asking about oil is cute, but half the time the lamp itself is too far gone to care.