Truly A Spectacular/ Rare Machine

[gramophone78]

Yes, it's a H & S adviser's worst nightmare! Imagine having to use a fire blanket and extinguisher everytime you "fire" it up to play a few records.

In truth, there is no question these machines can be very dangerous. I'm not sure how Paillard was able to make the claims it did regarding not only "safety",but also the time an engine was able to run on one tank of alcohol.
Years ago a collector wrote an article on these in "Hillanddale News". He wrote that the "Achilles heal" of the burner was the flame evaporator (see pic).

Burner Evaporator.JPG (24.51 KiB) Viewed 758 times

The burner was designed in such a complicated way. You had to pre-heat the evaporator prior to lighting the burner in order to achieve the correct flame.
However, it was much easier to just discard the evaporator and light the wick directly (as we see with the Spanish model & mine). Although it does in fact simplify the running of the machine, it also leaves a rather large open flame within the wood case.

There have been a few times I have almost lost mine. One time in particular does stand out over all others. The machine was running and playing (as normal) when a door was opened causing a slight breeze. That breeze was enough to cause the flame to flicker closer to the filler cap breather hole and the next thing I knew........there was fire coming out from the whole left side of the case!!!.

By some miracle .......I happened to have a glass of water in my hand........that was a "very" close call.

As Gump would say........"and that's all I have to say about that."..... .



Besides the obvious and already mentioned, I think another major flaw is the way the flame is controlled once in the case. There is a mica three sided box and within is a thin brass sheet in a upside down U shape to channel the flame around the drive piston heat chamber. (see pic)

So, I can certainly understand why there are not too many around to .......enjoy..??.

The other nonsense stated by the company....... that the engine will run up to twelve hours on one pint of alcohol is just that......"nonsense". The truth is, after two songs the tank gets so hot the alcohol starts to evaporate anyway. The tank is also difficult to handle after playing a few songs......it has to cool a little first.
Anyway, I'm sorry to ramble on AGAIN!!!...... .

[epigramophone]

Just as well your glass contained water and not whisky .

[gramophone78]

Just as well your glass contained water and not whisky .

Now that could have been a real conundrum. Even more so if it was something nice..... 40-50 year single malt. I can always buy another hot-air machine..... .
This may also explain why the machine in Scotland went up in flames........priorities!!!..... .