O/T New Aladdin circa 1928 in the music room

[gramophone78]

Hi Valecnik,
Yes my first Lamp does look very much like a Rayo but there are no identifying marks on it at all.


Hi Wayne,
My other lamp is a #11 Aladdin. Unfortunately the geared mechanism that raises and lowers the wick is missing. Do you know if this can be repaired?
Pete

Pete, is it the wick holder/raiser with the brass strip of gear teeth that is missing or the little brass gear wheel on the raiser knob itself..??. If the little gear wheel is OK....then yes, you just need the wick holder. If the gear wheel is worn.....then no, you will need to replace the whole burner.
At least that would be the easiest and cheapest way to fix the lamp.

Either way, keep your eyes open for a whole burner. You can use your wick and generator.
The little brass gear can strip very easy. Usually this happens when someone is turning the raiser while the wick is dry. It can also be just from years of heavy use or when the wick raiser is being re-installed and the person just forces it up into place......a big no,no.

I can PM you scans of the whole manual (if you like)

When I Great Grandfather died in 1952. He had two lamps in his possession. The #6 that I now have and the very, very rare Aladdin "student model"(made from a #4 model). My Grandfather took the #6 and his twin Sister took the student lamp.
There are less than a handful of the student lamps left and are today considered the holy grail of Aladdin's.
Sadly, the one in our family was lost to a house fire in the early 1960's.
So, only the #6 remains from him today.

Aladdin did make (1983) a special limited 75th anniversary student model. So, some collectors could at least have one to show in their collection.
Today an original would be worth....$$$$$$$$$.

1983 Aladdin Student Lamp.jpg (41.62 KiB) Viewed 1791 times

[phonojim]

Aladdin lamps are fascinating. We started our collection about 30 years ago and went totally overboard with it. It often happens, that when we discover a new collectable, we learn everything we can about it and buy almost everything in sight that we can afford. That's just what happened in this case, too and it eventually led to a collection of over a hundred of them, although most have been sold by now. We have about 12 of our favorites left plus a lot of parts, extra mantles, wicks, burners, etc. I even made electric adapters out of junk burner shells, so many of the lamps were not only on display but used for general lighting as well. At this point, we have two (pink/white and black/white Diamond Quilt pattern model Bs) on display and ready for use but the rest are packed away.

A few of things I have learned over the years:
Start your lamp on a low flame to allow it to warm up, then raise it to a higher flame. Keep close watch on in for the first 15-30 minutes to check for black spots. If you see any, lower the wick slightly and they should burn off. If they don't, lower the wick more until they do. Never leave an Aladdin unattended for any length of time when it is burning at full brightness. They sometimes will carbon up even when they have been burning properly for some time. I use a very dark sunglass lens to avoid eyestrain when looking for black spots.

Badly carboned mantles can be cleaned up by burning the lamp at a low flame for a while. It is interesting to watch the carbon slowly disappear leaving a clean mantle.

Don't buy old stock wicks with the intention of using them. They often shrink and won't fit over the inner air tube. Note: when removing an old wick that is stuck to the tube, slit it with a sharp knife and peel it off. That way there is no danger to the wick raiser gears.

The authoritative book on Aladdins is "Aladdin - The Magic Name In Lamps" by J. W. Courter. It was first issued in the 1970s, reprinted in 1997 and I understand is currently available.

Here are two websites for Aladdin lamps. Both have good information on operating Aladdins.

The Aladdin Mantle Lamp Co.: http://www.aladdinlamps.com/

Aladdin Knights collectors organization:http://www.aladdinknights.org/index.php


Jim

[TinfoilPhono]

:raises hand:

I'm another Aladdin fan. I've been using my Model 6 for decades now, every single night, winter and summer. I have a supply of old-stock Kone-Kap mantles and have never had a problem. The one in the lamp currently is well over a year old and is going strong. The newer ones I used to get (they no longer make them -- but you can buy an adapter to use Lox-On in early lamps) didn't last anywhere near as long. Usually the wire hanger would disintegrate and cause the mantle to collapse.

In the early models with the wick riser mounted to the wick it's important to very carefully bend the prongs to allow installing a modern wick (remove the large metal staples on the new wick first). I get many, many years of service by recycling the old riser, but just in case I have a spare NOS Model 6 wick set aside. (A long time ago I ruined a riser by forcing it, trying to eke a little more life out of a too-far-gone wick. It was only after removing it that I saw how badly it was bent. I learned my lesson.)

[flashpanblue]

Hi Wayne,
I just took my Aladdin burner apart. Turns out it is a model#9. The thumb wheel turns free as does the two inside wheels that engage each other. I seem to be missing the brass tooth strip? Not sure where it is supposed to go. Also my center burner tube seems to be frozen in place. Is this the part that should lower and raise? See Pictures.
thanks
Pete

[Valecnik]

Holy smokes! (pun intended). Given all the Aladdin fans here we may need to ask our moderator to add another sub forum!

[Valecnik]

Hi Valecnik,
Yes my first Lamp does look very much like a Rayo but there are no identifying marks on it at all.

Pete is that lamp functional? Can you get the round wicks for such a "generic" lamp? It's really nice.

[Valecnik]

Well, I consider something "pricey" when it used to cost c.$3 each and is now $11.95, but I guess that's the German in me coming out! And how I wish Coleman mantles would work on the Aladdins, since the Colemans cost a lot less. Even the mantles for the Humphrey propane gas lights are inexpensive by comparison. At least my 1950 Servel propane refrigerator doesn't use mantles!

Henry I have had all kinds of servels over the years and most oil models made the past 60 years.. Currently I have been using a 1946 servel which after some adjusting and cleaning works like a charm. I was always fascinated by refrigerators that worked without electrical power. I remember when I first started to buy kerosene in the late 50s it cost 13 cents a gallon. Now is is running 5.00 a gal here. I still use a pot burner oil heater to keep the kitchen and rear room warmer in winter but had to give in to propane for the main section of the home.

If anyone is interested in literature and photos of oil heaters, cooking stoves, refrigerators, incubators, pot burner home heaters, (Siegler, Duo Therm, Coleman, ect.) I have a yahoo group devoted to them, lots of information.

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Ker ... ector/info



Larry

Somehow the concept of a gas powered refrigerator seems so bizarre. Hope our moderator notices this thread. He's a big fan of early appliances.

[gramophone78]

Hi Wayne,
I just took my Aladdin burner apart. Turns out it is a model#9. The thumb wheel turns free as does the two inside wheels that engage each other. I seem to be missing the brass tooth strip? Not sure where it is supposed to go. Also my center burner tube seems to be frozen in place. Is this the part that should lower and raise? See Pictures.
thanks
Pete

Pete, you are indeed missing your wick raiser/holder. There is a brass "rack" attached to this part (see pic). In the pic I show two raisers...yours is on the left. It was used from #8 -#11. The one on the right is for a #12. Now, if your #9 is early, it will also require a mini wick holder that clips to the raiser. This mini wick holder was used on the #8 and "early" #9. Late #9's did not used this. The late #9's only used the raiser and the wick has the brass nibs attached.

The teeth on the little gear wheel look bad (missing teeth ??) on your burner.
In this case.....I would advice you to replace the "whole" #9 burner. Maybe a member on here has a spare. I don't have one. Just a spare #6 (won't work).
Ebay should also have many for sale and not a big expense.

Hope this is not too confusing.... .

7-12wickRisers.JPG (19.86 KiB) Viewed 1772 times

8-9wickRaiser.JPG (32.98 KiB) Viewed 1772 times

[clevelander]

There must be some faulty gene to be a phonograph/gramophone collector.
I am in the UK and I,too, have Aladdin lamps as well as a fully functioning mains gas lighting system.
I am sure a phychiatrist would have a field-day!

[Valecnik]

There must be some faulty gene to be a phonograph/gramophone collector.
I am in the UK and I,too, have Aladdin lamps as well as a fully functioning mains gas lighting system.
I am sure a phychiatrist would have a field-day!

Me thinks several pictures are in order!