Paraffin Burner

[jcreasey]

I recently purchased this lovely little paraffin burner on EBay. I was a bit surprised that the tank for it does not contain a pump of any kind. It does contain a non-return valve with a nipple which looks suspiciously like an old style bike valve.

I suspect that I will need to make a little pump to pressurise it, much like a little boiler feed pump. I'm also not sure about the pre-heat side of things. I was expecting a little dish or something where I could pre-heat it with methylated spirits. There is no provision at all for pre-heating. I could put a little tray of meths under it but I'm not sure how well that would work as there are no holes to allow the heat to transfer into the pre-heat coil.

If anyone has any experience with this kind of burner I would be very interested. I believe it was made by a man called Peter Aitkin. As far as I know it has never been used.

 

[goldstar31]

FWIW I suspect that this is a petrol/gasoline burner and not a paraffin/kerosene one.

However, I would be loathe to put it to use and have it, as you are doing at the moment, as a talking point.

Regards

Norman

 

[jcreasey]

FWIW I suspect that this is a petrol/gasoline burner and not a paraffin/kerosene one.

However, I would be loathe to put it to use and have it, as you are doing at the moment, as a talking point.

Regards

Norman

It was sold as a paraffin burner. It looks just like a blowtorch with the pre-heater coil in the path of the flame. I think it would probably be quite dangerous to use it with petrol.

 

[goldstar31]

I'm confused as you stated initially that there was no provision for preheating, now you say that there is.
If there is a pre-heater, then I wouldn't use petrol in any circumstances.

Musing somewhat to when I was 14-ish ( 1944), I did build a paraffin pre-heating coil into an experimental ramjet. It was a design by a Corporal Henwood in Aeromodeller.
Quite exciting, if I recall but then I was a wartime teenager!

 

[jcreasey]

I'm confused as you stated initially that there was no provision for preheating, now you say that there is.
If there is a pre-heater, then I wouldn't use petrol in any circumstances.

Musing somewhat to when I was 14-ish ( 1944), I did build a paraffin pre-heating coil into an experimental ramjet. It was a design by a Corporal Henwood in Aeromodeller.
Quite exciting, if I recall but then I was a wartime teenager!

On a normal blowlamp there is a dish which is filled with methylated spirits. This is used to warm the pre-heating coil which is in front of the jet. Once the lamp is running the heat of the jet keeps this pre-heating coil warm.

On my little burner there is no provision for any kind of metho warming arrangement to get thing hot before the burner is running.