My Dad purchased an aladdin oil lamp some years back and we decided to fire it up the other day.

All I can say is WOW, that thing is BRIGHT!! Compared to a regular wick-burning oil lamp, the Aladdin seems 10x brighter with its mantle glowing.

Anyone know where to get a good deal on the Aladdin lamps. I'd like to get a few for backup lighting.

On another note. Dont ever buy "Pure Parriffin Oil" from the store. We bought two 100 oz jugs of the stuff for 22 bucks apeiece then did some research online to find that its basically K-1 kerosene and doesn't burn nearly as well as some other fuel sources.

Klean-heat is the only way to travel...

Two dealers in AK, in Sitka and Homer. Bet you could buy from

http://www.aladdinlamps.com/Index.asp


high dollar for sure.

They are expensive but the genie that comes with them and grants you hot girls and fast cars (or fast girls and hot cars - your preference) is worth the extra expense.

Try the Amish supply store, Lehman's.

www.lehmans.com

Hmmm...maybe Pops got a defective one. All we got was this lousy bright light



Yeah I've been on the site, but was wondering if anyone had a hook-up at a cheaper place. I'm impressed for sure!!

Was reading on the Aladdin lamps and in the early 1900's they had a 1000 dollar reward for anyone that could get a lamp to equal theirs in brightness. No one claimed the reward and by like the 1930's, 7 million of the buggers had sold.

I have to admit this is amazing 19th century technology!

I used an Alladin lamp on my sailboat. In addition to brightly lighting the main cabin it also heated it (not such a good thing when we were in the Tropics, but great in northern Lats.)

Now I have four of them for backup lighting which came in handy during our recent earthquake. I always burn paint thinner in mine (mineral spirits) It's cheaper than kerosene and has no odor.

Around here they are sold in any decent hardware store.

Yeah, I've read that they have as much as 2500 BTU output on the highest setting (and dont doubt it)

As far as burning the mineral spirits....

I've read that the mineral spirits has a flash point near 110��F. Pretty low to be using in a lamp...

K-1 Kerosene and the alternative we use, Klean Heat, is upwards of 200�F, being much more stable

Some good info. I had forgotten about Aladdin Lamps. I may have to try one out now.

http://www.aladdinlamps.com/Dealers_UnitedStates.asp

As nost of you know we have lived w/o power at our house for the last 7 years. We use Aladdin lamps and one two wick oil lamp for all out light. All of our lamps come from Lehmans. They are honest and reputable. We have wall hangers and a brass ceiling hanger too. They help a lot when lighting a home.

You need to buy extra wicks, mantles, flame spreaders and always have a wick trimmer on hand. They are somewhat expensive to maintain but the best light for a non electric home.

NEVER leave one burning unattended. They will run away and can cause a fire.

More good up to date data on mantles and wicks would SUIT this thread.

Maybe my lifestyle was to "Rough and Tumble" ,....I remember LOVING Aladins when they worked,......

and always having to screw around with them,.....no mantles or etc. available for miles around.

High flash point fuels dittos,....those suckers run HOT.

GTC

What kind of up to date data are you looking for?

Scott, a definite NEVER on leaving them unattended. During our test burn, it was runnin' smooth for over an hour at my Dads place. 40 minutes after we left, my Dad had 12-14 inches of bright orange flame coming ABOVE the chimney!! It gave the mantle a good soot covering, but the next day it was re-lit and burned low at first and slowly increasing until the mantle cleaned itself off.

When you talk about extra flame spreaders, do you mean the gallery itself or an actual flame spreader? Does this fit inside the mantle?

Also, what about these light boosters I'm seeing? Does it really increase the light by 25% at sea level?

One more quicky: High altitude chimneys. Are they worth the extra dough if not above the specified altitude? I've read that people at lower altitudes use them for a better burn and draft through the lamp. Is this true?

The flame spreader is the unit that sits inside the wick. They are cheep and last about a year. We keep several on hand along with extra mantels, wicks and chimneys. Make sure you keep a wick trimmed around too. They are about a buck and they last a while but are plastic and and get dull or break.

If you read the instructions for lighting the lamp, I know, makes us in grave danger of loosing out guy license but read and follow then to the letter, the lamp will burn properly and flair ups are much less of a problem. Light one is a three step processes.

The chimney extender will help at higher elevations. We used them in Central Oregon and they were worth the cost but here at 60 feet above seal level they do not seem to be needed. As I remember they are useful above 2,000 feet. They sit in a cupboard where we keep our spare parts now.

Yes I love them. The Genie III is my favorite. We found the glass base is easier to use on a full time bases because it is easy to keep an eye on the fuel level and the filler cap makes filling easier. We may get a couple more for next winter when longer nights make more light a good thing.

Hope this helps.

[quote=hunt_ak]What kind of up to date data are you looking for?

Best reliable source for units, and all the support accesories.

Thanks, in advance,

GTC

We buy our lamps and parts HERE

They also have a large costumer support staff full of helpful information.

They should work good for 200 bucks!

There is nothing that works better without power. We read all winter, my wife spins and sews, I just lay around in the light of Aladdin lights/ We don't get thr real fancy ones but just buy the Genie III

About $110.00. We do have some that are over 50 years old and they work just the same as a new one so if you look at the investment over the long run it is a hell of a lot better than a China made piece of junk that will break in six months.

Thanks for the info, Scott.

I pretty much had my eye on the brushed aluminum ones simply for durability. My Dad has the glass fount Genie III, like yourself and you brought up a very good point about seeing the fuel level...may have to re-think my strategy.

Do you have any experience with the light boosters?

I know the Aladdin we used the other day was SO INCREDIBLY BRIGHT that you could not look directly at the mantle. I did see a video on youtube with one using a shade. Do you utilize a shade on any of your units?

Also, do you have the ones with the pedestal based (the table model) or the one without (the shelf model)?

We have two light boosters but do not need/use them here at sea level. Above 2,000 feet elevation they are a big help. We did not notice a big difference when we moved here so we put them away. You have motivated me to get them out and try them again.



We have a paper shade and base. We are not using it now but may in the near future. We are still getting unpacked and settled in our new cabin. The shade makes it a bit of a pain to light and fill but we did enjoy the shade when we used it in Oregon.



We have an old model brass table lamp we do not use. it is from the turn of the century and we are looking for a replacement part no longer available from Aladdin. We have a brushed aluminum table model that is over fifty years old and works like a champ. then we have a twenty year old Genie and a new Genie III. I am thinking about another Genie III and two more wall hanging brackets. That way we can move the Genie IIIs from hanger to hanger where ever we need them and not have to take up valuable table top space. If you live in a 480 some square foot cabin then space becomes an issue.

We also have a double wick lamp from Lehmans. It is great if we want a quick light. It is the lamp we light when we first come home in the dark and it may be the only lamp we light if we are just going to bed. It produces less light than the Aladdins but it so quick, easy and produces a lot of light and looks nice. Check it out LAMP

One other thing to keep in mind. You need to use oil lamps. They are nice for looking at but many people keep them for emergency and find when they need them to oil has evaporated into a sticky mess and they cannot open them to refill. If you leave them empty then it takes an hour for an Aladdin to wick up enough to burn. So fill them, use them and keep them in good shape for when the lights go out and they will be ready to chase the dark away.

It'd be great to see a side by side comparison of two lamps, one with the light booster and one not...

I do like the idea of the double wicker for a quick light while the Aladdins warm up. I was surprised to see that we had to wait an hour to let the wick soak up the fuel. After we burned it twice, it was empties, the wick was let out to dry and flash off and everything was packaged back up.

2 Aladdins and one double wick would be everything I would ever need. Looks like I might make an order.

Do you know if you make a certain purchase amount with lehmans if you might get some sort of price break? I know there are a few in my family intersted in these and thought if I put in an order for 6-700 dollars, they might deal with me a bit. Guess I need to call them...

I do not know if they give a break. Call them, they are nice people to talk to.

Anybody ever try the pump up pressure lamps that run on white gas?

They are another *very* bright none electric lamp, but again do need servicing and general looking after...

Great for outdoors but not aesthetic or pleasant indoors.

Try the W.T.Kirkman sight thay have a large selection of all brands any pric ranges.

It isn't wrong to read the directions. It's only wrong to let a woman SEE you reading the direction.

My uncle lived without power for years. He used Alladin lamps exclusively. I need to go back to his place and see if those old lamps are still there... (George died a few years back)

I was looking at these also and thought it would be good for a shop or something outside if you needed backup light source.

The Petromax Britelyt lantern looks like a very nice unit and there is a video on their site of them actually burning unleaded gasoline in that thing!

Thanks for all of the info on the oil lamps guys, fun read.
Think I'll get a double wick, the other look to be lots of
work. We still use that old time electric stuff, the double wick would be a good back up.

If you get your double wick and then see an Aladdin in person, you will be kickin' yourself for not shellin out a few more bucks. We're talking the difference between 10-15 candlepower and 60 candlepower.

OK, but I could buy 4 double wick lamps for the same price of one Aladdin. If I use oil lamps for light all the time, I would have 4 Aladdin's.

The Aladdin's look great, but I still have that old time electricity deal going on, so it's just a play thing at this point. Thanks for all of the research you have done.

Alladins are great but there is a steep leaning curve to getting started. Don't leave them unattended and don't expect to save money using them. They are very expensive to buy, maintain, and very expensive to operate. If you have access to electricity, either on or off the grid, it is very much cheaper and SAFER than Alladins.

Nevertheless sometimes we just turn off the electricity and fire up the Alladins.

You can be healed of that terrible affliction.

I wouldn't have that dangerous stuff in my house, it can get loose and kill someone.

At $30 a globe anymore, I'll sell you mine.... globe included, at no discount. Then I'll buy another twin mantle Coleman or two, or a half dozen regular oil lamps.

They done priced me right out of user-ship....

Used to be, every wooden caboose had three or four of those. We used the tall globes. The lamp was held in a spring mount, on the wall. Yeah, if you pushed them, the mantle would start to carbon up.

Maybe a new thread should be in the works. Tell me, being off the grid as you are, water seems to be important in life. How do you get the water, hand pump?
How do you shower?

Cold food storage, just wondering how this problem is solved.
I admire your family for staying off the grid, makes life somewhat more difficult. Not to many of your kind in the USA.

If incandescent bulbs really are outlawed, I think these will become very popular.

Moved to NEW POST

Well, I scored big a couple days ago and found these two lamps for $25 each!

Did a test-run on them and will drain everything and let the wicks dry tomorrow. It was fun for the kids to see these babies in action as well...

I took some pictures just to share

Chimneys have water-drops because I washed them before I lit them off. I had two mantles, but disassembled the gallerys for cleaning and my 3 y/o daughter promply broke one




Warmin' up



'Bout half throttle

I wasn't able to get them as bright as the one I used prior, but I think it was due to the wick being very old and not trimmed just right. After about what I would consider 3/4 brightness, I would get orange flame impingement and a the mantle would begin to carbon-up in this one spot.

Here it is with the shade



Kids lovin' it



Other shade (not a full comparison as this one is designed to sit lower, but ran into the other shade support)



I think the newer white pleated shades would be more efficient at diffusing the light and making it brighter...not sure how I feel about these so far

I got out the wick lamp and did a side-by-side with it and the new Aladdin....well it really wasn't a comparison at all (mind you the Aladdin isn't at full power either)

Hey Scott,

I was going to buy some replacement parts but wasn't sure wether these lamps were 'Lox-On' or 'Heel-Less'....how do you tell which is which?

That's a cool site.


.

Yeah, they definitely have lots of cool stuff there. Gonna call 'em on monday and try and figure out this Lox-On vs. Heel-less business I cant iron out...