Home › Fixed Oils And Fats › To Clean Kerosene Lamps

To Clean Kerosene Lamps

Wash the lamp inside and out thoroughly with hot soap and water, and a little washing soda. When clean, rinse repeatedly so as to leave no trace of soap; let it drain till dry. sumption of the oil. The wick, oil, lamp, and all its appurtenances, must be perfectly clean.

The chimney must be not only clean, but clear and bright. The wick must be trimmed exactly square, across the wick-tube, and not over the curved top of the cupola used to spread the flame; after trimming, raise the wick, and cut off the extreme corners or points. A wick cannot be trimmed well with dull scissors; the sharper the scissors, the better the shape of the flame. These hints, simple as they appear, are greatly disregarded, and the consequence is a flame dull, yellow, and apt to smoke. The burners made with an immovable cupola, and straight, cylindrical chimneys, require especial care in trimming;

sen the friction in machinery, and to the wick has to be raised above the cupola, prevent the bearings from rusting. Lubricaand has therefore no support when being tors must possess a certain amount of cotrimmed. A kerosene lamp, with the wick hesive and adhesive attraction. But they turned down, so as to make a small flame, must also have the power to retain their should not be placed in a sleeping room at cohesion and fluidity under the action of night. A wick made of felt is greatly supe- moderate heat, heavy pressure, and contact rior in every way to the common cotton wicks. 1535. To Keep Kerosene Lamps from Getting Greasy. The upper part of a kerosene oil lamp, after standing for a short time, frequently gets oily, from the condensation of the vapor of the oil. This will be greatly, if not entirely prevented, by taking a piece of felt and cutting a hole in it so as to fit exactly around the socket into which the burner is screwed; trim the felt off so as to leave a rim about½ inch wide, and place this felt ring on the socket.

1536. To Cement the Socket on a Kerosene Lamp. The socket of a kerosene lamp, into which the burner is screwed, frequently becomes loose or comes off. To fasten this, take the socket off, pick out the old cement, and wash it with hot soap and water, with a little soda, to remove all trace of grease. Empty the lamp, and wash it in the same manner, especially the lip or neck which fits into the socket. Next take a cork which fits (not too tight) into the socket; grease it slightly, and screw it into the socket (the same way the burner is screwed in), until the end of the cork is nearly level with the bottom of the socket; this will leave a circular trench to receive the cement. Take the best plaster of Paris, mix it quickly as thick as it will flow, fill the trench in the socket, reverse the lamp, and press the lip of the glass firmly into the socket until the edge of the socket fits closely to the glass. This operation must be done quickly, before the plaster has had time to set. Let the whole remain Lubricators.

Compounds to leswith metals and air. The oxygen of the air attacks many kinds of oils, rendering some acid and others resinous; and moreover some oils of mineral extraction are contaminated with acids, used in their rectification, which attack metallic surfaces, the oxides of the metals thus produced increasing friction mechanically. The oxides of metals have the power of saponifying vegetable and animal oils, and no doubt this combination often takes place when oils of this kind are used on rusty bearings. The soaps formed by the union of the saponifiable parts of oils with metallic oxides are hard and insoluble, and are, therefore, much less perfect lubricators than the oils themselves. Some oils, more particularly those extracted from petroleum, are volatile, and evaporate as soon as journals become slight'y heated. Oils possessing these defects are unfit for purposes of general lubrication. Probably nothing else has ever been discovered that possesses in so high a degree all the properties desirable in a lubricator as good, pure sperm oil. There have been, however, some close approximations to it in oils extracted from petroleum. Many of the latter are, nevertheless, very inferior. Some excellent lubricating oils are also obtained from various seeds. The olive and the castor bean furnish oils very good for lubrication.

Olive oil is, however, too expensive for general application to this purpose. (See No. 1495.) 1540. Sperm Oil as a Lubricator for Heavy Machinery. The superiority of winter sperm oil has been fully established about 12 hours in a warm place before using. by experiments made during 14 months, on Then unscrew the cork and scrape off any adhering plaster. (See No. 2260.) the car and locomotive axles of a leading line of railroad; these went to prove that when using mineral, animal or fish oils, it required from 100 to 400 per cent. more of these oils to keep the temperature of the journals below 100° Fahr. than when winter sperm oil was employed; and in no instance could the pressure on the car-shaft be raised to 8,000 pounds 1537. To Clean Vessels Used to Contain Kerosene. Wash the vessel with thin milk of lime, which forms an emulsion with the petroleum, and removes every trace of it, and by washing a second time with milk of lime and a very small quantity of chloride of lime, and allowing the liquid to remain in it with any other oil. It was also established WATERPROOFING. that under various velocities, the amount of posit, and the oil has become quite limpid and this oil consumed in lubrication decreased in colorless . Used for fine work; does not get almost the same ratio as the velocity; and thick by age. (See No. 1551.) Or:-expose as the velocity and the requisite amount of the finest porpoise oil to the lowest natural oil was diminished, the pressure could be in- temperature attainable. It will separate into creased without any increased consumption of oil. two portions, a thick, solid mass at the botis to be poured off while at the low temperatom, and a thin, oily supernatant liquid. This ture named, and is then fit for use.

clocks and watches are now lubricated with Delicate glycerine.