Model R reading lamp

[Bricklayer]

i was asleep at the wheel and missed this , but it was one of us that got it :-)

Awesome pump Steve.

[SteveRetherford]

pretty awkward , like magicwrench Keith n i were talking about , feels like your gona snap that little threaded portion off just pumping it up , or tip the whole lamp over trying as they become one .... so i tried this set up with just piece of VW fuel line in between and BOY that worked great . with this pump it doesn't need very many pumps and it was fully pressured . the lamp hissed loudly when i cracked the valve , dont know if i ever had it that pumped up before


here it is with a hose attachment





this little piece was screwed into one of the model R fuel caps when i got it , nice little extra as with it it made the hose attachment super easy ... might want to get a new hose as this is an old used fuel line but it sire did the trick and i was surprised i didnt need any hose clamps , but VW hose have built in Chinese handcuffs on the outside , push em on and you cant hardy pull em off .

[RolandChevalier]

A regular Coleman pump works perfectly, no need to fuss with hoses and fittings. Try it, you'll like it. :-)

[SteveRetherford]

Oh , I know Roland . its just i want to try it the way coleman intended , not very user friendly i can tell you that !!!

its no wonder on one of my fuel caps those threads are kinda stripped out .

with the screw in or hose atachment you lose absolutely no air so it pumped up so easy .... just playing around ....

but in a pinch il do as Roland suggests for sure .....

but im Really liking the hose attachment set up best so far .....well this pump is HUGE is part of why it worked so good or maybe i should say fast !!! it pushes a whole lot of air !!!

i just want to learn all the ins n outs of the model R as best i can .

[RolandChevalier]

Ok, I get that Steve. You are really setting the bar quite high with this thread. Setting a fine example for the young'uns. :-)

[SteveRetherford]

on this most recent R the handle is basicly toast , soft n spongy , de laminating and i cant think of anything that might save it , so i cut off today .

you see the top off all model Rs have this ring that looks to be threaded on but i havent ever been able to unscrew one and i have tried to on all of em , so there is no easy way to get the handle off ........

as i had an idea that might work ,,, i found some super thin wall 3/4 inch PVC pipe about the very same diameter , the handle is 4 1/4 inches long , so i cut a piece . then i have these large shears and was able to make a fairly clean lengthwise cut , spread it open a bit and snap it in place . i still have a long ways to go . im gona PVC glue it shut , sand it smooth and then paint it black . but i think im off to a good start ???



to this

[SteveRetherford]

here is a real STUMPER , i have brought this up in the past never getting any kind of reasonable explanation . it just leaves me scratching my head . on the bottom of model R generators there is this small check valve , it works like most other coleman check valves with a floating BB . as you pump up the fount it prevents pressure from going up the generator , it makes absolutely no sense to me ....... these little check valves on mine leak just a bit and i never tried to make em work better thinking it wont work at all then ....... so im asking you folks to scratch your head for a minute and see if anyone can come up with an explanation ???????????

[Deanofid]

If there wasn't already something in that generator, I'd say it was to stop it from pulsing.

[SteveRetherford]

made a new packing today , its tiki torch wicking tied over a 1/8th inch rod with some thin stainless wire , pretty much a pain in the Arss to make em this way but its what i have been doing . the originals are like a woven wick with this rod inside em , i been looking at some wick material pre made that maybe i can just shove the rod in the center and be done with it . it would sure be a lot easier !!!

not shown here but i make a little brass cup shaped fine screen that i stuff in each end over the packing ....if you have ever played with fiberglass you know how it sheds little bits of glass ,,,,its why im thinking about a woven material with less loose ends .....

[Deanofid]

Very neatly fabricated, Steve.

[SteveRetherford]

WOW , i been looking for any kind of literature or info on the model R lamps for some time now . most stuff is available if you know where to look but i had been looking in all the wrong places . after making a bunch of inquiries about the model R Generator check valve , Dwayne n Darcy comes thru with flying colors , they even pulled the generator off there lamp to refresh there memory and looked at this SAFETY check valve confirming it should be there .
...... then steered me to to the ICCC website Newsletter Archives and there it was , some of the best looking coleman paperwork i had ever seen , the parts diagram and lighting directions for the model R lamp .... its like nirvana for me reading this :-) ..... its in the July 1996 issue , i dont know who the author was so i cant thank him or her , its a fantastic article .....

it brings me to a few more questions now , in the article it shows both valve wheels in red , i had only seen em in black before , and regret not getting that large red wheel valve shaft on the bay a wile back ...... i need to go back n re read this article again , all other R owners should too ..... its Fantastic !!!

one more reason to become an ICCC member !!! this info is not available to the public , only to ICCC members

here is the link to the ICCC site http://intlccc.net/

[SteveRetherford]

found i had saved these pics from an ebay sale , same author of the ICCC article . my computer is such a mess , i just happened to stumble upon these today .

[SteveRetherford]

here is something that just arrived in today's mail , replacement Cork feet . after a few measurements this is what i found . these are what are called #2 corks for there size , i found em on ebay for pretty cheap .

Large End:1/2"

Small End: 3/8"

Height: 3/4"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231667030781?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT


the small end fits the 3/8ths inch hole nice n snug after a little twist and a push to get em seated all the way , i kinda think the height is just a bit long and MAY trim a set down just a bit . this latest model R had only one cork remaining so i found these ....the height may be just fine as is , i don't know for sure . the other original corks don't really do any good as there worn down so far or shrunk from time they basically don't do any good , with these new ones the fount stands almost a 1/4 inch off the table ...



not all R's used the cork feet , just the earlier and middle production ones , later ones it was just omitted .

[SteveRetherford]

[Deanofid]

'Member what we said about taking pics in your underwear, Steve?

[Legs]

Baby's got new shoes! Nice corks, Steve!

Don

[SteveRetherford]

just did a little happy dance !!! this just arrived a bit ago , still in one piece , Whew !!! nice original #74 shade .

[GasPrescue]

Awesome Steve. I was "white knuckled" for ya.

[smitty316]

Nice find on the 74 shade Steve! After last weekend at the Great Lakes Fall Camp out I find myself
in need on another.

I have added a AGM Model 12 Reading Lamp to the Collection. This lamp might be better looking
than the Coleman Model, which it closely resembles.







Here it is along side the Model R and Nulite Reading lamps.



Thanks for the info on the cork feet above.. All these lamps need some new feet.

Great Thread and Congrats on your R's!

smitty

[rangler]

Wow...the Nulite and the AGM, plus the Coleman...that is a pretty awesome display of early GPA goodness!

[SteveRetherford]

that sure is one impressive line up Smitty !!! that shade holder really makes it stand out in a crowd !!!

[SteveRetherford]

its funny how excited i can get over a little piece of shiny metal . this is just beautiful to my eyes . Dean Williams hand crafted a new model R generator for me . i sent him the broken candy cane version and this is what he returned :-) i get giddy just looking at it . its also threaded for the safety check valve just like the original one . its brass bits with a stainless steel tube , the stainless really makes it look close to the original nickel plated generator .... just cant thank DeanO enough here !!!

its raining here today , so ill be make a new packing for it shortly .

[Nevada_Ed]

Awesome!

Ed

Note: Thread moved to Tech Assist for future reference.

[SteveRetherford]

i have been contemplating doing this for a wile , and yesterday was the day i finally went n did it . in the large parts package i got a wile back where some un identified NOS valve shafts with a large valve wheel that are the same size as the original model R lamp valve wheel . shown here . i hesitated doing it thinking AM I RUINING something even more important to do so ? i duno but went ahead and did it . i think the lamps looks much better now .

having two valve wheels on the model R they made the valve wheel very big (1&1/2 inches wide ) and the shade holder valve wheel very small ( 3/4 inch wide ) so as not to confuse the user , if you undid the shade holder wheel wile it was lit , youd have a pretty good fire ball i think or maybe brake the glass lamp shade as it will fall down . so its nice seeing the larger valve wheels now . i still need 1 small shade holder wheel and have a quick lite (1&1/8th inch ) valve wheel in in its place till then .

this is the best repair for this i have seen so far . these large wheels are not an exact copy of the R wheel as the original has a bit different knurling on the outer edge , but close enough for me ....

sorry the sun is so low i got lots of shadows n such but you get the idea .





here is where im at now , all i need is a valve body to get a third up n running , and a 4 possible project now .

[SteveRetherford]

all didnt go as planned either , one of the NOS wheels just didnt want to come off the shaft and i started to damage it , so i quit working on that one and went to another . only two were successfully removed . i have removed maybe 10 wheels altogether now and that was the first one that didnt want to let go , im pretty sure its cuz it has a steel valve shaft and some rust has formed making an even tighter fit ....... so 2 out of 3 here is OK with me ...

forgot to mention , puting the wheels on another shaft is not all that easy . so i file or sand a bit off the outer circomfrance of the shaft till i can get it started in the hole . then i put a quick lite valve body on the threaded end , and then leather over that , set it on a block of wood wheel down and tap on the leather with a hammer till its deep enough , a bit of trial and error is involved . but worth the efforts i think ???

[Scouterjan]

great job Steve, I have swapped valve wheels as well but as you said the 1's on steel shafts are tough to do

[SteveRetherford]

OK , here is another idea running thru my gears . i only have one original shade holder valve wheel ( the small one ) the 3/4 inch size .... id sure like another one or two , ya two of em at this point . if i had a drill press i been thinking of a way to secure a quick lite valve wheel down , may have to keep the shaft on it and secure the shaft ( or on a lathe would work but i dont have one ). any ways , then use a hole saw and drill it out at 3/4 of an inch diameter , and then hand fileing in the knurling ? seems like a lot of work but i think its doable .......any one else have ideas how to do this im all ears ????????

how were these fiber wheels made , its like no body knows the actual make up of these things , there just called fiber wheels ????? if i knew id consider re casting some . Ya , all these things go thru my head ......

[GasPrescue]

I'd say "I'm sure" but not 100% but it sure seems to me that the fiber valve wheel had to be made by high pressure lamination . Similar to like formica ( name brand) and other high pressure laminates, just using a different composite

[SteveRetherford]

thats out of my league :-) LOL

[Deanofid]

I think the fiber wheels are made of felt. Probably chopped into bits and then pressed into
a die. It would have had some kind of binder in the felt mix, and when it's pressed to say,
1/50 of it's volume, it becomes hard and somewhat more dense.
Many things are made that way, even now. Not so much with felt these days, but with other
powdered or chopped materials. Even some steel things are made this way. Steel powder
is pressed into a die, shaped for instance like a bushing, or the new type E-blocks. The powder
is pressed like mad, and a metal part pops out. In the case of metal it is fused later in a furnace,
but the thing that comes out of the die looks just like the finished product before it goes into
the furnace.
Some textiles are still made this way using just the press and a binding product to form the
shape of the textile substance.

[SteveRetherford]

uh , the quick lite wheel doesn't look too BAD does it ? :-)

[Scouterjan]

Steve it might work, I have fixed those early fibre wheels by thinning down white glue, saturating the wheel then clamping it together till dry. I would like a drill press as well

[GasPrescue]

I used a Quick Lite valve wheel on mine

[SteveRetherford]

i got this pump coming in the mail , i believe the pump end unscrews and im gona see if the thread in pump end i have here will screw into this pump . either way this is an early coleman hand pump . the pic isnt that good here but the pump cover has the early knurling and the grease fitting end is basicly how i ID'd it ... got it for 10 bucks :-)

[SteveRetherford]

i been hunting hand pumps always looking for the elusive one .... but i did find this one , looks to be an early NOS one ....its on its way here . i think its exacly as the used one in the mail , so two of the same but this one looks MUCH nicer .

the hang tag and condition make me think it might be NOS ?

[dwillie]

cool old pumps. I gotta find the box I have here, and see what I have.
I wonder what your neighbors think Steve? lol. Crazy lamp guy lighting up the shop windows again. I hope you dont get raided, cause you were turned in for a meth lab. lol.

[jhutc13]

Wow, a lot of great information. I just got my first one a couple weeks ago and i need more of these in my life.

[Scouterjan]

great pump Steve, I know I have 1 with the threaded cap, will have to digit out and compare with yours

[SteveRetherford]

OK i have the first of the smaller pumps here now . a few things i notice are note worthy .. they have an interchangeable nipple that use the same size threads , the nipple is much smaller than what you would find on a typical coleman hand pump . this smaller grease type nipple fits the model R winged air stem cap much better than than the typical style even with out the threads it does a fine Job !!! as Roland said :-)

but i had to follow thru finding a screw in style pump . after wards my conclusion is with out the hose atachment so it can flex is very cumbersome , one feels like he is gona snap the pump threads off trying to actually use in real use as the pumping action moves everything a bit ..... the big pump with the hose fitting attached only takes a few pumps to get quite a bit of pressure inside ...



the valve stem cover is kept on the end of the pump threads so i dont damage the threads wile stored away ....







i think it was seeing the one listed on Terrys site belonging to Bob N Shirley Willard i just had to have one ..... but its only stated that there pump came with there model R lamp , no mention of it being original and sold with the lamp , what i mean is there no literature i have seen validating this is a coleman hand pump BUT the wooden pump knob shape is consistent with most all known Coleman hand pumps examples i have seen YET the larger pump i have is attributed to AGM on Terrys site . im certain they were made by the same manufacturer to to the tooling techniques .... so its a bit confusing as to who made these ... but my take is its an early Coleman hand pump and the design was altered a bit for ease of manufacturing for the later typical style more common ones ???????.....



http://tgmarsh.faculty.noctrl.edu/pumpsad.html

[HillCountry]

I like that hose attachment, it does seem to be much easier on the threads when pumping. As you said about the pumps, who made them all? I have a large pump similar to the one Terry shows as a 12" AGM pump but the end where the air tip goes is flared like the top is.

[Scouterjan]

Steve I think mime is the same as the 1 you show in the last picture. The early AGM #3 stove I got from 1 of the other Steves has the same set up, threaded air cap on tank hose has the matching threaded piece that screws into the pump cap

[SteveRetherford]

im kinda set on pumps for a wile now , got the one in the mail today . these are very nice quality pumps ........ cleaned n oiled em , working great with no blow by , if you put your finger over the end you cant push the plunger very far due to the resistance .........

[rangler]

If you could only find the one with the stamped emblem on the barrel!

[SteveRetherford]

i found a catalog pic stating the R can burn " gasoline , alcohol or " and the rest cant be seen ..

[mcdugal2]

So was I right Steve in saying that the Check Valve on the bottom of the Generator is to prevent the uncontrolled exodus of Pressurized fuel in the event of the valve shaft being entirely removed?

[SteveRetherford]

just showing a little progress here . i pvc glued shut the pipe as it was cut length wise and opened a bit and snapped over the riser . sanded off the excess glue and gave it a couple shots of Semi Gloss Black rustoleum yesterday ........looks pretty nice if you ask me ???? if you click on the pic it greatly enlarges .

from this



to this

[HappyKamper]

Looks awesome Steve! 'cept your handle is too shiny.

[SteveRetherford]

Hi Clayton , the paint is still curing for a few days more at least , in these cooler temps it takes longer , i may steel wool it or distress it a bit . but it looks so much better than no handle that im happy already :-)

[Legs]

That's a thing of beauty Steve! Nice work... and being Schedule C PVC it will handle a bit of heat.... no pun intended.