Den Haan Trawler Lamp

jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Anyone else have this lamp?

It's really beautiful, and bright. It really lights up the whole cabin. I was os excited to get one, several years ago, as a friend had one, but I became disappointed soon. First, it leaks! The reservoir leaks oil, I think through the seam where the top and bottom halves are connected. There is a paper or fiber gasket between the two halves, which are simply crimp/folded together. I have toyed with two repair strategies: taking it apart, stripping the lacquer and removing the gasket, and soldering the halves together, as I think it should have been, from the factory. The other is applying a sloshing compound inside. I bought a small can of sloshing compound, haven't tried it yet.

The other disappointment is the lacquer. Water got under it in places, and the brass corroded. And, the lacquer on the top piece has turned a darker brown color, due to the heat.

Now, with a new boat that is mostly stainless belowdecks, I have the crazy idea of having this whole thing chrome plated.

Thoughts?

jv
 
Head Sail

Head Sail

.
Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
I have something similar and it slow drips when overfilled and secured at an angle with a bungee. Trick is not to fill until ready to use. As far as the discoloring, just consider it a patina.
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Nah, there are some really crummy looking parts, like corrosion plus dark varnish that looks like rust, not a nice patina at all.
 
Justin_NSA

Justin_NSA

.
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
"Thoughts?" I'd clean it up and put it in a den or something and go with some LED lighting onboard. It would make a nice conversation piece. Personally I'm sold on clean, low power LED. Not much help eh?
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

.
Feb 26, 2004
22,770
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Head Sail said:
As far as the discoloring, just consider it a patina.
Click to expand
jviss said:
not a nice patina at all
Click to expand
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have one, it is 30 years old. It's more what Head Sail sees. :)

Price a new one and you'll learn to either live with it and cherish it or find a way to polish it up (I doubt it). You could try Brasso.

Dip the leaky into epoxy. That's the fix I've read about. You simply can't repair the seam. IMHO.

I love our lamp.

BTW, find GOOD lamp oil. When I was in the states the lamp oil I'd get at Ace Hardware was great. Since I moved here, I've found the hardware store lamp oil burns horribly and is very dirty. Be careful when you first light it, 'cuz it will burn hotter unless you turn it down and keep your eye on it at first lighting.

I never emptied mine, no need to.
 
Head Sail

Head Sail

.
Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
Justin_NSA said:
"Thoughts?" I'd clean it up and put it in a den or something and go with some LED lighting onboard. It would make a nice conversation piece. Personally I'm sold on clean, low power LED. Not much help eh?
Click to expand
Your not going to get the heat the lamp puts out from 1000 LEDs.
 
Justin_NSA

Justin_NSA

.
Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
Head Sail said:
Your not going to get the heat the lamp puts out from 1000 LEDs.
Click to expand
No mention of needing heat, but another reason I wouldn't use one here.
"It's really beautiful, and bright. It really lights up the whole cabin"
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
I like the warmth, the romance of an oil lamp on the boat.

As for the patina, yes, I appreciate a nice patina, but this is what I am dealing with:

2017-09-22 14.23.47

2017-09-22 14.23.47

 
Mark Maulden

Mark Maulden

.
Jan 25, 2011
2,399
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
If you have an older lamp, dont get rid of it. The newer ones leak. Mine leaked. Spent time on phone with company owner and he said to empty the tank, dry it out, turn upside down so you can see the seam, and then run some slow setting super glue in the seam. Put in seam several places and tilt it back and forth so the glue runs around the seam. So far, it has worked. And was a simple fix. Any company worth their salt would have just sent a replacement. That obviously wasn't an option. "Slow setting" glue is about 30 sec..
 
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B

Benny17441

.
May 24, 2004
7,131
CC 30 South Florida
Love the look, does it come in LED? Sorry not being funny, but oil lamps are a thing of the past. Like you say they leak and they also deplete oxygen and produce CO, emit black smoke residue, and aboard a boat are a fire hazard. Love the look and would not mind much the polishing maintenance that they require but would like one fitted with a warm LED bulb rather than a wick.
 
Charlie Jones s/v Tehani

Charlie Jones s/v Tehani

.
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
Stu Jackson said:
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I have one, it is 30 years old. It's more what Head Sail sees. :)

Price a new one and you'll learn to either live with it and cherish it or find a way to polish it up (I doubt it). You could try Brasso.

Dip the leaky into epoxy. That's the fix I've read about. You simply can't repair the seam. IMHO.

I love our lamp.

BTW, find GOOD lamp oil. When I was in the states the lamp oil I'd get at Ace Hardware was great. Since I moved here, I've found the hardware store lamp oil burns horribly and is very dirty. Be careful when you first light it, 'cuz it will burn hotter unless you turn it down and keep your eye on it at first lighting.

I never emptied mine, no need to.
Click to expand
I burn 100% mineral spirits in my lamps and in my kero stove. Burns very clean. GOOD quality kerosene is hard to find any more
 
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jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Benny17441 said:
Love the look, does it come in LED? Sorry not being funny, but oil lamps are a thing of the past. Like you say they leak and they also deplete oxygen and produce CO, emit black smoke residue, and aboard a boat are a fire hazard. Love the look and would not mind much the polishing maintenance that they require but would like one fitted with a warm LED bulb rather than a wick.
Click to expand
Sailboats are a thing of the past.
 
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Benny17441

.
May 24, 2004
7,131
CC 30 South Florida
jviss said:
Sailboats are a thing of the past.
Click to expand
No they still serve a purpose; it can take you places rather inexpensively and if just out for a day sail you don't have to go anywhere, you are there. With new 30' powerboats costing well in excess of $100K and good used ones for around $75K not many of us could afford more than that and then there be no budget left for fuel to go anywhere. When we can still get a nice 34' sailboat for around $30K and can get a year's fuel supply for under a $1,000 there is still use for sailboats.
 
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jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Benny, lighten up. I'm using an oil lamp in my boat, O.K.? Do you have to argue about everything? If you want to advocate LEDs over oil lamps, start your own thread.

I start a thread asking folks about this particular oil lamp, and it becomes a debate on whether we should use oil lamps, or abandon them for LEDs. Really.
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Mark Maulden said:
If you have an older lamp, dont get rid of it. The newer ones leak. Mine leaked. Spent time on phone with company owner and he said to empty the tank, dry it out, turn upside down so you can see the seam, and then run some slow setting super glue in the seam. Put in seam several places and tilt it back and forth so the glue runs around the seam. So far, it has worked. And was a simple fix. Any company worth their salt would have just sent a replacement. That obviously wasn't an option. "Slow setting" glue is about 30 sec..
Click to expand
Thanks. I wish I had seen this earlier! I applied some sloshing compound to the inside. Have to wait 96 hours for it to dry, or cure, or whatever it does. We'll see.
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Justin_NSA said:
"Thoughts?" I'd clean it up and put it in a den or something and go with some LED lighting onboard. It would make a nice conversation piece. Personally I'm sold on clean, low power LED. Not much help eh?
Click to expand
No, not really. :)
 
Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

.
Feb 26, 2004
22,770
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
jviss said:
I wish I had seen this earlier! I applied some sloshing compound to the inside. Have to wait 96 hours for it to dry, or cure, or whatever it does. We'll see.
Click to expand
Good luck.

In many questions about heads on boats, Peggie suggests that if the poster had asked before he did some work, he would have saved a lot of time and effort. :) Apply here, too? :)

I put in downlights on our boat when we got it in 1998, switched to LED lamps, just great lighting.

I STILL have and use our trawler lamp.

Not either/or, but both. :)

If that doesn't work, then try Mark's suggestion. I knew I'd heard it before.
 
jviss

jviss

.
Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
Stu Jackson said:
Good luck.

In many questions about heads on boats, Peggie suggests that if the poster had asked before he did some work, he would have saved a lot of time and effort. :) Apply here, to? :)

If that doesn't work, then try Mark's suggestion. I knew I'd heard it before.
Click to expand
Well, that's what sloshing compound is for, after all.
 
Rick D

Rick D

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Jun 14, 2008
7,138
Hunter Legend 40.5 Shoreline Marina Long Beach CA
I have always had an oil lamp and love them. I will tip-toe in here and second chroming it (double-chrome). I will now move slowwwwwly to the door.
 
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