AVOID (if you have a boat oil lamp) = FireFly fuel in the USA

UK-WOOZY

UK-WOOZY

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I bought a new Nauticalia gimbal lamp to replaced the one my boat had come with that was corroded and had a broken burner. I bought clearcraft lamp fuel but this had an awful smell and sometimes had soot so i was worried about carcinogens and did research if there was a safer fuel to use, maybe olive oil. So i came across FireFly Safe and Green lamp fuel. So ordered two at great cost from the USA just before christmas. It was delivered on the 11th Jan. I tried it in my lamp and it seemed ok but when i put the flame out it gave off a lot of white smoke into my cabin so i quickly put a mask on worrying about breathing in the smoke. So i contacted FieFly and they suggested i use a new wick and clean the lamp out which i did. The flame looked brighter now but after putting out the flame, again white smoke. They replied on email to say they have not heard of this before. To top it off i get an invoice today off FedEx for duty tax of £22, so i contact FireFly and they say this isnt included on the shipping cost which i thought it was as it was not cheap . Below is the invoice before i got the bill off FedEx. and still unsure why i have lots of white smoke after putting out the lamp. granted it has a hardly noticeable smell when lit now compared to the fuels for lamps here in the UK. I do like the cosy look and warmth of the lamp so am eager to get to why its smoking badly.

the prices are in £=
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the wick im using=
Eltex Oil lamp wick flat British made thicker sizes for Oil paraffin kerosene | eBay

vid of the smoke before i changed the wick and cleaned the lamp, but the smoke is the same -

 
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When you turned the wick down the lamp was still very hot so unlit vapour continued to emanate as smoke.

Try turning the wick very low for a while before turning it right down to snuff it.
 
James_Calvert said:
When you turned the wick down the lamp was still very hot so unlit vapour continued to emanate as smoke.

Try turning the wick very low for a while before turning it right down to snuff it.
Click to expand...
Thank you, i will try that over the weekend. For now as soon as i blow the flame out i put a microfiber cloth on top of the chimney to catch the smoke
 
I’ve only ever used simple kerosine (paraffin) in oil lamps, never had a problem unless I let the fuel run out and ended up with the wick burning, which would produce copious quantities of black smoke. I’d agree with James: turn the wick low for a couple of minutes before blowing the flame out. One oil lamp I’ve got has a little spring loaded flap that covers the wick as you turn it down: that stops any smoke and also means you don’t need to blow the flame out,
 
When I can buy kerosene in this country for about 50p a litre, I find it very difficult to have any sympathy for someone with self inflicted problems, who imported their fuel oil at great expense from abroad.
 
NormanS said:
When I can buy kerosene in this country for about 50p a litre, I find it very difficult to have any sympathy for someone with self inflicted problems, who imported their fuel oil at great expense from abroad.
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i was concerned about carcionagens, the warnings on the back of the Clearcraft lamp fuel bottle were concerning
 
black mercury said:
Try aviation fuel if there is a small airport near you. It burns much cleaner than home heating oil.
Make sure you get jet fuel not avgas.
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Brings back memories! Airfields usually smell like a primus going at full blast - there's not a lot of difference between a jet or turbine engine and the old paraffin space heaters they used to use in garages. And I've spent many happy hours at airfields in the Arctic, Antarctic and the UK waiting for the weather or working on equipment.

But as noted above, it's JP4 you want, which is basically paraffin. Avgas is high octane petrol!
 
James_Calvert said:
When you turned the wick down the lamp was still very hot so unlit vapour continued to emanate as smoke.

Try turning the wick very low for a while before turning it right down to snuff it.
Click to expand...


I use Bartoline lamp oil from the local hardware shop. Bright flame but a wee smell if turned up really high but can turn it down till it goes out and no smoke. Also use the oil in my compass .
 
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