Trench_Candles

We run a lot of lanterns when the darkness falls. I guess it’s become a bit of a thing for us and we enjoy the atmosphere it produces in the evening.

Most of those lamps are fuelled with paraffin ( “kerosene” for our colonial cousins ) but there are a few candle lanterns requiring different sized candles, some of which are hard to source and often, not cheap..

Conversion of old candle lanterns with "Trench Candles".  The Steam Tent Co-operative. © Gary Waidson - www.Steamtent.uk

For that reason I decided recently to convert them over to paraffin with thes natty little burners made from pipe fittings.

The first time I saw something like these I was told they were called trench candles. I’m not sure if that is entirely accurate but I’ve not heard a better name for them so I can live with that.

The components needed to make your Trench Candles.  The Steam Tent Co-operative. © Gary Waidson - www.Steamtent.uk

The base, known here as an end feed cap, is soldered on. Note the cleaned up pipe end for a better joint. Wipe it with a little flux , heat the joint with a blow torch while touching the opposite side of the joint with the solder. When the solder melts it will flow into the joint where the flux is.

The top cap is left loose so that it can be filled easily, drilled through with the thin copper tube for the wick holder, pushed through, it could be just a friction fit but I soldered it in as well for durability.

I added a tiny, 1mm,  breather hole in the top of the cap to alleviate the slight compression that tended to squeeze paraffin up through the wick when first sliding the cap  on.

A simple modification but it keeps things a bit cleaner.

I just use a twisted bit of cotton mop string for a wick.

Folding Lanterns converted for paraffin with trench candles.  The Steam Tent Co-operative. © Gary Waidson - www.Steamtent.uk
The Steam Tent Co-operative. © Gary Waidson - www.Steamtent.ukThe Steam Tent Co-operative. © Gary Waidson - www.Steamtent.uk