smokeless lamp oil

ChrisJ

Kind of an easy question 

Does smokeless lamp oil go bad?
I have two bottles of it that are full and look clear.

EdTheHeaterMan

Paraffin can separate from oil. I know that fuel oil in a basement tank for 15 years does not burn as well as the stuff delivered yesterday. Gasoline in a tank for 7 years will not operate an internal combustion engine as well at the stuff I pumped from the gas station yesterday.

I would guess that old lamp oil might not burn as clean as new lamp oil. But I am sure it will still burn!

Motorapido

This discussion triggered a memory from Sunday school, back in the 60s or 70s.
"Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."
I never quite figured out what that verse means, but my Sunday school teacher, Miss Violet Stahl, was proud of me for memorizing the verse.

EdTheHeaterMan

Motorapido said:

This discussion triggered a memory from Sunday school, back in the 60s or 70s.
"Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."
I never quite figured out what that verse means, but my Sunday school teacher, Miss Violet Stahl, was proud of me for memorizing the verse.

God Bless You!

mattmia2

i mean the wine my coworker makes that he collects used wine bottles to bottle is good. probably something that comes from before we understood microbiology

ChrisJ

Thank you so much @ron

The oil I have is for two Dietz hurricane lanterns I have for power outages etc. I felt they were more reliable than battery powered lights etc.   We also have a lot of candles on hand for the same reason 

The lamp oil is in sealed bottles and could easily be 30 years old but it looks clear as water.

hot_rod

I know candles put a bit of smoke deposits on the ceilings, does lamp oil also?

mattmia2

hot_rod said:

I know candles put a bit of smoke deposits on the ceilings, does lamp oil also?

Unless an oil burner tech has set it up with a combustion analyzer.

ChrisJ

hot_rod said:

I know candles put a bit of smoke deposits on the ceilings, does lamp oil also?

I'm not sure how many candles you're burning and how often but maybe trim the wicks?

I've never noticed any soot but we do tend to repaint more often than every 30 years.  

hot_rod

ChrisJ said:

hot_rod said:

I know candles put a bit of smoke deposits on the ceilings, does lamp oil also?

I'm not sure how many candles you're burning and how often but maybe trim the wicks?

I've never noticed any soot but we do tend to repaint more often than every 30 years.  

Only birthday 🎂 in this house. Plenty of LED emergency lights and lanterns.

I remember Phil talking about black streaking above fin tube in a homes with candle burners

Probably bargain basement candles.

ChrisJ

hot_rod said:

ChrisJ said:

hot_rod said:

I know candles put a bit of smoke deposits on the ceilings, does lamp oil also?

I'm not sure how many candles you're burning and how often but maybe trim the wicks?

I've never noticed any soot but we do tend to repaint more often than every 30 years.  

Only birthday 🎂 in this house. Plenty of LED emergency lights and lanterns.

I remember Phil talking about black streaking above fin tube in a homes with candle burners

Probably bargain basement candles.

You need decent candles with proper length wicks and drafts are bad.

I occasionally burn a scented one but that's about it.

I like them for emergencies because they don't go bad sitting like batteries.

ChrisJ

@hot_rod
Speaking of which, I guess I can post about this story....

Hurricane Sandy.... we had some really close friends that kept saying nothing was going to happen etc. Sandy came, and when the power went out our friends were completely unprepared, they had absolutely nothing.

We loaned them two candles, assuming the power would be back on in a day or two tops.
They lit the candles, got drunk and passed out. The next day they had nothing again.

The power was only out for four days in our case but I couldn't believe they did what they did. We used two candles and they lasted the entire four days. It was interesting taking a candle stick with you into the bathroom. The reason I ended up getting the Dietz lanterns was for outside. I wanted one on our front porch when everyone's power was out.


It must have been very different for most people at night 100-200 years ago. Either you had a candle, or lamp etc lit using expensive fuel, or it was completely black.