Dietz Original '76 Oil Lantern - Olive Oil 

Sew in some crafting copper wire into the wick. It provides thermal feedback to warm and thin the oil. Best is to replace the wick with carbon felt and sew in the copper crafting wire. Or speaker wire strands. Depending on the environment you use it in and the oil used, you may need to sew in more than one strand. Carbon felt does not get used up. Cotton does. With carbon felt you can run the tank dry and still not harm that wick.

Thanks for this. It's going to be very useful here in the UK due to the high increase in fuel prices and the fact they're talking about having blackouts. An excellent video 👍👍

Yes it burns but only a low light is given. If you up the wick you get a brighter light for a short time as the wick burns faster than the oil. These lamps are for thinner oils.

I always have called them Hurricane Lanterns or Rail Road Lanterns. The ones I have like kerosene as a fuel in them and it sure costs less then Olive Oil. Never considered Olive Oil as a fuel and back then did not know what Olive Oil was.. 60 years ago when a couple of buddies and I would go camping during summer break ( School ) we had a couple of the lanterns with us as our camping light source. Even today when one of them is lit it still reminds me of those camping trips and they still go on camping trips creating new memories. They also have served a lot of hurricane duty when the power would go out along with the real hurricane lantern the glass base and tall glass chimney ones. The lanterns are almost indestructible and last a long time with the proper care , good fuel , trimmed wicks and cleaned after use.

If you cut a V in the center of the wick, you will have 2 flames. We used to do This on our caboose.

I just purchased a Dietz little giant lantern. This video helped me dis-assemble and clean mine. AS soon a get fuel I'm ready to fire it up !! Thanks for this video .

If you want to use olive oil, make or purchase a wire wick holder and place in a mason jar, preferably the kind with a handle. Works great, gets a long burn time, and can be used safely indoors.

If you cut a saw tooth pattern in the wick, it will make a different flame. Replacing the wick with carbon felt and sew in some fine copper wire, it will never need trimming and you can use thicker oils. Copper provides thermal feedback to help thin the oil to draw up the wick. Vapor point of parafin oil is about 150F. Vapor point for Olive Oil is a whopping 450F. Olive oil is pretty viscous and harder to get and stay lit when cold.

I run refined lamp oil in mine and it burns brighter and longer than any cooking or unrefined oil. Also, trimming your wick to a slight point and lowering it a little more will actually produce more light and burn less fuel.

I remember that we have no electrical power till my 10th year old, and we used it. Great memories. Thanks

As others have said I've seen that olive oil works okay with this type of wick but it struggles to absorb because it is thick. A good idea though to extend the life of the fuel is to mix olive and lamp oil, or veggie oil and lamp oil. More or less use the thicker oil as primary and cut it with the thinner oil, so it feeds better. With that said, kerosene is Def cheaper than olive oil almost everywhere, and typically you can buy "lamp oil" in a gallon jug for just a few dollars.

Thanks for sharing, it is good to know as a plan B for my situation. Rust is something to be concerned about though. Mine eventually had pin holes that leaked a tiny bit and caused a serious flame situation.

These are not designed to burn olive oil, as the weave of the wick won't allow for proper capillary action because it's too thick. Use K1 clear kerosene for $4- a gallon, as opposed to olive oil for $15- a gallon.

I use old diesel in my lamps. It burns fine, but only leaves a little bit more residu on the wick. In case of emergency this works way better than olive oil, which has not the right viscosity. I have spare diesel in my shed for my diesel engined car, so diesel is a fuel that is always around at mine, but when it is not used for a year, I burn it in oil lamps. It smells a little bit, but kerosene/petroleum does too. Kerosene/petroleum and diesel are very similar and therefore can be substituted in this case.

I'm in the final process of restoring a Dietz #2 lantern. Trying to decide a good color & mine has "raised bars" on the upright pieces, almost like ribs. Might be an older style but the restoration process has been fun, thanks for your video.

actually all of those that for some odd reason are shocked and appealed that olive oil was used in a kerosine lamp, (weirder things have happened folks) it actually Burns fine. I find that typically lamp oil in my area tends to burn way to fast. so vegetable oil offers a longer lasting fuel. even used oil from cooking works. I'm playing with ratios to get an optimal fuel but I found there's nothing wrong with cooking oil. wicks to fence a few may keep yelling. but honestly I haven't hit issues with wicking yet. and I live in a high altitude cold environment. so far no problems. and it beats going to the store every two days for parifin oil. just be open minded. explore. stop being so critical and think outside the box for a change. might actually come up with some beast solutions. never know.

I would use a cheaper vegetable oil. And make my own wicks with heave painters cotton for drop cloths. Thanks for making the video. Cool lamp.

My understanding from other videos is that the lamp may not continue to burn with olive oil. The olive oil is too heavy to soak up the wick. The burning portion of the wick must be very near the oil in order to continue to burn. One video suggests cutting off the dome surrounding the wick to accomplish this.

Kerosene works much better in those (I have 3 of them plus 4 kerosene lamps too) and it is a lot cheaper than olive oil. You will get a lot more light, and heat. Nice looking lantern.

Thanks a lot for posting this. I have a Dietz lantern and getting kerosene oil in India is getting more and more difficult. People kept telling me that olive oil was too thick to wick up to the flame and would also ruin my lantern. Will at least try it out and switch to a thinner lamp oil if it fails.

I cut mine in a rounded arch top. Burns cleaner & doesn't smut. I like the style of this lantern. A bunch are made cheap or novelty items that only burns an hour or so. Some of the indoor ones only have a glass globe. Those are hard to find anymore. The hurricane style is less likely to start a fire if tipped over. If you need some heat I don't think these things put out much. The one I have my mom owned. It's made pretty heavy duty.

I've only recently thought of using cooking oil in one of these and have a small one coming soon to try out for myself. My main goal is to be able to use it in the house with fewer smells and toxic gases than with kerosene. Don't have any backup info but I was taught to trim the wick in an arch to match the flame cowling for the cleanest burn. We would remove the globe but otherwise have the lamp assembled to use the cowling as a guide for trimming and you really do need much better scissors to get a clean cut. When ever your flame doesn't have a clean top edge you're going to get soot. Contrary to the myth from cowboy movies these lamps don't instantly burst into flame when smashed on the ground. Lol Most people don't realize how sophisticated these lamps are. The two frame supports are hollow and designed to feed the flame with preheated air for a better burn and all of the vent holes, top and bottom are there to support and balance that air flow. Which leaves me wondering if the down grade in fuel will affect it at all. Hmmm?

Amazing-it took almost 7 minutes just to get oil into the bloody thing. Agonising!!!

paraffin is what we use in the uk but it is interesting thought to use olive oil it was used for many years for lamps I believe but with a thinner wick that absorbed the oil easier thanks for the video .

Super informative. Thank you for uploading your video!

I never though of burning olive oil as a fuel. I'll need to look out for a sweet lamp to get myself. I love the idea!

Just remember the loop on top of chimney IS NOT LOAD BEARING do not hang it from that only supposed to hang by the big handle only.

Cut aluminim foil to sharpen sizers😊

Why would the lamp rust in the oil well? Wouldn't the oil keep it rust free?

I have never seen anything but lamp oil burned in a hurricane lantern. Than said it worked. If you trim the wick in a half round manner it makes for a cleaner more efficient burn as the round shape intensifies the heat at the top of the wick.

Very informative and well explained 👍

I thinned the olive oil with Klean Heat...about 2:1 olive oil to KH. It runs indefinitely and doesn't burn up the wick, but still smells bad when it runs. I have a cheap lamp (Stansport) and I think that's probably the issue. Gonna continue and see how little KH I can end up using.

Thank you for sharing despite what everyone one else is saying you can burn olive oil in these lanterns they are called oil lanterns you can buy pomace olive oil its cheaper and thinner as in the Bible what kind of oil do u think they were burning just saying im old I been burning it in mine for yrs and it's non toxic and I breathe better. Also just let your wick soak longer is all. Thank again for the video and don't listen to all the others always do your research and lets not forget if you spill the olive oil it wont burn it puts it self out great safety. Have a blessed day

Nice video, thanks for sharing. I have the same one. I burn citronella to help with the mosquitoes on my patio or while camping. I don't know how effective it is, but I don't remember having any problems while burning it. I never thought about burning olive oil. That's a great idea.

I'm impressed you got olive oil lit in it! When I tried it I came to the conclusion it was too thick to absorb up the wick but I guess I was wrong. What kind did you use?

This shows whether how a lantern should be started, nor how a wick should be adjusted...

hey bruh. just a heads up, using olive oil can exacerbate the problem of incomplere combustion, which results inthe nasties like methane and carbon monoxide. also, olive oil is one of the more acidic oils and you could do better for your tools. at least on your sharp stuff where you work hard to keep a good edge, like knives.

This style of lantern has been around for many more years than you think. Originally designed to run on kerosene at a time when many heat making devices ran on that fuel. That was a time when that fuel was cheap and common. Unfortunately not so anymore.

My lamp is a glass lamp with a 7/8" flat wick. I bought odorless lamp fuel and it worked well. I did have a little kerosene odor, so decided try olive oil as fuel. It was a disaster. It took a long time for the oil to saturate the wick because if the viscosity. This resulted in the fuel burning faster than it could move up the wick. The wick charred and extinguished itself. I even tried a new wick. I simply won't work with vegetable oil because of the viscosity. With the wick replaced, I'm back using the original fuel.

Have you tried mixing kerosene with olive oil? I'm wondering if the Kerosene would thin down the olive oil so it wicks better. I'm wanting to try to use vegetable oil waste but I'm thinking of mixing it with kerosene. Wondering if you have already tried it.

With all the modern camping lights now days, few stores carry a old reliable lantern like this. They were used for a hundred years.

Thanks for the tip on getting the lense out. But olive oil did not work well, at all. I'm burning citronella and cedar now.

How do you extinguish it? Just lit two watching your video but you don't say how to turn them of lol. Assuming you bring the wick down?

I want to see that lantern burn for 3 minutes without you having to adjust the wick. Can't be done. It was already starting to go out at the end of the video.

Everytime iv'e tried burning olive oil it always burns up my wick too fast, the oil is just too thick to burn properly

Nice informative video 👍

I have a question: when I use olive oil, the fire goes out

the tubes up the sides are for a cold blast type lantern. they channel air up to chimney.

Fiberglass woven wicks are the way to go. Use pure clean paraffin lamp oil for indoors use, no smell, and safe for indoors use. Also brighter than using olive oil and cheaper.

Good informative and helpful 👍

I'm surprised it works, most of the ones I've seen have been modified to bring the flame closer to the reservoir, having the lantern unaltered wasn't something I expected to work.

Would mixing kerosene be a good fuel to not only absorb up the wick, but burn clean as well?

Could you add olive oil to paraffin , would that be any benefit.. cheers , just brought a storm lamp 🪔 ..

Could I use any type of cheap oil? For example rapeseed canola any own seed combination for combustion?.

I have had mixed success depending on the olive oil used. Some has worked better than others. This was an experiment more than anything else and I still primarily use conventional lamp oil. -Chris

I use diesel oil. Seems to work really well

FWIW I use paraffin oil in lanterns like yours (1/2" wick or less) for inside burning and low odor mineral spirits for outside burning. Low odor mineral spirits also work well in lanterns with wicks wider than 1/2". Also by the shape of your flame, either the wick still wasn't saturated or the olive oil may have been too thick to wick properly. (Or the trim was way off. But I doubt that.)

I have tried this but the wick burns away quicker than the oil can get up it, I even tried thinning the Olive Oil with real natural turpentine but it did not work, I think a different type of wick is needed.

Excellent pal, I’ve had two of these lamps with filthy glass for ages, just seen how you take the glass out to clean them, and useing olive oil. Thanks pal, great help. Really happy now, I can actually use them now. Cheers from Alan Isle of Wight England. Big love from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Where did you get the lamp? Did you have any difficulty getting the oil to absorb up the wick while burning? Just curious because you had to drop the wick before lighting.

I'm about to give up on this oil lamp idea! Using olive oil and I cannot keep the flame going. Does the wick tip need to also soak in the oil for a while or just the bottom half? The flame lasts about 39 seconds or so, then goes out. Even when I raise it higher.

Olive oil is the oldest lamp oil

This would be great for cooking! Just get a wire computer guard or a coffee pot grade. You can use the top of the lantern as a lid for your pot. :) It won't be super fast cooking, but that's fine. It would be great for a cup of coffee. :)

I tried virgin olive oil in a Dietz #1 with a 3/8 wick. It lit, but didn't stay lit, and the wick smoldered. I read elsewhere that olive oil doesn't work, because the flashpoint for olive oil is nearly 500 degrees F. Using actual kerosene the flash point is 124. So the other information states that olive oil will not work.

If you're going to burn olive oil use a carbon felt wick.😊

Thanks for the video. Forgive me o wise ones, why does rust matter? I was given a "antique" lantern that I'm looking to light. The oil reservoir seems intact, no visual leaks.

do you think you could use olive oil in in a kerosene heater

Can you use used olive oil

I've tried food grade oil of all kinds with a bunch of different lamps and I never had success with it.

You can also cut the wick to a point to get a finer brighter light.

dat lamp is lit boi!

Extra virgin olive oil at $25/quart, you gotta be kidding, kerosene at $5/gal is what it was designed to use. Dont waste your money.

I'm surprised you are so prepared that you have a bug out bag more or less set up and go into a bit of detail on the fact that you keep oil in it...but you weren't prepared with a funnel to fill the lamp. Lol. Don't forget the small details in the big picture of prepping.

THANKS FOR SHARING!! WILL BE TRYING THIS VERY SOON, MYSELF!! I CAN STORE OLIVE OIL FOR A MUCH LONGER PERIOD OF TIME! THANKS FRIEND!! :)

Thanks. I just got one of these and I couldn’t figure out how to get the globe off so I can replace the wick. Mines a copycat so I didn’t have the name to research. Just happened to come across this video

I have found that it varies greatly depending on the quality of the olive oil and how old it is. I've had mixed results. Thanks for watching. -Chris

Thanks!

Is it smokeless?

Have you ever tried corn oil?

I would love to find a used Dietz lantern. I have been looking for quite a while. I may just break down and go buy a new one at the hardware store. Good experiment. TC - Stan

I tried olive oil because people claim you can use it. I found it causes the wick to burn ridiculously fast. Turns out olive oil is not to be used in flat wick designs.

So many thoughts below. My two cents; olive oil may become rancid and not travel up the wick over time.

Thanks for the demo, my friend. Nice lantern. I wish I had one for camping.. Have a good weekend, Ken

Good job!

I have several Deitz lanterns for emergencies and I ONLY burn Clean Heat super refined kerosene in mine, NOTHING else. Olive oil will get very thick in cold weather and should NOT be used as it is too heavy an oil to begin with, not to mention that it is silly to spend that much money on improper oil in the first place. also never use the Liquid Paraffin, as it will also clog the wick. The advantage of the Clean Heat is that when burned, it has almost NO odor, where regular kerosene has a lot of odor when burned. It's about ten bucks a gallon but worth it for the lack of odor. It also works below zero.

fiber glass wick is recommended for this kind of fuel,less failure prone in the end.

I never thought of that, I use tiki torch fuel in mine.

oilve oil is good but does not wick as easily as mineral oils, home made olive oil lamps with the wick 1cm and directly above the oil heating it work very well

Ya prolly figured by now(Nice lantern btw) , handle up and one finger lift the chimney using handle as support. Damn, that lantern lifted smoothly. (could be wrong but globe size looks small for it's nest) 'n everyone who likes these lanterns should have at least one ruby red globe to enjoy. js

Can you use olive oil in any lamp or lantern?

How long did that flame last for you? Not long at all. Your wick got burned up quickly. Why didn't you show that in the video? This is going to cause a bunch of people to get extremely frustrated when they try to use olive oil in their lamp. In order to use olive oil, the wick needs to be very close to the oil. It can not be raised above the oil or else the wick will burn. The oil is too thick to travel up the wick fast enough to fuel the flame.

My lantern has olive oil in it. Just tried my lantern for the first time. 7-8-in. wick chewed-up in like 20 min.

As an alternative fuel varsol may be used, it burns a little cleaner as well as slightly hotter than kerosene. and not as much smell.

Olive Oil is very expensive, does it work with Vegetable Oil .... you know regular cooking Vegetable Oil?

Isn't olive oil more expensive than paraffin per litre?

Does it works with lighter fluids?

Since this video is over ten years old, I hope you have learned how to burn a lantern over the span. After lighting, adjust the flame and wick so that the wick is BELOW the wick dome, not above it. If left above, the lamp will smoke and soot, and blacken your globe, plus, you will burn through wicks like paper. With a properly adjusted flame, the lamp will burn with absolutely no soot, and a wick will last for years - even burned every night. Then there's the question of the olive oil. In a small lantern like this one (1/2 inch wick) it will work in a pinch, but won't wick properly (olive oil is too thick). Your flame will struggle, won't be very bright, and it will probably smoke/soot besides.

Oil like that will eventually plug up your WIC so plan on replacing your wake if you burn anything other than kerosene or a kerosene like from Klean strip

Will it work with thinner oils, like corn, canola and vegetable?

Some of these type heaters self extinguish when accidentally tipped over, but only say they do that with the right fuel.