Chimneys for Burner with Hat-on-Sieve-Tube Flame Discs

The large flame disc developed later, with a hat-like disc on a sieve-like perforated, wide tube (= “hat-on-sieve-tube”), mainly had the task of pushing the flame considerably outwards and widening it so that the flame takes on a basket-like, broadly spherical shape. Here, too, the idea is realised to enlarge the bright, luminous surface of the flame, to intensify the contact with the air and thus to improve the light yield.

However, the flame, which widens outwards like a basket, presupposes that the glass chimney also has a considerable widening at this point, i.e. a bulge to match the size of the flame. For this purpose, a chimney has been designed that is not dissimilar to the bulbous Viennese chimney. Above the normal fitter part comes a pronounced, broad bulge, the widest part of which is placed at the height of the flame. But that is where the similarity ends. The spherical bulge on this particular chimney does not gradually taper upwards as is the case with the conventional Viennese chimneys, but closes to a smaller diameter just above the bulge, and then remains strictly cylindrical all the way to the top. The upper opening is considerably larger than in comparable Kosmos chimneys.

This type of chimney, called “Kugelzylinder” (= ball chimney) in German, was mainly used with the Matador-like round burners. “Matador” is a trademark of the Ehrich & Graetz company for their burners which bear this new type of flame disc of hat-on-sieve-tube type. As mentioned in the previous chapter on kerosene/paraffin burners, the Matador burners of this company were an extraordinary market success. This burner was copied by almost all other burner manufacturers and marketed under their own brand names. As a result, the actually protected trademark “Matador” by Ehrich & Graetz became just as popular and well-known as the (unfortunately unprotected) brand name “Kosmos” by Wild & Wessel. “Matador” was thus not only a brand name for E&G's burner, but became the generally used type designation for all ball chimneys used with such burners, as this designation was not protected for glass chimneys. It is obvious that the whole world now called the ball chimneys designed for this purpose Matador chimneys. This internationally widespread designation (similar to Kosmos chimneys for Kosmos burners) is still valid today, and is also used consistently by me.

Examples of Matador chimneys (shown in their correct size ratio to each other - Top row: marks of the chimneys shown)
From left: 10‘‘‘ chimney (for 10‘‘‘ Splendidus burner, R. Ditmar)
15‘‘‘ chimney (for 15‘‘‘ Auto burner, Gebr. Wolff)
18‘‘‘ chimney (for 18‘‘‘ Lampe Belge, Lempereur & Bernard)
18‘‘‘ chimney (for 18‘‘‘ Lampe Liégeoise, Moreau Frères)
20‘‘‘ chimney (for 20‘‘‘ Matador burner, Ehrich & Graetz)
30‘‘‘ chimney (e.g. for 30‘‘‘ Blitz lamps)

A Matador burner with its Matador chimney
From left: 20‘‘‘ Matador burner of Ehrich & Graetz, with Matador chimney
Schematic representation of the air flows and the flame
The flame of the burner

Matador Chimneys with Slim Bulge

However, there are also burners that have a hat-on-sieve-tube flame disc, but whose chimneys do not have a pronounced wide, but rather a somewhat narrower bulge. The smaller diameter of the bulge compared to normal Matador chimneys reduces the air space between the inner wall of the chimney and the flame more than with Matador chimneys, with the result that the air flow here experiences a stronger acceleration and is pressed somewhat more strongly against the flame. As a result, more air (and thus more oxygen) is now supplied to the flame and thus better combustion with increased brightness is achieved.

I suspect that this particular type of Matador chimney with the somewhat weaker bulge was introduced by Ehrich & Graetz for the Triumph lamps even before their Matador burners came on the market. The burners for the Triumph lamps had a completely different, peculiar flame disc with a longer, three-bladed attachment (see subchapter Burners with Flame Disc). The chimneys for these lamps differ from the later conventional Matador chimneys by their greater height as well as by their much less pronounced bulge (see table below).

The resounding success of burners with the hat-on-sieve-tube flame disc encouraged burner manufacturers to develop improved Matador chimneys for these burners. Presumably the Berlin manufacturer Carl Holy was one of the first to equip his burners (Volks, Bürger and Elite burners) with modified ball chimneys with a narrower bulge. These chimneys were also often given the name "Matador chimneys", because they can indeed also be used with the original Matador burners or their successors. For better distinction, however, I call them "slim-bulge Matador chimneys" (my own nomenclature; not generally known).

Examples of slim-bulge Matador chimneys (shown in their correct size ratio to each other - Top row: marks of the chimneys shown)
From left: 12‘‘‘ chimney (for 12‘‘‘ Olga burner, Lempereur & Bernard)
14‘‘‘ chimney (for 14‘‘‘ Lampe Belge from Great Britain)
15‘‘‘ chimney (for 15‘‘‘ Elektra burner, Gebr. Brünner)
20‘‘‘ chimney (for 20‘‘‘ Bürger or Elite burner, Carl Holy)
25‘‘‘ chimney (for 25‘‘‘ Universal burner, Wetzchewald & Wilmes)
30‘‘‘ chimney (for 30‘‘‘ Triumph lamps)

A burner with its slim-bulge Matador chimney
From left: 20‘‘‘ Bürger burner of Carl Holy, with slim-bulge Matador chimney
Schematic representation of the air flows and the flame
The flame of the burner

Here is a helpful tip: As you know, the 20‘‘‘ Matador chimneys have a bulge diameter of approx. 90 mm. Therefore, with such chimneys, it is essential to use a glass shade with a slightly larger fitter diameter in order to be able to place the shade over the bulge of the chimney at all (if you want to use a ball or tulip shade). Such shades are rare and correspondingly expensive. In such cases, however, you can safely use a 20‘‘‘ slim-bulge Matador chimney instead of a normal Matador chimney, which, due to its smaller bulge diameter of approx. 78 mm, also allows shades with 85 mm fitter width. The flame brightness is even slightly better as a result.

The transition from the Matador chimneys with a strongly pronounced spherical bulge to slim-bulge Matador chimneys with a less pronounced bulge is quite flowing. The chimneys to the Belgian lamps with central draft are roughly in between (see table below).

Of course, there are also chimneys for certain burners whose dimensions differ from the other chimneys of comparable size. These include, for example, the chimneys for Triumph lamp of Ehrich & Graetz as well as Favorit and Meteor chimneys of R. Ditmar. These special sizes are also noted in the table.

Chimney Sizes

In the following tables I have compiled the relevant dimensions of the Matador and slim-bulge Matador chimneys. I have based this on the chimneys that I have in my collection.

Table A: Conventional Matador chimneys

Table B: Slim-bulge Matador chimneys