FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

DELIVERIES & GUARANTEES

QUESTION: As a private customer, can I buy directly from you?
ANSWER: No, I’m afraid we don’t sell directly to private customers, but will instead refer to one of our retailers. Beside the factory in Karlskrona there is a factory store - Karlskrona Building Restoration and Interiors - which sells our entire range.

QUESTION: How long is the delivery time?
ANSWER: All products on the website are what we call ‘stocked items.’ We manufacture them in quantities of 10-100 at a time and a production order is placed roughly about 3 months before we run out of stock. However, sometimes we run out of stock sooner, and before a new batch has been produced, which might mean we are out of stock for a little while. Also, at the moment, there is a massive demand and the production is a bit behind schedule, which is why a lot of products are out of stock. We are currently in the process of increasing our volumes and hope to be back on track during spring 2022.

QUESTION: How do I return or exchange a product?
ANSWER: Please contact the retailer where the product was bought and they will be able to assist you. We have a generous refund policy on faulty items, and very rarely say no when someone has changed their mind, except for special productions or if a significant amount of time has passed since the product was bought.

QUESTION: Can your electrically mounted lamps be used in any other countries than Sweden?
ANSWER: All our lamps are CE-certified, which means they have been constructed and tested in accordance with EU-regulations regarding the design of lighting fixtures. Therefore, they can be exported and used in other EU countries, provided that they have a plug that fits into that particular country’s electrical outlet.

MANUFACTURING

QUESTION: How much of your products do you manufacture at the factory and how much do you purchase from other suppliers?
ANSWER: When it comes to our lamps, we manufacture 70-80% of the product at the factory. However, when it comes to our glass and shades, we import from European subcontractors.

QUESTION: Why do you not lacquer your brass?
ANSWER: To lacquer brass would be the same as painting a wooden house with plastic paint. As long as the surface is not damaged and lets in any moisture, it works fine, but over time the moisture will seep in and brown oxidation spots under the lacquer will appear and it will not be possible to remove it. Unlacquered brass will begin to oxidise immediately, but it will get an even patina, which is appreciated by many. If you want it glossy, you can polish it with regular polish.

QUESTION: Upon delivery, the lamp has stains on the brass or nickel-plated surface, should I return it?
ANSWER: Depending on how long and under what circumstances the lamp has been transported and stored, oxidation can also occur in newly delivered lamps as well. If it is not very extensive oxidation, it is much easier to simply polish the surface with ordinary polish, instead of getting in touch with a complaint and sending emails back and forth. However, we will always accommodate customers if they are not happy with their lamp.

QUESTION: The glass on my Bankirlampa broke. Can I change it myself?
ANSWER: This glass is not as easy to replace as the glass on other lamps, because in this case, the lamp socket must be removed. In order to get to it, you must first remove the bottom plate from the foot of the lamp and loosen the cables, so that you can then pull out the terminal block, before unscrewing the entire lamp holder. This must all be done in a professional manner so that the cables are not damaged.

THE KEROSENE LAMP AND ITS FUNCTION

QUESTION: How do I change the wick in my burner?
ANSWER: Pull the old wick out from below the burner (don’t use the wick-raising mechanism). Insert the new wick from below so it stands straight when it comes in contact with the gears of the burner, then turn the wick-raising mechanism and make sure it doesn't come up crooked.

QUESTION: My kerosene lamp “sweats” kerosene on the outside of the oil holder. What can I do about this?
ANSWER: The properties of kerosene can very easily penetrate very small holes and cracks due to its capillary force. In old burners, small cracks can occur, and kerosene can in very small amounts penetrate the oil holder and leave a very thin kerosene film outside it. In some instances, this can also occur on new lamps, as the burners are not tested before they are sold.

QUESTION: I have previously bought a kerosene burner and now the wick-raising mechanism is broken? Can I complain about it and get a new one?
ANSWER: Like the wick and the lamp chimney, the kerosene burner is a consumable. If you handle these correctly, they can last for decades, but if you try to remove dry wick by using the wick-raising mechanism, it might break. Therefore, you can’t make a complaint unless it is new or only used for a short period of time.

QUESTION: When I light my kerosene lamp, the wick only burns for a short amount of time and then dies. What am I doing wrong?
ANSWER: This can happen because of several different things.
The wick is not fully saturated. It can take an entire day for the wick to fully absorb the kerosene. The best thing would be to dip half the amount of the wick from the top into kerosene for a minute or two, before returning it to its original position.
Too much of the wick is above the burner. The wick is not supposed to burn, but instead it is the evaporated kerosene just above the burner. If there is too much wick, the flame might become too strong and end up charring the wick.
Poor quality kerosene is used. Low quality kerosene leads to poor combustion, which affects the vaporised kerosene and instead burns and chars the wick.
The wick is of poor quality. The fibres of the wick are too tightly knitted, or are made from the wrong type of material, which stops the kerosene from moving its way up to the top and evaporating, leaving the wick instead to soot.

QUESTION: Are the fumes coming from the kerosene lamp dangerous to inhale?
ANSWER: The worse the combustion is, the more unburned kerosene particles float around in the room, which are not good to inhale. It is therefore important to get as high of a combustion rate as possible, which ultimately means you should avoid low quality kerosene, flat burners and lamp chimneys without a waist.
Combustion is affected by two factors, the quality of the kerosene and the oxygen supply during the combustion process. For this reason, you should use 100% pure paraffin oil, a central draft burner with a wick and a glass made accordingly and of quality. Central draft burners (i.e. burners where the wick with the help of a cone is formed into a circle) most often have a better degree of combustion than flat burners (where the wick is flat and not curved by a cone), which are often used in cheaper kerosene lamps. It is because the flat burner wick has an uneven combustion with more oxygen supply at the edges than in the middle of the wick. For a central draft burner, a lamp chimney with a waist must be used. The waist directs the oxygen towards the wick. There are modern “designed” kerosene lamps where for aesthetic reasons, straight lamp chimneys have been chosen, and which may look nice, but are not good for the degree of combustion and ultimately your health.

QUESTION: Kerosene is a fossil fuel, how do you view this considering global warming?
ANSWER: We are aware of this problem, and would like to see the development of vegetable kerosene. We have tried many different brands, but the problem remains the same, poor quality kerosene affects the combustion, wick and burner. As a small company on the kerosene market, we have very little opportunity to influence the large refineries that produce kerosene. However, we would like to become more involved and support someone financially who is thinking about researching this area at university level. In this case, please get in touch.