This page contains info on Barler, Miller, Boss, Nesco, Florence, American Stove Co., New Process Stove Co., Wards Porto and others. These are heaters made close to the same specification as the Perfection Heater.
Barler, Boss, New Process, Nesco Tropical #015 Oil Heater,
Preway No. 1991-1; United States Stove Co. US-89A,
Magic Chef model MC 89- P, Valor 525, Savoil D-81 and
"Old Antique" Kerosene Heater Wicks, and
Sears "Oil Heater" wick #42-70005 for Sears and
Kenmore Oil Heaters Models A 600,
C600, KC 600 KD 600, A 601, A 602, C 602,
103.75000 & 75200, -7600, -76002, -76003,
-76010, -76015, -76016, -76020, -70001, -70018, -70019,
-76016, -76017; 156.95011; 864.76015 & 864.76016
& RINNAI heater made in Japan.
ALL USE THE PERFECTION 500 WICK
We have a limited number of original Miller #451 wicks in stock.
We have custom made Wards Porto wicks, to use with existing sleeves.
Other old heaters in this category that require a custom made wick are
Florence H-124 & EZ No. A512, Marshall Wells HDWE CO. No 33;
New Process Stove Co. Standard 40B, Superior 800's and 900's.
Please email with correct measurements.
In the period between World War I and World War II, quite a few heaters were manufactured which were in fact basic clones of the Perfection 500 heater. The actual font arrangement was virtually the same as a Perfection 500, and the heaters used the "500" wick. In many cases, the actual cabinetry of some of these heaters, such as the Barler, had sturdy cast iron tops and legs, and were actually far superior to the Perfection brand heater.
There are some heaters which use a Perfection-size wick but NOT the Perfection wick carrier: The US Stove Co. #US-89A is one of these, as are Miller and B&H "Smokeless Oil Heaters." Use wick #3L below for these heaters.
The Perfection heater design was a scaled up circular draft flame spreader lamp, which is what the company produced when founded in 1888. The 1913 Perfection patent was for the movable flame spreader, not the heater, and even the flame spreader patent was shaky, so other manufacturers simply duplicated the Perfection fount, gallery and flame spreader.
So many Perfection heater clones were sold that some manufacturers had their own brand name on heater wicks. Above left is an original NOS NESCO wick. The cute little round box in the center picture is marked "Number 348. 8 1/2" circumference - for use in all Standard Size 3 and 4 quart founts of Nesco De Luxe Oil Heaters, Numbers 30, 40. Also for Nesco Tropical Oil Heaters, Numbers 012, 015. To trim, rub with cloth or paper." Above right, a US Stove Co "500" wick.
For more information on how to operate or replace the wick on a Barler, Nesco, New Process or other Perfection clone, the information pages on Perfection heaters are applicable.
www.milesstair.com/PERFECTION_HEATER_WICK_INSTALLATION.html
www.milesstair.com/FLAME_SPREADER_LAMPS_AND_HEATERS.html
www.milesstair.com/regular_maintenance.html
www.milesstair.com/by_make/PERFECTION_Kerosene_Heaters.html
US Stove Co. #89P Owner's Manual
I have the best Perfection 500 wicks available - made by Hattersley in England! Each wick is made with long "tails" for great capillary action and will last considerably longer than the cheaper generic Korean wicks.
Wick carrier 1 3/4" in diameter, 2 3/4" long. Wick is 2.5" wide when measured flat. Wick fits into your existing wick sleeve. The W44 wick sleeve will not fit the Barler #50, so treat your old wick sleeve with care as there are no replacements. This also applies to the Miller 460 heater.
Barler Ideal #2 and
NESCO 012, 015, 30, 40, 4215;
Blue B-602, Huenefeld Boss #8, US Stove #89-P (not the #81), Puritan 155 and Valor 525. The wick is 2 1/2" in diameter and the wick sleeve is 2 3/4" in diameter.
ONE ALTERNATIVE: Some Perfection near-clones have wick sleeves unique to themselves and cannot accept the Perfection wick with attached wick sleeve.
Wick #3L
works perfectly with the perforated steel sleeve in all Perfection heaters and many near-clones with a 2 1/2'' diameter draft tube such as Wards heater #760 (not Wards D86 "Porto, A153 or 8-81) and
> fits Barler Radiant, #3, 4, 5, 10 & 12 <;
Bradley & Hubbard (with 2 1/2'' draft tube); Buhl No. 11; Chautauqua (with 2 3/4" wick sleeve); E-Z-est Way 1108 and 1312 (NOT A512); New Process No 208I and 629 (NOT the 40B) (Install as with Florence - See instructions below.) Puritan #54 (not the #44); Radiant 18; Savoil D-81 (Ypsilanti, MI); US Stove #E-8 & E-81; Valor 525; Ward's Windsor no. 760 (NOT A153 or 8-81), Miller (Not Miller #460), B&H and others. When measured flat, wick is approx 4 3/16" wide and 8" long. The Perfection #53 and 300 - 400 series heaters used this wick (modified) to fit the existing wick sleeve. Installation Instructions are included with the wick.
Florence 181-A, Florence models 81-21, -24, -25; 82-21, -24, -25; 83-12, -24, -25; H-81, -82, -83 -84, -85, -86 -87, -88. [Not for the Florence Model 10 or H-124, which had a central air pillar of 3 3/4" and a wick sleeve diameter of 4 1/4".] (Note: Some Florence stoves and heaters used kindler wicking. Florence: Central Oil & Gas Stove Co., Gardner, MASS USA). (Fits American Stove Co. heater marked on the font for their #21 wick, installs exactly like a Perfection 325 wick.)
Very Early Heaters (1888 - 1892)
Very early heaters were made using #3 size store lamp fonts modified to fit into a heater body. The Barler Radiant heater font shown below still used the long "finger" method of holding the wick against the draft tube so the wick could be adjusted up and down. These early heaters usually used wick #3L, the same wick used in "store lamp" fonts as first patented by Rochester in 1885. The font minus burner at right is of a "Barler Radiant" heater with patents from 1888 to 1892. After this model Barler heaters were identified with a model number. Barler heater numbers 3, 4, 5, 10 and 12 also used wick #3L but with differing wick raiser mechanisms.
Florence Heaters
(models 81-21, -24, -25; 82-21, -24, -25; 83-12, -24, -25; H-81, -82, -83 -84, -85, -86 -87, -88.)
(Note: Some Florence stoves and heaters used kindler wicking.)
Replace the old wick by removing the three pins holding the wick in the wick sleeve: those pins are shown in the photo below laying on the wick. You will not use them. Slide wick #3L into the wick sleeve so that 1 1/2" of the top wick is exposed above the wick sleeve and the "tails" of the wick are below the wick sleeve. Using a button hole stitch, tack the wick into the wick sleeve, making sure the wick is smoothly against all sides of the inside of the wick sleeve. Reinstall the wick and wick sleeve in the heater by pushing down the sleeve until it contacts the gears.
The Miller 451 (Shown below) heater used a wick sleeve very similar to the Florence above. Wick #3L is installed in exactly the same way. Earlier Miller heaters were literally slightly modified "store lamp" fonts, some even with the gallery with chimney fingers, others without chimney fingers, and used wick #3L without a removable wick sleeve. (Note: The Miller 555 wick sleeve is 2.840'' in diameter, slightly larger than the Perfection 500 and Miller #451 wick sleeves at 2.750'' diameter, and the Miller 555 wick is thicker at 0.138'' in thickness. Wick #3L will fit existing Miller 555 wick sleeves.
Perfection Cook Stoves and Clones
Some newer Perfection heaters and clones use a
331X wick
Cook Stove, 331X; Ivanhoe (#61 & #62); New Perfection Model 31, 37, 81, 82, 810. Also Perfection clones such as Puritan, Clark-Jewel; Direct Action; New Process; Diktator; New Favorite; some Sears and Wards; Dangler; Savoil; some Quickmeal; Miller; Windsor; E-z-est-Way. [3 1/4" diameter, 2 7/16" high steel carrier, wick does not extend below the carrier. We sell new wicks made with the original equipment to original specifications.
The Clones which DO NOT take a 331X wick or Perfection 500 wick
There were some stoves made which resembled the Perfection cook stove (Ivanhoe, etc), but they did NOT use the Perfection 331X wick OR 500 wick. If you have a stove which requires a Kerogas #20 or Miller "666" wick, the stove is in good condition and you have good wick carrier (as shown below), you can sew a wick into the carrier and have a working stove. Email for more information.
Above left: Perfection 331X wick
Carrier width: 3 1/4"; height 2 3/8"
Wick height: 3 9/16"
Above middle: Kerogas #20 wick
Carrier width: 3 3/8"; height 2 5/16" Wick height: 3 3/8"
Above right: Miller "666" wick
Carrier width: 3 9/16", height 2 1/2" Wick height: 3 5/8"
The three wicks above are NOT interchangeable. The Kerogas and Miller wicks have not been manufactured in decades. The stove model brand names they fit are listed below. Note that the same brand name "cloned" stove makers also sold models using a glass bottle to feed an edge-burning wick via gravity flow, an entirely different principle of operation with different wicks.
Below; Perfection 331X wick on left, Miller 666 wick on the right
The wicks are NOT interchangeable!
Blue Bird wicks are interchangeable with Miller No. 666 wicks, with a wick sleeve 3.57'' (3 9/16") OD, 3.3" ID and 2 7/16" high. Overall wick height is 3 5/8".
HOW TO MEASURE TO DETERMINE THE WICK SIZE REQUIRED.