Most often, when the wick on an antique oil lamp won’t move freely, it is because it has been dried out for a long period of time and the fibres of the wick have adhered to the draught tube. If the wick on your oil lamp won’t move freely using the wick raiser, do not attempt to force it. If you do force it, there is a strong likelihood that you will damage the wick raising mechanism and repairing it may not be possible.

In the majority of instances, all that is needed to free up the wick is to fill the lamp with enough oil to cover the bottom of the wick and then let it stand for a while so that the wick can draw the oil up. Often it only takes an hour or two to loosen the wick but in some instances it can take a day or so. Once the fibres of the wick have been adequately soaked, the strength of the bond between the wick and the wick tube should be reduced.

The next step depends on the type of burner on your oil lamp and here are some examples.

With earlier style oil lamps such as this one, remove the flame spreader and the burner to expose the wick around the draught tube.

Fully assembled before you start

Burner and flame spreader removed from font

Grip wick on draught tube and twist gently back and forth

Grip the wick with your hand and gently turn it backwards and forwards around the wick tube. If it still won’t move, leave it to soak awhile longer. Once the wick moves freely on the tube you can then test to see if the wick raising mechanism is working properly.

If you decide to remove the wick completely, take particular note of how the wick is secured around the draught tube so that you can re-assemble it correctly.

For later style oil lamps where the wick and the wick raiser is incorporated into the burner, the procedure is a little different.

Fully assembled before you start

Wick is integrated into the burner assembly

Again, remove the flame spreader first. Now unscrew the burner a little then work it backwards and forwards (a little more each time) to free up the wick. Once the wick is free, unscrew the burner and remove it completely from the oil lamp.

For any oil lamp, once the wick has been removed from the draught tube, it often pays to give the tube a light sanding with a fine grade wet & dry or steel wool to remove any build up and will assist in keeping the wick raiser working smoothly.

Re-assemble the oil lamp and the wick raiser should be able to raise and lower the wick smoothly. If it still isn’t free after this time, then generally there is a problem with the wick raising mechanism itself…..but that’s a whole other story.