@ColinG Good Work on this lantern! Lovely lantern. Here's one I found recently, in poor condition, took a bit of work to get it running properly. It's my first encounter with the Spitfire starter of any kind. A veritable flame thrower. A good cleanup, new filler cap seal, new pump cup, new pips; the pricker rod was severely carboned up, restricting the flow. Peerless mantle 24 A. You will excuse the pump knob - it was the only piece of 5/8" brass I had. Thanks to Colin for uploading the diagram. I see that there should be a small filter cup on the end of the pickup tube for the jet blaster. This is missing, as is the red plastic pump knob. Also, the barrel of the NRV spit apart on dismantling, so I had to use another, a mismatch. But it works. Any directions for spare parts, please ? The NRV has a smaller thread, so perhaps it is the same size as the NRV in the Handi, I reckon. I'm desperate for at least two spare valves of that size. Looks the same as any other nrv, but the thread is of a smaller diameter. Any pointers, gentlemen ? Question: What position should the control wheel be in, for normal running ? With the arrow up, at 12 o'clock, the pricker is up. The lantern seems to run o.k. with the arrow at 3 or 9 o'clock. At 6 o'clock it opens the supply valve ? But it seems to run o.k. in the other two positions. Money Shots -
NORMALLY, the pointer is at 6 o'clock, this ensures the foot valve (supply valve) is fully open and equally as important, the needle is fully down.
Thanks, fellas. Yes, it throws out a good light. It's that Peerless 24 A mantle, the first I've ever used. Henry Plews Thanks. Thought so. It ran quite well last night, and for a few hours this morning. But now, unfortunately she's playing up. I think the foot valve is stuck closed now, and / or there's a blockage in the valve or pick up tube. I can see the spring through the slot in the end of the valve, at the very bottom of the assembly. ( Might be inverted in the photo ). The valve barrel, however, will not budge, and it's so easy to split these barrel ends with too much force on the screwdriver. Will try the heat and quench method tomorrow, in hope to free up the foot valve for dismantling. It may just need a cleanout and a new pip. Oops! I've forgotten to put the spinning Bowden cable into the Preston loop. Better do that too. Still getting small, black particles in the kero every time I drain the fount. Cheers.
Paul, I use an old drill chuck to hold the barrel on the NRV's and foot valves. Much safer than a screwdriver.
ROBBO55 Thank you. Good idea. It's worked well, finally got the barrel off the valve. The pip is approx. 5 m/m dia. with a hole in the centre for the rod to push the valve open. The existing spring on the left, I considered to strong, so have used one from the NRV refurb kit. Looks like the pip is due for replacement too. Freed up the nrv, reassembled, and she's running well again, with no flare - ups. But, how to make a 5 m/m pip with a hole in the middle ?
Paul, your welcome. To make the foot value seal, I drilled a 2mm (or maybe 2.5mm) hole in the viton sheet then punched the 5mm around it.
Right. I'll order a sheet of 3 m/m Viton. Difficult to drill a clean hole in such material, but it's gotta be done. Cheers.
I see that the 'Sea Anchor' lanterns are for sale new at AU$125, complete with spanner, mantle, filler bottle, etc. So I wonder if the internals will also fit the Solar lanterns. If only there was an established spare parts supplier in China. Hence I shall ask my Chinese neighbours and friends to see what they can find. Perhaps there's a supplier of spares in Hong Kong.
Some thin wall brass tube (sharpen the edge like a punch) fit in a wooden file handle. lubricate with soapy water rotate with pressure (should get a better hole than a drill)
I bought a hole punch - I think for leatherworkers - five quid in the Lidl "occasional" section - the punches rotate about the head of the tool allowing many different sizes to be cut. Makes short work of rubber.
Some thin wall brass tube (sharpen the edge like a punch) fit in a wooden file handle. lubricate with soapy water rotate with pressure (should get a better hole than a drill)
Some thin wall brass tube (sharpen the edge like a punch) fit in a wooden file handle. lubricate with soapy water rotate with pressure (should get a better hole than a drill)
Thanks, fellas. I will make a new pip, and reinstall the original spring, for positive closing. And yes! Now that you've mentioned it, I've found the leather hole punch tool with the rotating head. Forgot that I had one. Cheers.
Advice needed, please. 1) The pricker wire broke off in the nipple, and it was easily removed. 0.007" it was. T.W. Sands don't have any replacements, so where to next ? Fettlebox ? It's on a very short extension which screws into the long rod inside the generator tube. Thread is approx 1.65 m/m diameter. 2) The mixer tube is adjustable for height, held in position by a screw which presses on side of the tube. What is the correct setting, i.e. the height, the distance between ? And it's awkward to measure too. I think I saw a figure of 14 m/m some time ago on a post somewhere here. Not to be confused with another screw which goes though the tube and is secured with a locknut. 3) What is the function of that one ? Thank you.
Hi @Paul Aslanides - these follow the same design as the Petromax so the layout is similar. I have not done it personally but I am told a Px needle will fit, however the body of the needle length may differ, requiring the rod to be adjusted where it joins with the excentre. The gap betweeen jet and burner tube can be between 14-17mm you may find it makes a difference or not. Start at 15mm and you can't go far wrong. The one that goes "through" the J tube (burner tube) is a "paddle" and serves to disrupt airflow to encourage mixing of the fuel. It should have a flat section inside. Again adjust to your preference once running. Most people start with it "vertical" so a minimumn of disruption. http://light.papo-art.com/tech-n-info/Petromax_technical/restore_pmax_rebuild.html Sounds like you are on the home straight to having a great lantern
Correct ! And yes, the rod will need adjusting. There are a variety of ways to make measuring the distance between the jet and the J tube. You can use the shank of a drill bit, use a plane and sandpaper to adjust the thickness of a strip of wood, or simply cut a strip of stiff card 14 mm wide.
Fireexit1 Henry Plews Thank You. Much appreciated. It gave a brilliant light initially, but is now prone to blacken the mantle as the pressure drops, it flares orange flames outside the mantle. On recovery, some of the blackening disappears, but not all, so the light is diminished. No settings were changed, so I don't know what I've done to it to get it into this state. I'll put it aside until a new pricker arrives.
Getting the foot valve "out of sync" gives erratic results. I managed it by not engaging the excentre correctly in the bit that joins the rods together. Apart from that it should hold pressure overnight with the foot valve closed. Favourite leaks are the NRV and the foot valve. I pump up empty tank and listen, putting water down the pump tube will also show bubbles instantly if that's a leak.
About the blackening... when it happens on one of my lanterns, I take the globe off and very gently blow the affected areas of the mantle and it gets rid of the carbon almost immediately. I imagine with increased airflow the carbon gets burnt off. When the mantle is white again, put the globe back and it should stay like it. Anyway, it's always worked for me but for goodness sake be careful and don't burn your eyebrows off!!!
Absolutely! If the carbon deposit is heavy, I find that blowing at a tangent is more effective. Also, I use a short length of small bore tubing to maintain eyebrow integrity.
Fireexit1 Good idea, thanks. But I'll use kerosene down the pump tube, as I've found that sometimes water gets into the fount, after a dunk test, leading to strange results upstairs, and it's a devil to get all the water out. ColinG Another good idea, thanks. Reminds me of an item I found in a second-hand shop. Like a Bunsen Burner, but had a tube leading off from halfway up the stem. Showed it to a Gas man, who thought it was some kind of lab test equipment. I finally found, and woke up to it being a Jeweller's torch. First solder two items together, then add another item to the assembly close by WITHOUT disturbing the first join, by using a solder of a lower melting point. The end of the extension tube went into the operator's mouth, so that a little puff of air would raise the temp enough to do that small, delicate soldered joint. Henry Plews Good idea, thanks. Especially since I have one eyebrow which is turned up naturally, an inherited trait apparently. Funny thing - every Asian barber I've ever been to wants to shave my eyebrows.
