My ol' faithful Handi hasn't been used for a while, I used it last night (power cut), and it was pulsing. Any ideas? (It was fairly low on kero, could that have been the problem?)
Aha, I can see from this thread that it may not be such an easy fix, I'll try some of the suggestions mentioned here: Tilley is pulsing/hunting
Thanks lads. With the Handi I cleaned out the pricker needle assy -and found the needle bent, -it's now running fairly nicely, though not quite as bright as it could be, (but it didn't have much fuel in it). I'm going through the few lamps I kept at my giveaway splurge. I have a good working Aussiemax, and now good Handi. Have another Austramax which needs a new pricker, a Solar CP350 which I'm guessing may have had a larger needle jet off a CP500 fitted, as it pisses fuel out up top. My (used to be) excellent Veritas has a nasty leak at the needle controller lever, so I'll pull that apart - it's probably a seal in there somewhere. I do like the Veritas - has such a nice brass fount. I must confess my fuel is not the cleanest... I'll be a good boy and fix that. One other lamp -on the right (that was ID'd some time ago for me but I've forgotten what it is - a Radius?) ? It needs TLC.
That Veritas on the left (above) with the nice brass fount used to work nicely. But the pricker is now U/S. I think the prickers are hard to find, so... I have a new Solar (not shown) which came with (believe it or not) a spare pricker top section. It has a male thread to screw into a lower rod section. I'm thinking of soldering the good Solar pricker top onto the Veritas rod lower section (which also has a male thread). I have suitable brass tube to do the surgery. I'd try soft solder first I think, to avoid potential heat damage to the pricker wire. Has anyone attempted this sort of thing? What sort of variation is there between different lamps in jet and wire sizes? (I've probably got my brands (Radius and Veritas) mixed up!)
If your question mark indicates you don’t understand I may have not understood what you are proposing… Can you draw or photograph what you intend to do, and illustrate which part you wish to soft solder? Cheers Tony
Sorry Tony, I didn't really understand. The new Solar top 20mm section with the fine prick wire in it, I propose to soft-solder onto the lower rod section (as my top section doesn't have any wire left). This would be a dead easy silver solder job with a very fine flame, but that very fine pricker wire is very vulnerable to excessive heat. That's why I proposed soft soldering. I would tin the parts before joining, so the heat applied would be fairly minimal, and brief. (There's no issue of the soft solder being unable to withstand the heat).
You sound very confident. Have you evidence to support such a bold statement ? The following has worked well on two of my Veritas 350's. Take the needle from any 350cp Petromax (or clone), gently file down the three corners until the brass part will enter the jet then screw it into the needle rod. The threads aren't a perfct match but they're near enough. You may have to adjust the length of the needle rod.
Problem is Tony that each part (the main lower rod and the top wire section) has a male thread, so it's not as simple as entering one part into another. I'm not "very confident" - certainly not, that's why I asked the question in the first place, hoping to get advice from experts such as yourself. I've done quite a lot of this sort of work, including quite fine jewellery work. It's just the vulnerability of that super-fine pricker wire to heat that I was concerned with. That's interesting that there may be an option to use a Petromax needle. Yes I understand that I need to ensure the length will work out right.
Hi Julian If that was me I would keep the spare needle for the Solar in case it’s needed for that lantern? (always good to have spares) As Henry has said the Petromax can be made to fit or an Optimus 350. will also fit? TW Sands stock Optimus according to their website so that sounds an easy fix to me then you don’t have to shorten the rod etc?? here are some thread titles by good members.. and also… hope that helps regards pb
That post was a long time ago. Sands don't have any Veritas needles now, I might ask them about Petromax or Optimus availability. BTW the TOP of the Veritas needle pushrod has a MALE thread.
Hi Julian No, I didn’t think they would have Veritas needles, rather that the Optimus ones could be adapted as others have said? I think there should be a short threaded section (female threads) that screws onto the rod, then the needle screws into that? I remember getting an nos needle and jet from a member (yrs ago) it definitely had a male thread on it like the Optimus and Petromax types?? anyway I’m sorry if I caused any confusion Best of luck with things p
No worries P, thanks for your help. On another subject, my Solar 350CP has run briefly, but is super-rich. The needle appears to be working fine. What is that small nut and screw adjuster just above the jet? It has a sort of spade shaped extension into the inlet pipe, I assume to adjust the flow from the jet. I assume the spade shaped thing, when vertical would allow full suction, whereas in a horizontal position would inhibit flow a bit.
Correct; the “vertical” position gives the largest orifice for air/gas flow to the burner. Cheers Tony
What was the needle arrangement like before it broke ? All the ones I've seen are like this View attachment 136059 Broken or not, a picture of the set-up on your lantern would be a help.
What did the rod and needle look like before it became U/S? All the ones I've seen are like this Broken or not, an image of the relevant parts of your lantern would be interesting to see.
Henry, here's my Veritas needle. Note The top pricker section (with female thread) screws onto the lower rod section. I may be in luck, I think Sands have found a new pricker for me. I'll let you know how it all works when I get it. Meanwhile, here's a pic of mine as is. Cheers.
Use a pair of pliers to grip the part which should have the wire in and unscrew the square section. Problem solved.
Dead right Tony, it all separates like that, thanks Tony and Henry, (carbon hid the joint a bit but I didn't look hard enough).
