I have a newbee question. My Butterfly 828 kerosene lantern (Petromax 828 Rapid clone) pulses for the first half-hour of operation. After that, it works properly. Is this normal for a kerosene lantern?
Hi VATriker I had the same issue with a brand new Sea Anchor lamp and couldnt figure it out. Having checked all seals and played about with pressure levels to no avail, I was at a complete loss to know what else to check. Upon reassembling the lantern I broke the mantle. A new one of the same cp but of different make pulled in tighter than the original and the lantern operated without pulsing. Don't know if it is the change of mantle, cleaning out of crud (although I didn't notice any) whilst taking apart or creating a better "seating in" when putting back together again but the problem has gone and it continues to work well. Hope this is of some help. Good luck. Regards, Jeremy
Butterfly stuff is normally quite well made and operates well. All lamps hunt some but mostly too fast for you to notice. Normal cure is more pressure and sometimes a good clean can reduce it but sometimes you just have to live with it. ::Neil::
I have a couple of Petromax 829s that do the same thing just after lighting them. But as they run and get hotter the frequency of the pulses increases to the point where it just "goes away". Some vaporizers have that large brass block on the tube that faces the burning mantle. I assume that is supposed to inhibit bending from heat. It also may slow heat transfer. Mantle size/shape may be a variable in this condition too. Bob
I would like to post an update on this issue. The pulsing of the lantern has been completely cured! I changed the nozzle from the standard ceramic to a stainless steel nozzle. Had to change out the cup the nozzle fits into as well (old unit not compatible). Lantern now works flawlessly. Did the same thing for my Santrax 150 cp lantern and that lantern also works fantastic now.
Thank you for the post! I'm going to do the same for my Butterfly since the pulsing/flickering is annoying... Al
Hi guys, i have a few different type Chinese clones, older butterfly, new and older anchors, the ones that pulsed i cured by putting a gauze screen packing inside the upper vaporizer, like some other type lamps have, this got the problem solved, this is not the answer in every case i suspect, cheers Frank.
I wonder if the solution was actually eliminating some air leak in the ceramic flame spreader/metal holder joint. Just a thought. Another thought. Maybe the metal also acts as a bit of a heat sink giving a similar function to the mesh.
