I just picked up a Petromax 883 today from a forwarding company that acts as an intermediary between overseas buyers and US sellers. I guess the recipient figured that the shipping cost was way too high and just left it with the forwarding company. I read the packaging on the shipping box which stated that the item originated in India of all places! I had seen pictures of this lantern (lamp?) and noticed that it appeared to have the wrong top cage on it. I focused on the cage collar and looked through all Petromax pictures in this group as well as Classic pressure lamps. I then looked at all lanterns from all countries but could not find a similar collar with its unique double oval holes and no round holes above. The cage is certainly not the right one for this lantern. Someone had cut holes in the collar to make room for both valves. Has anyone seen a cage like this? Anyway, I was happy with my find and have taken it apart to see what's going on with this lantern. The finish on the fount is OK but seems to have been polished enough to take some of the nickel off here and there. It will polish up nicely with subtle brass highlights! The pricker wheel turns freely. The generator (?) that came with this lantern does not fit. It is wobbly. I tried to tighten it down but was tight. I took the generator from a Petromax 826 that I have and installed it. Perfect fit! The 826 cage won't fit since it only has one cut out for the shutoff wheel. The original generator was not a Petromax brand. It is labeled "Petroleum (s.l.)". It has different threads on it. Both the attaching nut to the fount and the pricker tip end are threaded differently. Standard thread? Hmmm... The pump assembly has been replaced with a new piece of junk. The rubber pump cup is labeled "Lucky" on the rubber part itself. As for the gauge, it is apparently toast. Is it original to the lantern? Should I try to restore it or replace? The male screw fitting on the fount looks to have been soldered at one time and has solder in the threads making the pump cap not fit correctly. I need to find a way to file the solder stuck in the threads down. The fount is in very nice shape. I haven't done a dunk test yet but it looks to be fairly corrosion free. There appears to be two numbers (36?) scratched on the bottom perhaps giving this lantern a 1936 date? The rapid fire knob is frozen. I haven't tried to fettle that or any other parts yet. I looked online for information regarding this lantern. It looks like these originally had a fishbowl shade and were lamps. Getting the correct cage and fishbowl might be quite difficult. I might just stick with the original idea of many that Frankensteined a Petromax lantern cage on top of the 883 since the fishbowls might have been hard to find or that the lantern was more practical. At this point, I will research this old lantern/lamp and see what I can find in order to get it back to its original state or stick with the Frankenlamp idea. Here are a few pictures of the lamp.
These are nice table lamps. One of the products of Ehrich & Graetz besides the petromax type that pop up every now and then and survived over the years. Lanterns from Asia are almost always "repaired", logical because people used them and once original parts where not available any more you get creative. Fitting a 500CP globe cage is the best way of using the lamp. As long as you remove the bail. The weight is to much to carry it without damaging something.
That’s a good looking table lamp. This world of pressure lamps just keeps getting me more and more hooked! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the money shot!
Thanks for the great comments you guys. I don't think there are many of these out there that are complete. Getting the original parts for this one will be almost impossible at best. Is there anyone that I can turn to that might have some parts? If not, I might see if I can put something together from a crusty 826 Petromax that I acquired recently. I really would like to get this one back to original, but the wait might be looooooong before I get the correct parts. Part time fix with a hopeful original future!
The version you have needs the vapourizer with the round shape "air box" together with the seperate air tube. A little bit colemanisch.
As far as I know not. But there are those who come close. I am not an expert on foreign brands but there is primus, veritas which have the separate air tube and mixing chamber with J-tube attached. Not a box though.
