I was sitting in the garden a couple of nights ago enjoying the stars (and some beer) with my HK500 hissing for company, and all of a sudden the burner dropped out of the mixing chamber. At the time I assumed it had just worked loose but once it cooled down I found the burner was a really sloppy fit. I didn't remember it being that way but I have serveral spares so I swapped in a new one. Same problem! It just slipped in, no need to screw it in. It's like the mixing chamber has permanently expanded. I've never heard of such a thing. Have I been leading a sheltered existence? A new mixing chamber is on its way to me but I'm wondering if I should regard them as consumables.
Welcome aboard! I assume that you mean the ceramic nozzle fell out? If so, some folk cure that problem with some tile cement. The brass part which it screws into may be worn out with use.
Thanks for the warm welcome. Yes, the ceramic nozzle fell out. I'll keep the tile cement idea in mind but the threads of the mixing chamber are well-defined and show no signs of wear. I've replaced a burner maybe three times in 20 years of intermittent use and think I've always taken care not to brutalize it.
Hi, a. the brass mixing chamber will widen when overheated for a certain time. b. there is a batch of oversized mixing chambers which went into sale. To make the oversized mixing chambers marketable a series of new ceramic nozzles were made to fit these. Erik.
Welcome to CPL @quelgeek It will be interesting to know how the dimensions of the two compare when you get the new one.
As Erik says: not all the new parts will fit. There are two solutions: 1) find NOS ceramic burners, 2) use some exhaust putty A 3 option would be to experiment with aluminium foil around the thread or another heat resistant kind of stuff. Or a piece a wire cut off from a mantle between the threads (4 option) ;-)
For such problems, even copper-antiseize compounds on the threads worked for me. If they are really a loose-fit, all the remedies mentioned earlier would certainly work.
The pre 2000's sometime petromax nozzles were 1" approx...Anchor lamp nozzles which you can get cheaply are still that size as are any old stock petromax. As Wiili has said above, if you wire that on that won't fall off agin (maybe putting a little exhaust putty too for a good seal. That nozzle you have will fit perfectly in a new Petromax mixing chamber though) Anyway that is the reason...that your threads are still perfect. The new part is too small. RxR
Two things: first of all, many thanks for the suggestions for how to use the over-size chamber. Wrapping wire into the thread would not have occurred to me and I would have dismissed it as a bodge if it had. You have encouraged me that it is in fact an acceptable fix. I will not discard the old chamber and will remember the wire trick in case I ever need to use the old chamber. Second, the new chamber has arrived and is much smaller. The inside dimension of the old chamber is 25.5mm and the new one is 23.8mm. Everything is a satisfying fit now. Also—though my wife tells me I am imagining it—I think it operates more quietly now.
@quelgeek I didn't mean to put wire in the thread. I meant an external fix by wire. Wrap wire around ceramic burner and fix other end of wire at the mixing tube above the mixing chamber.
I had the same issue with a Wenzel. The burner wobbles all the way until it seats on the flange. The ID of the chamber threads was almost 0.1" larger than a real Petromax chamber. A replacement is on its way.
