I only have a limited knowledge of Petromax, but I know the early 828 had a red top. The 830 had it as well, but it was basically a big tank version of the 828. I'm certain there are pictures in the reference gallery but I can see that there is a big need of some sub folders for Petromax. It is one big mess in there.
A friend of mine just bought a Petromax 827 with red hood. The red hood doesent look like the Optimus's hoods and is "often" found in collections like here: http://lampengeschichten.de/?page_id=26 I have seen a page with different sizes Petromax-models once, where there was a production-line with red-hoods, so Petromax must have produced these in almost all sizes. Yours looks like a 821 - 827? Claus C
Thanks everyone for your replies. A fellow collector Andrew is considering buying it and asked me for an opinion. I also thought it looked similar to my 821 with the winged fuel cap and no rapid, but the big red hat had me a bit worried. The asking price seems a little steep, but it is in mint condition and comes in the original box with its accessories.
Just found the one I refered to by Petromax here as link on Seite 2 : http://hytta.de/info/graetz_rotweiss Good luck and but be aware it could be a Optimus hood mounted on a Petromax. Claus C
The earlier versions (pre WW-II) of the "red-hooded" PX had two screws, and sometimes also a nickel plate to hold the cap which can be seen here. I've got an old 828 like this one from Michel and an 828 Aladdin-PX . The post WW-II versions had the cap crimped to the hood, like the Optimus (although the shape of the cap is not the same). I've heard that there must be also versions with blue and green caps known, which were sold mostly to the Middle East, according to a statement from Jürgen Breidenstein. The Argentinian PX 833 has a white enamel cap.
I got a similar Petromax 350CP. The stamp below the lamp says 4965. Is it 49th week of 1965 ? 1. Since this is my first nickel plated PX, what is the proper way to improve its plating and make it shiny? 2. The red enamel at the top has some damage. Can his be fixed somehow?
For the sixties the date code was: [week] [year] [day]. So 4965 would be: 49th week, 1966, 5th weekday. Red tops are possible, I don't know if there is a definite dat on which years. Or combinations like: only for export, or on demand or certain parts of the world. The older pre war lanterns had a red top but with the two screws which holds the inner chimney.
Ah, OK thanks. This lamp was found on a Greek island so it is definitely an exported item. So this lamp was made on Thursday either 1st or 8th of December 1966. (it is not clear if Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd of 1966 count as the first week or not). How do I make nickel shine again ? Citric acid solution and buffing with petromax paste and say a dremel buffing pad is OK? Or I need something more drastic? And about the enamel what is the best practice to take care of it? I looked in youtube about this but did not find anything interesting/useful.
You can clean with citric acid but don't leave it in the acid for too long or you'd remove the plating. You can lightly buff the nickel with fine polishing pastes like Autosol, Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish or similar after cleaning, rinsing and drying. The nickel is pretty thin and any drastic actions or aggressive chemicals could well remove the plating and leave behind bare brass spots. It'd normally shine well after some light buffing. You don't really require a buffing wheel or Dremel to do that because its too easy to over-do it. As for the slighly damaged vitreous enamel cap, there isn't anything practical that would truly enable patch-type repairs. Don't use acids on it or it'd likely be permanently hazed. Just mild soap or solvent cleaning and perhaps some rust removal using steel wool would suffice. If you want the enamel to look like completely new, the only real solution is to send it to a professional enameller to have it stripped and re-enamelled.
I would not use any accid when the plating is "cracked", the acid will attack the brass way faster then the nickel / chrome plating. First clean with soap then use a mentioned cleaning polish with fine steelwool.
Thank you both for the advise. I will follow your suggestions. Since I do have the Petromax polishing paste I assume it is good right @MYN ? If not I will try to find autosol (I think it is available here). and is the steelwool safe on nickel @WimVe ? It will not scratch it?
I wrote FINE steelwool. Also you should start on a spot not visable as for a test. Top of the tank under the globe cage is a good spot. Also always use gentle force with any handling of any old lantern.
Hi Antonis, I've no experience on the Petromax polishing paste but if it feels fine on the fingers and does not smell like ammonia, then I think that should be ok.
Petromax on their site state "The cleaning polish suits to all Petromax models.". So this is some kind of guarantee at least as far as safety of the product is concerned. Glanol is another widely available metal polishing here. Autosol and brasso too. And then products from smaller companies. Autosol has so many different products that I do not know which one is suitable. So I guess I will start with the petromax one. Some products like Glanol (I know from experience) are so tiresome. You need a lot of cloths (a lot of them!) as they produce big amount of black substances on the metal before they shine after a lot of work. If someone has tried a specific autosol product I will try that too. Just to learn...
4 monthes ago, when i was shopping with my wife in a mall, i find a red hat 829 with a reflector in a bag shop. Not for sell. Here is the picture. View attachment 111130 View attachment 111132
By the looks of your lamp, you will not need to use steel wool. If you use steel wool, it should be 0000 grade.
4 monthes ago, when i was shopping with my wife in a mall, i find a red hat 829 with a reflector in a bag shop. Not for sell. Here is the picture.
This looks great (the lamp, not the bag). But it is a younger model (than the one I got) because it has the rapid pre-heater.
The lanterns 829 (500 HK), 828 (300 or 350 HK) and 827 (200 or 250 HK) are equipped with the rapid preheater. The models 523 (500 HK), 826 (300 or 350 HK) and 821 (200 or 250 HK) use alcohol preheating. All of them were produced mostly in parallel. So only the form of the rapid preheater may give an idea of the age, since it was already introduced in the 1930's, but there were different stages of development until the last form that can be seen at the lanterns in this thread. The date of manufacture of most Petromax models can roughly be determined from various other characteristics that changed over time, but most accurately by looking at the bottom of the tank. Earlier models show a scratching, and later on a 4 digit stamping was used. The code varies between manufacturing in Germany or later in Portugal, and was discussed broadly in this thread. The 6 digit stamping found on some Chinese made models was not yet decoded.
Very interesting @Martin K. I did not know that the rapid pre-heater is so old invention. I thought it was much newer. The rapid pre-heater is something I do not know yet how it works. I have to look into this on Google. I mean how come the pre-heater does not need to be itself preheated but the carburetor needs to be preheated. What is the trick with the pre-heater? But I guess this is another thread...
The rapid torch goes back to at least 1931. This is from the PLC. ::Neil:: Martin Georg Andersen patented a blow torch pre heater in 1933 for a kerosene stove which took both air and fuel from the fount and atomised the mixture so cold kerosene would give a torch flame without smoke. In essence this is the pre heater torch made since 1935 to today for all Petromax lamps with a Rapid pre heater and a variation of it was used since the 1930s on Primus and Radius lamps. Radius generally in the 1930s used a torch made in Denmark by Revolto. I have two examples of this torch, One is stamped “Pat Appl for” but the other cites four British patents. GB383505, GB415265, 425509, and 438697 and is marked “Made in Denmark” The first shows a rocker type valve for the jet and is credited to a Swiss inventor, Julius Ortlieb. This patent from March 20 1931 illustrates the type of valve used by Ehrich & Graetz in their Andersen type torch in 1939. Patents 415265 and 425509 are by Georg Andersen. The fourth, 438697, however is the one as used by Revolto for Radius and cites the inventors as Hakon R. Möhl and Evald L. C. Andersen. So it seems the principle of mixing air and fuel and spraying it as an atomised jet is a Swiss idea built on by Andersen who added the tube to create the device in modified form we know today and a study of these patents shows why we call the Petromax blow torch an Andersen type pre heater.
Before the "Drehrapid", 1935-1937 model there where also two other design patented, DE636752 and DE648446. But if these where used on lantern is not known. Also the date doesn't change because those two also have a date range of 1935-1937.
The restoration of a similar lamp here: at 9:31 min shows the red cap with some white substance on it and the person who restores paints it with a red spray. The result looks good and he lights the lamp at the end. But he does not explain what he does at this point to restore the red top. Is it obvious to anyone here? I asked at the youtube site below but no answer yet (the video is a year old).
