Petromax 829B is it original?

Before you light it up again, it'd be great if you take some clear, detailed pictures of the whole assembly: caburretor, upper parts of the lantern, burner, j-tube mixing chamber, air gap, etc and post it here. We might be able to spot the discrepancies should there be any at its current condition.
Pictures without the outer hood attached of course.

 

Detailseite: Ersatzteil- und Zubehörliste "Petromax 500 HK, Geniol 500 HK und Hipolito 500 HK

All in German but you can use an online translator. Should you wish to email them you can do so in your native tongue, their English is excellent.

You may find this document useful (if you haven't seen it already), https://classicpressurelamps.com/attachments/px-rest-pdf.57117/

 

@MYN

I lit the lantern this morning, it was noticeably brighter when I adjusted the slot in its vertical position. I saw no difference in the quality of the burn between 1.5 bar and 2.5 bar. I did notice the generator spraying liquid fuel from the Jet and pulses, but preheating the generator to a higher temperature solve that problem.

The first picture is the lantern lid at 1.5 bar the second picture is at 2.5 bar.

 

A more detailed picture of the upper assembly and will have to wait until I get off from work today.

 

Ok. It appears there is some improvement but I think I could still see the flames outside the mantle from the latest picture.
If you allow it to burn longer, would the flame settle down and reduce?

As a pictorial reference, below is my Petromax 523 which is also 500cp like the 829 except without the rapid preheater. Note the bulbous-shaped mantle(radioactive thorium type) and its relative size:-


I used regular kerosene as the fuel from one of the local sundry shops in my location. Not sure if if it was 1-k but it is nearly colourless and clear.
Here's how the light appeared when it was fired up. I had to adjust down the exposure of the camera lens so that the picture doesn't appear too 'white-out' by the intense glare of the mantle's glow:


There shouldn't be even the slightest flame halo outside the mantle. It was pretty noisy when in operation. I had the working pressure varied between 2-3bar throughout the operation except during startup.
You shouldn't be able to stare too long at the glowing mantle without getting temporarily 'blinded'.
I'm sure you'd be able to eventually get your lantern running as brightly or brighter than mine.

 

I still would not recommend you to mix in any Coleman or Crown Camp Fuels into the kero at the moment.
You need to get your lantern in proper working order and gain enough confidence first on its behavior. Mishaps can sometimes get traumatic if things turn awry.
Later, when you are already well-acquianted and familiar with this type of lantern, it shouldn't be a problem to mix in 10-25% by volume of white gas / Coleman Fuel into the kero to improve vaporization and startups.

 

I'm still thinking the jet oriface is washed out. His tube looks to be at the correct height and doesn't appear to have any internal obstruction. Halo is always the result of running rich or insufficient air, it's likely we can rule out the air.

One thing I noticed when I was fettling my 238B was before I decoked my generator or "vaporizer" I had a bit of a halo and had a bad flicker. It was after I thoroughly decoked and hand pricked the jet (By inserting the pricker and spinning the rod like a drill to ream out the deposits inside the oriface) did my 238B started to burn extremely bright with no more haloing or flicker.

 

It is quite likely that the jet orifice is enlarged to some extents.
A clean generator usually brings about better vaporization.
If the previous owner had actually used regular gasoline and hasn't clean the gen out sufficiently, subsequent operation would be severely and negatively affected.
Pump gasolines leaves behind a lot gummy deposits over time. These deposits would eventually carbon-up by prolonged heating. Often, even more so than using pure kerosene.
There aren't too many causes for flaming outside the mantle.
Most are typical and quite well-known to many here and elsewhere in other similar forums.

 

So a lot of reactions meanwhile.
As for parts: indeed hytta.de, write them in english> no problem.
In english also no problemo: base camp in the UK.

But for all: what do you want to buy and why?
Well the Anderson coil vaporiser is obvious but for the rest: check and check again if parts fit, are designed for this model and for all new parts: quality control for all new parts is you and only you.

Did you see the link in my signature for the Px restoration file? If so did you read it, again and again ?
It is not "bullying" (?) but you really should know why this design works the way it does.
I always say: it is a machine which operates with flammable fuel under pressure with a burning mantle.
First thing I thought my children about these lamps; they are hot and if you think there is a danger: turn the small knob and release the pressure.

Remove the "Prallteller", thingy device which is called a safety thing, maybe it is blocking the airflow in your lantern just to much.

 

@MYN
@Gilbert

Every fettle I do, I always start decoking the vaporizer, it can go a long way.

You probably have too much deposits inside the vaporizer which is already preventing a lot of the heat reaching the fuel, compounded by the fact the straight vaporizer is already very poor at absorbing heat to begin with.

 

@Gilbert
It is always wise to start with the very basics. If you hadn't already cleaned out the vaporizer thoroughly, it is imperative that you do so before the next light up.
These are actually the prerequisites, which cannot be skipped.

 

You may clean whatever you want but it is not designed for kerosene but lighter oil fractions like gasoline.

 

@WimVe

It is workable with kerosene, though the person in this thread did light it inside where the air is stable with no breeze, and likely deep cleaned the vaporizer.

Petromax 829 B runs on kerosene.

 

Workable is the right word. But it seems that the lantern of Gilbert has another idea.

 

I can still try a different jet (I have 2 extra original jets) and compare stream patterns.

I also ordered peerless 111 mantles to see how those compare once I get the lantern running properly.

 

@WimVe
I've got plenty of white gas I can try...

I've read that the German army stopped running these lanterns on gas due to safety concerns.

Are these really that unsafe with gas? Did these have a history of exploding when using white gas, or were the problems associated with neglect?

Regardless, I'm still waiting for the Preston loop carburetor to arrive. Im thinking now that the kerosene fuel may not be getting hot enough in the B carburetor and that's what's causing it to run rich with fuel.

I will triple check the jets. I have the pricked tool, but I thought that was only intended for the orifice in the preheater? Can I use it to clans the jet orifice?

 

@Dashwood

I deep cleaned every part before trying to light it. The inside of the vaporizer looked very clean. I didn't see any carbon deposits.

 

Yes I've read this document. I printed it out and used it to help rebuild my lantern.

 

@WimVe
I don't see anything in your signature line or profile. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.

 

@Gilbert

I strongly recommend getting Midstate Lighthouse Mantles No. 525. They blow into a nice bulbous shape enlarging the heat area around the vaporizer. Peerless 111 isn't that much different in shape compared to the existing mantle you have.

But please do test out those other jets, AND change to the appropriate needle that reflects the jet used ie. 500cp needle for 500cp jet, if you do not have the correct needle, you'll damage the jet everytime you push the pricker up, reaming it. If that's not a possibility, remove the needle entirely and test the brand new "virgin" jet. You only have to prick the jet once to ruin it with the incorrect needle, they are trashed now.

 

Best regards,

Wim
aka petroman
Holland
www.petromax.nl
"It's light Jim, but not as we know it"

Petromax type repair manual link.

 

The only problem is, what is the orifice size of the original jets?

The elongated mantles:- Coleman, Peerless, etc had worked well for me in the past but then, I was using them with the Preston Loop vaporizer at that time.

 

@MYN
I don't know, I dont have a way of measuring them.

The original needles it came with are the same size as the new production needle.

That's assuming the needles that came with th lantern are in fact original.

 

Pictures

 

The jet stream looks good, doesn't it?

Maybe no need to switch to a different jet.
Edit: maybe not, sometimes it come out at an angle.

 

New jet is looking good now.

 

The new production jet leaks fuel when it's heated. It's shoots up between the needle and jet orifice.

 

You can MAYBE try to source jets and needle from the foreign market on the "bay of evils." Though not sure how well these Taiwanese made ones are but I figured they are good enough as alot of these developing areas depend on something reliable. Don't take my word for it, Just a guess.

 

I'll take a look.

I think we at least have it narrowed down to the jets. I thought I had 4, but only found 3. The last one had a large burr on the outside of the jet orifice preventing the needle from going through.

Bad luck with jets, I guess.

 

Paint some metallic antiseize like copper or nickel on the offending jet's thread, it'll provide some degree of sealing and doesn't readily burn off as it's designed to handle extreme heats above the lanterns operating temperature.