I recently bought a NIB Petromax 829 on eBay. As far as I can tell it is indeed new and beautiful. I don't know how old it is or how long it has been sitting on a shelf under what conditions. As might be expected, the leather was very bad and some rubber questionable. But it had some replacement parts and I got it fueled and charged up. And got it to light per normal "flame thrower" procedures. ONCE. Now it will not light again. When I turn the knob, I do not get vapor, but a strong stream of liquid that sprays all over everything and ignites into a towering inferno. I have checked the nipple and needle and they seem to work fine. I have not checked the bottom end of the vaporizer/carburator post. i.e. parts 193,4,5. I am an engineer so I can do stuff but have zero experience with kerosene lamps. Do you think this is the next likely place to check? I have also seen an entire pre-built upper and lower vaporizer parts at BriteLyt for about $17 each. If I can fix this thing for a few bucks, the more the better. But at some point fiddling with it is not worth it. Opinons? Advice?
First a question: what is NIB? If this is about an old Petromax, I think it’s definitely worth repairing. If you get a stream of liquid instead of vapor, it usualy indicates that the vaporizer is not heated enough or that the vaporizer coil is clogged. It also indicates that there is no problem with the flow of fuel, so I don’t think you need to check the bottom end of the vaporizer with it’s valve and filter, let alone replace it. My advice would be to disassemble the upper part of the vaporizer and check if the coil is clogged, by blowing air in one end while blocking the part of the tube between the two coil connections. If you discover any dirt inside the vaporizer parts, it is best practice to disassemble the lantern completely, clean and check every part, and replace all rubber and lead parts. In my experience that is the only way to get it working reliably for years to come.
It means new in box,(unused old stock). Hello Ted, the posts which are shown via the link below may assist you, but the most likely cause of the problems that you have mentioned, is that you have not pre heated the lantern enough and you have may have to much pressure in the tank. I have explained my lighting method in the posts which are shown via the link below, Jeff. http://0flo.com/index.php?posts/28770
Thanks for the help. I took everything apart and checked the spring and valve at the bottom of the vaporizer post and also the coil as suggested. I cleaned everything up in case there was any small residual gunk or residue. I put everything back together and heated with flame thrower, keeping pumped up near red line, for 2 full minutes. It then lit OK.
Somebody on the thread Jeff Johnson recommended was complaining about the constant pumping being hard on his hand. I got one of those schraeder valves from Britelyt and am using a bicycle pump. Sacrilege, I know, but either I am an old guy with arthritis, or a lazy fat American.
Sorry about a stupid nubee question - probably already addressed elsewhere - What is the highest safe pressure to run the lamp once it is lit and operating?
The maximum is usually the red 2 bar line shown on the gauge. This is around 30 PSI. It will run fine down to about 1 BAR but I personally do not like them to get that low. Trying to run it below 1 BAR will at some point result in the flame backing up into the mixing tube and burning a hole in it or worse back burning into the vaporizer. This produces a weird sucking noise and will cause considerable damage if the lamp is not cut off at once and the pressure problem corrected.
The basic idea behind the rapid is that you pre-heat shortly. You have to give it some pumps extra but two minutes is loooong. There is no exact pre-heat time since temperature of the fuel and air is crucial in this. Experience is a good friend though. While pre heating I slowly open the valve a little to see if you get gas or fuel out of the jet: ergo light or flames. Problem with the pressure is that the gauge isn't calibrated nor can be set "right". One way to check the accuracy is to use a "lighter gas" fuel can and press it on the gauge opening. The gas inside the can is about 2bar so the gauge should point at around two bar too.
What is the best pressure to pump it up to, to light the flame thrower? I pumped it up to the red line and it wants to blow out the lighter/match rather than catch fire itself. I guess I could experiment, but hoping to take advantage of knowledge already collected here!
Those blow torches can be tricky. Some you have to hold the match flame to the lower opening for quite a while before it heats up enough to run alone. I mostly use a small blow lamp to ignite these and then keep the flame playing into the tube but removing it momentarily until it lives. You normally pump to the red line and then once the torch is running right keep pumping for maybe half a minute and then let the pressure drop to 1bar before opening the valve and shutting off the blow torch. When they work right it is quick and easy but so often they are temperamental and you have to learn what each particular one wants. Mostly I don't use the torch if there is a meth cup because it is easier on the thumb. ::Neil::
