I've just receive my Petromax 150 yesterday and gave it a first fine tuning. However, the mantle was red and with the halo. I found that it was due to a leak between the nipple and the vaporiser. I tried rtv silicon to seal the threads but it burnt after a while and the leak is back. I can't find any exhaust paste locally now. I thought of placing a thin copper or nickle washer to act as a seal but that has to be thin enough to not make the jet too close to the mixing tube. Any advice?
Hi Fuzzy. There should not be a gap between the niple and the vapourizer. First chek if there is a scratch or other damage on the flange between the niple and vapourizer. Did you get the lamp as a new? If not then it is possible someone changed the niple and did put in at niple with a long coil/thread. If so then you should change the niple OR grind 1/2 a mm of the buttom of it so it is possible for the niple to go all the way down and be close around the top of the vapourizer. Remember to adjust the needle afterwards. Claus C
Thanks Claus C, its a new one. There doesnt seem to be any gaps but there might be some imperfections on the surfaces between the two that are too minute. I tested yesterday that there are vapours escaping from the side of the jet and i could actually light the vapours. Maybe later I will try a real box spanner to reall tighten the jet. If all fails then I try the spare jet if not I'll go for the washer.
Well it might help to tighten the jet but - uhhh - be carefull not to break the coil of the jet down there. It can be difficult to get the coilrest up again. To see for sure, actually where the fuel comes out, because it can cheat your eyes, then you can empty your lamp for fuel. Pump it up with pressure and hold it under Water. A trick I was told by Jeff, that made me find another place for a leak than I thought on a Bialaddin tablelamp Claus C
Dunk test ey? I swap the jets and the problem got worse with flames from 2 sides. I did a test I learned at work using nickle gaskets. I found out that the jets were not seated nicely on the flange of the vaporizer. Using a knife sharpening stone and taking my time to grind it square. That did the trick. 8) Is it me or is it really tough to get HK150 to heat up with alcohol? The rapid works much better but has a habit of discoloring things it heats.
Good Work I always heat the 150 up twice with alcohol. I find the preheating-cups too small and in the wintertime I heat them 3 times. But that shouldnt be a problem in Singapore Claus C
Hmm I tried alcohol preheat even with 5 times, I will get a mantle that looks like an asteroid and loads of carbon. The blow torch thingy works fine but I dont seem to like using that.
Try to check the distance between the nipple and the bottom of the U-tube, mixingtube, it shall be 6-7 mm between. Next check I would do, is the ceramic nozzle. They have a bad habit getting Loose on the 150's and then your lamp will darken the mantle Of course the u-tube have to be clean and without dirt, packingmaterials or spiders, which also darken mantles After that your lamp Works perfect I hope. Claus C
Hmm probably the distance is out still. The nozzle is stuck like its cemented. Other else seal great now after grinding. Most problems I learn from my Butterfly 836/350 with all things loose.
The mantle will burn clean after some while if the lamp burns correct. You can quick-clean it by using just the alcoholcup - it burns away the carbon. If the mantle keeps building up cabon, then there could be a problem at the jet and needle. When controlwheel is in closed position, then the needle should stick out from the jet with about 1/2 - 1 mm. If the needle sticks out too much then it will be a bit in the way when it is in open-position preventing the fuel to come out with good speed. The pressure in the tank should of course also be correct. If all that fails, then Neil McRae uses to put some pure gasoline in the kerrosene - you can get the recipe from him if needed. I dont use it myself. I have had fuel-problems my self and only when I used Petromax, but just the larger types. Claus C
I realize I could soft start the hk150 when there is no wind. Else I have to use the torch. Really is hard to get it to run. But with the torch, the gasket #229 keeps popping out from the socket and hard to get it to seal the nozzle. So I punched out rubber tap washers... no avail. My punch doesn't want to give a good punched out rubber gasket thingy While looking through my stash I found a thick leather belting for Singer sewing machines. I used part of it for other projects in the past and left with about a meter long. Punched outs turn out good. Stuffed one into the socket and within the first try, it seals the nozzle and holds pressure But is it OK to use leather as a sub for #229?
No its not OK for the rapid nozzle. It wouldnt seal after the nozzle gets hot or after it gets very wet with paraffin. So currently I have a tap washer cut out doing the job.
I'll get photos up soon. Right now is just problems one after another. Now that the gasket is tight, the cup cracked. but I soldered the crack. Then the torch self extinguishes. I pricked the nozzle but still does that.
Hi Isfuzzy, the torch self-extinguishing could also be a problem of the correct pressure. Neither too high nor too low will do. It is not easy to maintain always the correct pressure with a tank that small. And it is getting even worse if it's completely filled up... It can be a bit challenging to get some of these neat small lanterns running well. BR, Martin
Hi Martin, I tried different pressures too but no luck still. I lit the alcohol cut and use the torch. The torch then suck up the flame and ignite. Reignited by the alcohol flame if it extinguishes. That way I will have more hands to pump up pressure being lost by the torch. I've been away from my lamp for a few days now. I was only able to put together a wooden box for it. Hope my hk150 will behave after getting its own crib to hide in.
Hi Fuzzy. What a Little devil. What fuel do you use? If the lamp shots down the preheater then it is probably lack of pressure as Martin suggest or because it clogs up in the small preheater-holes caused by bad fuel. Im running out of ideas here. Claus C
It takes 30seconds before it works properly. Else it will extinguish. I did try it without igniting and I find the spray to be constant without any intermittent surges what not. I'm using ultrapure paraffin. The same thing I use for my Butterfly. My Butterfly likes a lil bit of diesel engine jet cleaner in the fuel. No need for pricking till the next pumping for her. But I dont know what the little devil wants. Once it lights, no porblems. Lighting her up is Pricking the torch jet did nothing. I really hope not to remove the whole torch assy to clean up..
Hi IsFuzzy, pricking the torch from the outside only isn't always the complete thing. Sometimes it can be necessary to dismantle it. Just remove the flame guiding tube, then try to remove the outer hex nut with the center spray nozzle. Behind that one there is another nozzle with a center hole (for the paraffin, connected to the tube) and another two or four small side holes around it (for pressurized air from the tank). Sometimes those small outer holes get clogged too, which causes the effect of extinguishing the torch. Be careful, removing the outer hex nut can be very hard, since there's no gasket below it. Good luck, Martin
Looks like I really have to get that thing apart again. It wad leaking at the washer and soon became loose after the first fire up. Hope the washer can still be used if not I will have to cast out some
I just did taking her apart and pricked the holes on the main nozzle. Now it works better and I found out the torch will stay lit and reignite itself when I keep pressure going just below 1 on the scale. Then again I do keep a lighter next to it with my left hand and pump with my right. While everything was apart I did some cleaning. The repair I did on the gasket cup and the gasket hardly visible
She has done it again. Not behaving still You could see the tiny blue flame there. I lit her up but noticed she aint as bright as she's suppose to be and wont stop sine wave flicker. Then I saw this tiny blue light from inside the hood. That problematic place again. Seems it hasnt been solved or it never was.
Hi Fuzzy. Its a very good looking lamp. The 150's are just cuties. The Little blue flames seems to spray out from a gap where the jet is screwed on to the vapourizer/fueltube. This gap of course must have to be closed. I can only see this done in one way, and that is to search with a magnifying glass for the exact place the gap is whether it is on the jet's or it is on the fueltube's surface. If on the jet - then just change it. But as I understand you already tried that. If it is on the top of the fueltube then I can only see you have to grind that surface smooth and straight. That can be a bit difficult if you dont fixate the tube while grinding. It looks like you dont have to remove much material, so maybe a grindingstone fór knifes can do the trick. It is also possible to Work a bit with the jet. If that dont Work then you possible have a deeper crack in the fueltube if there is split and then you have to paint the split one green, throw it in the forrest and go buy a new one. No matter what you lamp looks like a real beauti so just keep on the good Work, she is worht it. Claus C
Earlier in the evening she did something else. She drooled fuel out from the gland nut. I tightened, she stops. The next minute she drooled again. She was running for 10mins before she did that. I removed that nut and 5/16 of it just crumbled and nasty looking. So I thought RTV silicon would work. It did for 5mins and she drooled again. Read somewhere people used PTFE tapes. Roll it up nicely on the shaft and jam that thing in slowly. Good thing I have some Swagelok tape on hand but a thick one. Its for 1/2" and larger threads. I tried it and works. I didnt remove the other half of the graphite packing though because it looks good and intact in the gland nut unlike the half that crumbled out like messed up old rubber. Back to the jet. I took the whole generator off and gave that part some scrutiny with my Chinese microscope And yes I found something was wrong. There was a tiny channel near where the screw thread starts. So I grind down some but this time I didnt use sharpening stone but a 1500 grit silicon carbide abrasive paper and polished that forming to sort of an o-ring surface. The leak could also be caused from the very rough grinding I did not long ago. Probably the gas molecules are small enough to squeeze out from those tiny streaks. Upon inspecting the jet, there reveals something I didnt expect to see. There was a long tiny burr from the end of the thread that sat at a greyish mark Not very clear image Oh well, thats fixed.. For now.. Now Im thinking. If she was bought by someone who has never held a wrench, no knowledge of plumbing, soldering, metalwork.. What would the outcome be? The things I have to do to get her running. New out of the box but doesnt work. Disassemble, tighten, remove piles of flux from solder joints, redid the torch assembly, redid the jamb nut ferrule surfaces, grinding the jet generator surfaces and today the graphite packing. Ahh, but the looks of her is just beyond comprehension. The brass looks and the outlook is just too nice for me to neglect her
Hi Digout, she is indeed a good looking one. Not the best but probably the brass look complements her overall look. Its just that im not that happy I have to go thru so much fettling to grt her to work even when i bought her as new. Problems pop up one after another.
Now why does she glow brightly when sitting next to a blowing fan? When place her away from the fan, she dims down to like a 25watt bulb Ive got the mixing tube up at 7mm now. I tried 6mm but there is little if not no difference in light output. Im having the coleman 21 mantle on her now.
Must be overfueling , the jets too big or worn out , the extra air from the fan equals out the air fuel ratio to the correct mix thus the lamp burns better Stu
This is not an uncommon problem with these small lanterns. They are very sensitive to the fuel air mix. Sometimes changing the brand of kerosene works. I have found that opening the air gap to as much as it can helps a bit.
