hello and nice place you have here! I just received this today. the valve is really tight. i put some oil down the tube under the burner/mantle holder after unscrewing the top off and removing the jet. an hour later i can turn valve about 30 degree's. felt it (tick) at both ends of turn so i quit. AB =1937 1010
what should i do next? I would like to dismantle the valve but need some wise words from you all first thanks
If you can unscrew the burner and riser tube (this shouldn't be difficult), you will see the cleaning rod. If this moves when you move the knob then it is just a matter of more oil and patience. If not then it indicates that the shaft the knob is attached to has seized. You can try by removing the knob (square headed retaining screw) and the gland nut. This should give access to get some more penetrating oil into the works. Unfortunately, unscrewing the entire cleaning mechanism winds down the cleaning rod. If the shaft doesn't move this risks stripping the teeth on the shaft (it's a rack and pinion mechanism). Btw, nice find with the original box and extra spares. I'm rather envious.
Thank for the info Nils. cleaning rod moves slightly when i turn the knob. just not much movement yet with the knob. i put more oil in it and will check it in a day or so. So these really do not have a positive shut off i take it? seems knob just for cleaning needle.
That's right. The knob just raises and lowers the cleaning rod. Unlike Optimus and Petromax (and a lot of others) the knob only turns about three quarters of a turn with everything in place. It's pretty rare to find a positive shut off on a european made kerosene lamp/heater. No dangerous vapours, so no need.
Rainy day here so i got to spend some time on this today. have been working the knob back and forth every day i walk past it. so today it came free! tightened the gland nut and cleaned the tank out and filled with fresh kero. also replaced the filler gasket. held pressure nicely and i soaped the valve and no bubble's there. double primed and it lit right up! hard to keep the mantle full red, about two thirds unless i pump it more. then it backs off after a minute or so. i will clean the burner head check and the joints again but it works! thanks Nils for the advice.
Good to hear it's working. Sounds like there might be a small leak somewhere. Does it keep losing pressure or does it stay constant after it's 'backed off' as you say? Now all we need are some pictures.
I do think it leaks some where. NRV seems fine, maybe below the vaporizer tube. couldn't tell if there was any seal in there or not, but no flames when i had it going! Do i need lead washers? will that effect the needle operation? Does the jet need a seal? sorry for the questionnaire!
Where the vaporizer tube screws onto the tank it uses a lead washer. Otherwise there are no washers used in the burner system. The only places it can leak are the NRV, filler cap and vaporizer tube (unless there's a crack or hole where there shouldn't be). If the jet is loose then it would be a bad burn as well as losing pressure. Something completely different. If you're thinking of trying to remove the packing tape where it comes up over the label on the box, a good idea is to use a hair dryer. It looks like it's the plastic type packing tape, so the heat from the hair dryer loosens the glue so the tape can be pulled off without damaging the label (hopefully).
i will try the hair drier trick! right now i am heading out to light it up again. will tighten up the joints and may pull the nrv if no improvement..... 30 minutes and it ran great!! just didn't have the filler cap tight enough.
I just finished taking mine apart. I have to upload the instructions still. I apologize for the wait. You can see the cleaning needle valve spindle in these pictures. I wanted to make sure that the gears/teeth are in good order. It also tells me how much the heater was used. Which is very little. Cheers, Jeff
Don't think these had much use either. had mine going for a couple hours last night while cleaning the garage up. going to go thru it good and do a good cleaning and get some pics. then will put it on the shelf for the season.
