Distinguish between European made petromax an asian made

So i am pretty new to this pressure light hobby and i just bought a Petromax from a well known dealer in Norway.
I have read about petromax and that they are not German made anymore, but that they are either made in Asia or some place in Europe. Is there any way to distinguish between one made in Europe and on made in Asia?
After having used my petromax quite a few times i fell that the quality is good and that i have not had any problems with it yet...
Regards Louis

 

Portugal - at the Hipolito factory...

 

...or Saxonia, using parts coming from Greater China...
I'd personally recommend to get a "Bundeswehr" Petromax from the 1950' to 1960's. They are usually marked with "Bundeseigentum" and have a much better Quality than any of the later versions. They were made at Altena/Germany and can easily be identified by the 4-digit date stamp on the fount bottom.
BR, Martin

 

I dont know if this counts for all the models, but the Petromax 829 was made both in Germany as in China.
To tell the difference you must count the points of the star in the logo between the 2 dragons.
The german-made has 10 points and the chinese has 11 points.
The Petromax is nowaday produced in china and claimed to be assembled in Germany Well the china thing seems to be correct
These China-things should carry 11 points on the star of the logo.



This is a german-made.

Claus C

 

Clause is right, counting the points on the sun is the best way to determine if it is a European or Chinese made lamp.

A German Petromax will have tens point and have Made in Germany stamped on the fount.

A Portuguese Petromax will have ten points and have Germany stamped on the fount.

A Chinese Petromax will have eleven points and have Germany stamped on the fount.

Some will say the German made petromax are the best, but I think the quality of the Portuguese lamps is so close that there is little in it.

Chinese made Petromax just don't compare in any way, so I would advise you avoid them.

BTW Clause, those aren't dragons, they're Sea-Horses!

 

I know the logo has changed quite a bit since it was first registered and that the seahorses have gradually become more eagle or dragon like, but I still like to think of them as seahorses.

 

I have both German Petromax and Hipolito.. exact same quality.

 

If your eye site is like mine, just look for "Made in Germany" stamped on the tank. The ones made in China usually carry the stamping, "Germany-Regd".

 

Welcome aboard!

 

So Graetz Altena would have made its lanterns in China ?

 

I don't see where that was implied, but no, the move to using Chinese built lamps branded as Petromax happened under later ownership in the 1990s.

 

The G in the logo means Graetz and Graetz made petromax lanterns in Altena, Germany.
There where lanterns made by Hipolito and even in Argentina.

 

Hi Wim, do the "modern" P'maxes still have the "G" in the logo? If not, it would be an easy way to tell the German made ones from the Chinese production.

Best regards,

(the other) Wim

 

Graetz have had nothing to do with the production of Petromax for a very long time.

Yes, Wim, the G is still part of the logo.

 

Claus, sorry for calling you Clause!

 

I've been called worse

ClausC

 

You can agree or not if a petromax is a petromax when made in china.
For me the last petromax lanterns where made when Graetz in Altena stopped producing them.

 

Now I understand where you are coming from and I have some sympathy with that view.

A Petromax made in china is just another clone, albeit a legitimate one.

At least the Portuguese lamps were made on the tooling from Altena.

HD

 

Or, to put it another way, is a Vapalux a Vapalux when it's made in Korea? I've never seen a Korean lantern so I don't know.

It's more a rhetorical question, really - I've no wish to derail the thread...

 

Whilst at Ackworth (near Pontefract, West Yorkshire) Steam Rally at the weekend, I fettled a Chinese made Petromax for a fellow who had bought it at one of the many stalls.
I didn't bother counting the points on the star or looking for subtle differences in the design of the dragons / sea horses, I just looked at the obvious.
Putting it next to my Petromax 1500, I took some pictures.

The Chinese lamp is on the left in the images. You'll notice how the bottom of the tank is flared rather than "stepped". Also, how the ribs on the collar are poorly defined and the stress crack !







Other observations : On close examination, the nickle plating appears to be of poorer quality.
On dismantling, the unplated parts, i.e. the threads on the rapid pre-heater and lower vapouriser are a very pale yellow rather than an almost gold colour which, to me, indicates a poor quality brass, at least as far as lamps are concerned.

Henry.

 

Yes, Henry, for those of us who are familiar with the German or Portuguese lamps, there's no need to count stars, it's just so obvious that they aren't the 'real' thing.

For the amateur it's helpful to know easy to remember details like the number points on the sun.

HD

 

Nice job, Henry.
I would like to see a comparishment with the logos as well the writing on the tank.

 

... Yes, good pictures Mr.P

..Always good to see lamps side by side... especially for me with my short term memory!!!..

pb

 

Thanks for the compliments.

Looking back, yes, I should have taken pictures of the logos on both lamps but I'm not very good with a camera at the best of times let alone when the sun was blazing down and reflecting light off the shiny tanks. Unfortunately, there was nowhere to set up a table where the light was decent, I was either completely in the sun, or completely out of it.

Today, I had reason to handle my own Petromax 829 and it felt heavier than the Chinese made one. This may, of course, have been just my imagination but it would be interesting to know if the Chinese made lanterns are lighter than the German made ones as it could possibly be another indication of a poorer quality.

Henry.

 

Got this email from petromax.de today:

"Thank you for your request.
Please be informed that the Petromax HK500 and HK150 are manufactured in Germany.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen/ Kind regards
Eva Vierhaus
Sales/Support"

I find it hard to belive they make the parts in G, but chances are they now do the Assembly there - possible With parts from Kaiping Silveray. I think I`ll ask them to clarify this.

 

It was my understanding that the earlier Chinese lanterns sold by Heinz were made by Kaiping Silveray, but that the lantern sold by Pelam are made by Santrax.

I'm sure this is better answered by someone else.

There's certainly a big difference in quality between the the Heinz Lantern and the Pelam Lantern.

 

Not straight forward this. To be found at www.starklicht.com: "Santrax ist eine Marke von Kaiping Silveray Metal and Plastic Products Company Ltd., einem chinesischen Hersteller von Metallbauteilen und Kunststoffwaren, der im Auftrag von Pelam Ltd. auch die heutige aktuelle Petromax herstellt.

Somit sind die Lampen der Marke Santrax absolut identisch mit denen der Petromax. Einzig in der Farbe der Bedienelemente unterscheiden sich die eineiigen Zwillinge.

 

That does complicate things! I suppose Pelam must exercise more quality control over the final product.

HD

 

I keep saying this - the Chinese will make anything you want at whatever quality level you specify. The more you're prepared to pay, the higher quality you'll get; and vice-versa, naturally. Whatever you specify, they'll always offer to make it cheaper for you but there's always a cost and that's in poorer materials and engineering, corners cut and the like.

The Eastern mind-set is different to that of the West. Here, we expect things to work straight out of the box and have the money to pay for that. In the East, they expect to have to do some fettling out of the box but pay less for their stuff. Yer pays yer money...

 

So on holiday I visited an outdoor shop and there it was: an electric petromax, I wanted to get it trashed but my wife didn't let me do it.

But they also had a kerosene version. So I took some pictures. The hood also has the typical round edges and the logo, well is is realy crap. It looks as if it is cut by hand (what it is)