crusty but soon to be trusty i hope Good old salt water corrosion! anyway can you tell if its a good lantern? valve works well and cleaning needle too. has eagles on fount and petromax stamped everywhere. blue paint on priming torch lever if that means anything. 167 stamped in center of bottom and has brown valve wheel and pump knob.
the glass has petromax special and schott& Gen Mainz on front and JENAer DURAN GLAS on back.So Going to clean this up first and see if runs. are the seals in the bottom of valve fuel pick up and pump NRV the same size? where do i get them? I will be checking Dorans petromax rebuild section alot. any sugestions on rebuild parts locating apreciated. brice
Eagles???? Not hardly; if it is a Petromax then them is sea horses. Apparently these were a favourite of Petro Max's. ::Neil::
I'm a stovie Even if i knew they were seahorses i'd probably call them eagles its so rough! got the pump nrv out and apart but the spring and pip are still stuck in the barrel. Pip is in a cup i think. i can get a tiny screw driver in the screwdriver slot in the end of the barrel but cant push the spring/pip out. I have some spare optimus stove type spring and pips. so i might have to heat the nrv up to get everything apart.
Ross should be able to help with the seals. He's got pretty much all sizes available in Viton. The NRV should be the same design as an Optimus item. The only difference is the Petromax one uses a large slot for screwing them in and out of the tank. I'd try soaking in some penetrating oil first before applying heat. The heat might weaken the spring.
Igot the nrv apart. also sent Ross a order last night. curious as to date, has 167 on bottom. January 1967?
Well it cleaner! the inside was coated with sludge so i threw in a handful of tiny brass tacks. swirled it around with some paint thinner and it should be good. Generator foot valve is soaking along with rapid torch bottom. I made tool out of an old radio antenna to make nrv pips and they fit the pump and rapid preheater great! just put the antenna tube in my drill and it zips right through my rubber gasket material. have to make a larger one for the generator valve though. and the no. on bottom is 1671 so 1967?
The dating should be easy enough. I pinched this off Doron's website (I hope you don't mind Doron). "A lantern from 1960 to 1969 stamped with 4 numbers at the tank bottom: For example, the number is 4567. It means: Week 45, Year 1966 ,Day 7" That would put yours at week 16, 1967, day 1. Day 1 in Europe is Monday.
Lots of questions! I'm not sure the preheater unit is clean. any tips on cleaning it out? Does the screen on the bottom screw off? Thinking about ordering a brytelite rebuild kit are they compatible? and how about mantles? I don't want to have to take it apart again because of a dumb move, thanks.
Yes, The screen on the end of the rapid heater fuel feed is removable. The pickup tube will unscrew as well. But BE CAREFUL when doing so. Be sure that the fuel and air orifices under the rapid nozzle are clear. BTW, DON'T buy parts from Britelyt. I bought a replacement rapid assembly from them and the center hole for the fuel WASN'T DRILLED! Nice quality control! In fact I found that most ALL of their parts are sub standard compared to those acquired from here. Frei's Petrolampen Ernst Frei has the best foot valve(#193) replacement in the business. This part is CRITICAL for proper operation. Those without the brass center fail prematurely. His "spreitzfeder" or leather spreader maximizes air pump performance.(PX Spreitz_1) Due to a legal "situation" we in the USA cannot buy parts from Pelam. But there are other suppliers. It would be well worth your while to obtain a stock of parts if you're going to dabble into Petromax lanterns. Lead washers(#90), rapid heater seats(#229), etc. That black crud on the bottom from old fuel responds well to HOT citric acid solution for removal too. Nasty stuff it is. That crud harbors a bacteria/fungus that can actually corrode metal. There are biocides to keep these from forming in stored fuel(K-1). Moisture that gets into fuel is part of their "feed". Bob
Great info Bob, thanks! I will use citric acid to clean the the tank and the preheater. if i get that clean and a seal in the generator bottom i will be ready to give it a test!
Nice work! Another parts supplier is Southern Lamp Supply in North Carolina Link I look forward to seeing the light. Cheers, Jeff
Thanks for the link Jeff,fast shipping and easy ordering. and thanks to this site for all the help also! Got it lit today and it ran with no problems! My shed is a mess since it's a car repair/scrap metal/storage area. I used these mantles i had locally and i cobbled a shade for it from an industrial light i had. it's just a rough thing that took 10 minutes with a grinder, but easier on my eyes thanks again everyone!!
Nice work Nagant! They are great user lanterns!!! I love the case the 829B come in. One of the best lantern cases around I think. Cheers, Jeff
I have one of those too , and an 828 , both from the early sixties...I absolutely love them....previously I had anchors so I got used to the type , before my first "real" petromax arrived....I notice that as long as you pay good care to the fuel valve and the pump valve....and make sure that the pricker sticks out no more than 1mm....that they are a truly excellent lamp!I find that they are a very finely tuned machine...and command respect as such!
