Aladdin Petromax 828 project

Discussion in 'Fettling Forum' started by presscall, Nov 21, 2023.

  1. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Pretty rough example. The control knob hanging on to the rusted spindle with barely a sliver of metal.

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    I fabricated a short length of stainless steel rod (threaded to secure the control knob) cutting a tongue-and-slot to add strength to the joint and prevent the parts moving while silver soldering them.

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    Silver soldering done, a washer yet to be made, locking on the spindle and keying to the control knob to ‘time’ its indicator arrow to the pricker eccentric movement.

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    The pressure gauge works, but the needle didn’t come to rest against the zero pressure stop. A slight nudge of the bowden tube with a jeweller’s screwdriver reset it.

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    More work to do!

    John
     
  2. pete sav

    pete sav Founder Member

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    Looking good so far john
    Its one of those lamps where problems are lined up waiting for you i know the feeling well
    Cheers pete
     
  3. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    I know what you mean, Pete.

    Still, it’s one I’m interested to try out because of the positive shut-off of the fuel with that screw-in control spindle and the valve-controlled pre-heater, avoiding reliance on a seal closure of later Petromax (and other) pre-heater output.

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  4. JEFF JOHNSON

    JEFF JOHNSON United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Well fettled!:thumbup::thumbup:
    The knob appears to have a crack in it, will that be a super glue repair?
     
  5. MYN

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    Interesting features on these earlier Aladdin-Petromax combinations. The pricker control cam-end is also somewhat different from the later Petromax.
    I prefer the positive shut-off valve on the early rapid starter too. I'd say the all metal construction somehow provides a 'more convincing' feel as compared to the sealing by rubber pips.
     
  6. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    A crack, indeed Jeff, the result of rust expansion of the steel spindle. Two-part epoxy was my adhesive of choice, curing as I write.
     
  7. Knee Poland

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    Nicely done.
    Good luck with the next steps.
     
  8. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    I dispensed with the idea of a locking washer, cutting a keyway in the spindle and control knob instead and making a Woodruff-type key to fit.

    I nickel-plated the components too.

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    The control knob is awaiting paint to dry in the engraved inscriptions before removing the excess paint and final polishing.

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  9. JEFF JOHNSON

    JEFF JOHNSON United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Great progress!:thumbup::thumbup:
     
  10. Madras United Kingdom

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    @presscall
    So pleased this eBay sale was genuine .
    I'd been following this lamp for a couple of weeks but something just didn't sit right me about it after I saw what I thought was other sellers items .
    Any way happy tinkering and I look forward to seeing your fixes .
    Marten
     
  11. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Control components completed.

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    @Madras Yes Marten, I passed it by, then Paul M in an Open Forum post notified us of a 20% discount on a number of possible Global Shipping Programme rejects and the Petromax was one of them. The price drop induced me to buy it.

    The control spindle and knob were the pieces in worst shape and I haven’t yet checked if the jet is worn but the rest will respond to a deep clean. Globe’s missing but I’ve a modern Petromax one that’ll serve.

    John
     
  12. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    I’ve checked it just now and a 0.18mm acupuncture needle passes through it with barely clearance, so the jet’s not worn.

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    Can’t say the same for the pricker though, but I’ve a new one to replace it.

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  13. Reinhard

    Reinhard Germany Subscriber

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    @presscall
    It's always fun to watch your meticulous ,well-thought-out way of working :thumbup::thumbup:
     
  14. Madras United Kingdom

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    @presscall , hi John yes the price drop was tempting but I still couldn't justify the price just for the j tube that I need .
    I might have a pre heater control tap of that style ,if you need it you can contact me .
    Marten
     
  15. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    @Reinhard You’re very kind, thank you. Compliment back at you Reinhard, I’ve learned a great deal from your posts.
    @Madras Ah, right, I’ve seen your Aladdin Petromax in the Gallery of course, where you said
    I’ve only superficially looked at the inner hood and j-tube on mine, but there’s some corrosion and I can’t yet be sure how that might have affected things. I daresay that if the threads are sloppy I’d establish the air gap offering the best combustion and set the j-tube with a blob of silver solder, easily de-soldered if necessary.

    Thanks for the offer of the pre-heater valve Marten, but all’s well with this one I believe.

    John
     
  16. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    I managed to repair the jet pricker, firstly by gripping the stub of the needle and pulling it out - it’s crimped in place.

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    Rather than inserting another length of needle (acupuncture needle, 0.18mm diameter) and re-crimping, I decided on a more secure fixing.

    I used a micro-drill to bore out the residual hole and make it deeper.

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    I then inserted a short length of hypodermic needle and silbrazed it in place, then crimped the hypodermic needle on my acupuncture needle insert. Whereas the heat of a blowtorch doesn’t readily cause the hypodermic needle to disintegrate, it would rapidly vapourise the pricker needle, hence the need for the two-stage fixing.

    Top, hypodermic and acupuncture needle components.

    Middle, the repaired pricker.

    Bottom, an aftermarket pricker that can stay in my spares box for now.

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    It works.

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  17. WimVe

    WimVe Subscriber

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    Great job, @presscall !
    I guess what you mention about disintegrating is the reason they started with crimping many moons ago.
     
  18. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Thanks @WimVe Regarding the crimping, quite possibly that’s the case. It was an early lesson for me with stove projects in attempting to restore pricker needles to pricker control spindles that the pricker wire would be vapourised in the brazing torch flame, however much I took precautions to shield it. Primarily though, even if it survived it would be annealed by the encounter to the extent that it would be useless as a pricker.
     
  19. pete sav

    pete sav Founder Member

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    John i have experienced the melted new pricker wire syndrome you speak of. What i do now is drill a 1mm hole in the end of the pricker holder maybe 4mm deep. The cut the handle spring end of the accupuncture needle maybe 3mm long shove that into the 1mm hole then crimp it into the carrier then cut the needle to lengh this seems to work better for me now
    I drill a 1mm hole as its big enough to take the spring and i dont break too many drills
    Cheers pete
     
  20. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    @pete sav
    Yes, that’s a go-er too Pete. I was encouraged to use a drill for this because I’d a stub of needle to yank out, leaving a pilot hole. As you say, drill breakage of such small gauges is an inevitable phenomenon and if the remains of a pricker’s needle stays embedded, drilling it out makes drill breakage very likely as the point gets deflected.

    Rather than attempt drilling I gouge the pricker needle out and silbraze a hypodermic needle insert in the resulting groove then crimp the acupuncture needle into that. As here, from CCS:
    John
     
  21. JEFF JOHNSON

    JEFF JOHNSON United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Well fettled!:thumbup::thumbup:
     
  22. pete sav

    pete sav Founder Member

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    Thats an intresting post john will give it a go on some damaged old prickers i have here with wire stubs like you say drilling them is out
    cheers pete
     
  23. MYN

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    Some really delicate work there, John.
    Yes, a thin pricker wire would just 'vaporize' or rather, burn off in the brazing flame. Often, not too different from the way steel wool burns when ignited.
    I can neither find hypodermic nor acupuncture needles that are thin enough in my area, therefore, I couldn't take a similar approach in such repairs.
     
  24. Tony Press

    Tony Press Australia Subscriber

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    John,

    What gauge needle did you use for the 1mm hole?


    Cheers

    Tony
     
  25. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    @Tony Press I picked one out of my box of dispensing needles to provide an inner diameter to give a clearance fit for the 0.18mm acupuncture needle.

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    Measuring the outer diameter of the type I used I see it’s a Gauge 28.

    Outer diameter (mm)
    Inner diameter

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    Pete Sav mentioned using a 1mm drill. Because I had a pilot hole to utilise, I was encouraged to use a 0.5mm drill. Still a loose fit for the hypodermic needle but the silver solder took up the moderate slack.
     
  26. Tony Press

    Tony Press Australia Subscriber

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  27. Nils Stephenson

    Nils Stephenson Founder Member

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    @presscall What do you do with the inside end of the needle (in the jet)? You have to avoid an edge that the cleaning needle can catch on.
     
  28. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    The pricker needle @Nils Stephenson? I take off any potential burrs with a few strokes of a carborundum slip stone.

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  29. presscall

    presscall United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Servicing the ‘Rapid’ pre-heater …

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    … described HERE.

    I encountered a fault with the control spindle’s graphite packing nut.

    Specifically, a stress crack in the nut.

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    I cleaned the crack (a thin cutting wheel in a Dremel) and applied flux and a bead of silver solder to the outer surface, avoiding it flowing into the threads.

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    Trimmed and polished

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    Last edited: Nov 25, 2023
  30. ROBBO55

    ROBBO55 Subscriber

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    @presscall
    John, What size micro drill did you use with the 28 gauge hypodermic needle?
     

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