I bought this earlier this year looked very little used and clean, and has proved to be so. The numbers on the bottom are 3988, indicating week39 of 1988, which equates to the end of September 1988. Being a military one, the gray colour is different to the chromed/nickle finish on my other H-502. I've had to change all the seals as there were a few leaks, the pump washer was still soft and pliable, and was just oiled up. After my previous experience with chuffing from my other H-502, I took the vapouriser apart and wound some bronze wool round the pricker wire and it works perfectly. It came with Dutch manuals and documentation. with a spanner and spares set, and 5 Luxor mantles, and I have to say I prefer the globe shape of the Luxor mantle over the Petroma 'long' sock type. Gave it a 'soft' start with meths to burn in the mantle and it fired up with no problems, and holds pressure well. I let it run for an hour before shutting it down. Later, I fired up again with a 'hard' start using the rapid pre-heater, to check that was working, and that also worked perfectly. The box it came in is different to the German military box which I got from a friend in Germany, as it only opens at the top, where as the German one opens at the front as well. Very pleased with it. Tim
@Tim Read I like the look of the satin finish, Tim, as a change from the usual chrome or gloss paint on some marques. I should do my research, but is it a painted coating? John
@presscall To be honest I don't know, it does look good though. I like it too. Some of the German surplus ones I looked at as well, were quite stained so I suspect it might be a bit of a dirt magnet, which doesn't really matter for military use. I went for the cleanest one sovery pleased with it. It looks like it had only been fired once, looking under the hood, could really be described a New Old Stock, it was in such good condition. One think I did notice was it seemed to be not so noisy as my other H-502, not much but enough to notice. And as with all these ones, welders goggles are must to look at it, it's so bright. And as I said, I like the shape of the Luxor mantle when in use, much better than the Petromax 'sock'. Tim
@WimVe, yes, I have the German box for my other 502, both well made and I especially like the system for supporting the lamps, very practical and secure for military use, and a bonus for us collectors. Tim
