How to ID a genuine petromax 829 and Hipolito 301

All hipolito lanterns were made in Portugal as were petromax lanterns after they stopped making them in Germany until the hipolito factory closed . In my opinion the Portuguese made lanterns were very well made and just worked well straight out of the box. I've got two Chinese petromax lanterns which I've had to strip down to adjust the cleaning needle height to get them to work properly, both of these I bought second hand because the previous owners couldn't get them to work properly.
Regards Ian

 

I hope none of us runs into that haha. It would be a shame to buy one "made in Germany" only for it to be Chinese. Are there any other obvious signs of German or Chinese manufacture?

 

Yes, count the number of points on the star in the logo. 11 Chinese, 10 Not Chinese made.

 

In fact, there are many finer details or points by which one could tell the difference between the genuine German-made Petromax from China-made ones.

 

I'm researching the differences now. I can see why it's so easy to tell a Chinese petromax from a German one.

Is the Hipolito in my original post a "rapid" type? I see the dish for alcohol, but I isn't see the pre heater jet like on the petromax rapid lanterns.

Could the rapid pre heater be added to the Hipolito?

 

The Hipolito H-301 is a normal unit without the rapid. The H-202/250V, H-302/350V or the H-502 would be the ones with the rapid starters. They usually include the word 'AUTOMATIC' in them but not always.
Petromax 828 and 829 comes with the word 'SUPER RAPID'.
The word 'EXPRESS' would be found on the Aida lanterns having such a device.
The lower boss for the rapid torches are soldered on the pre-formed surface of the founts to assemble the rapid starters. Therefore, you can't just retrofit one in on a normal unit that hasn't been specially constructed for that.

Courtesy of Starklicht.

These torches are like mini blow torches with a rather jet-like turbulent flames. They are sometimes not very friendly to the fragile mantles and can wreck them if they are directly in the flame's path. Many prefer to just use the normal spirit preheat as a soft start.

 

I see. Can the jet be adjusted so it wont destroy the mantle?

 

Not really, since the mounting angle is pretty much fixed.
On a fount that isn't deformed in some ways, the preheater torch's flame path wouldn't be directed to the mantle.
Its function is to heat up the generator or vaporizer.
Unless of course, if you happen to get a skewed flame jet out of the preheater. The cylindrical flame shoud, which happens to also direct the flame, is removable. Make sure it is installed properly.

 

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Got it, thanks!