Petromax 828/350CP preheater won't ignite

  • Helle there and greetings from Denmark.


    I recently aquired an old ex-civil defence Petromax 828/350CP Super Rapid. The lamp is proberly from the 60ies or 70ies but totally unused and comes in its original cardboard box.
    The lamp ignites and functions fine when using alcohol to preheat the system. All seals are tight!
    When I try to use the preheater/Rapid the jet won't ignite. I have tried cleaning both the preheater nozzle and the preheater nozzle fuel hole and two air holes. It still dosn't work. I have tried different levels of pressures as some sources recommend a love pressure of 1-1,5 bar instead of the normally recommended 2 bar. Dosn't work.


    Anybody has any surgestions on what to do next?


    When the lamp are pressurized and I open the preheater cover what should i expect when i move my finger in front of the preheater nozzle. Should it become wet og damp from the kerosine? As it is now the jet smells of kerosine but when I mave my finger in front of the nozzle it dosn't become damp or wet from kerosine.


    Kind regards
    Rasmus

  • Hi Rasmus,


    welcome to our forum.


    The working pressure for the Rapid using is up to 0,8 bar.


    Are you sure that the air holes in the top of the preheater are clean?


    This you have to check first.


    When you open the preheater, there must be damp, smelling after petrol.

    IMMER EINS MEHR WIE DUU , :po:

  • Hi Rasmus and greetings to Odense.
    I agree, your finger should geht damp and the pressure will diminish fast. The preheater throws a good portion of kerosene, it seems yours is clogged somehow. There is a little sieve at the bottom of it, check this (you will need to unscrew the preheater from the reservoir).
    Good Luck
    Matt

    „Ich finde, es sind die kleinen Dinge, alltägliche Taten von gewöhnlichen Leuten,
    die die Dunkelheit auf Abstand halten"
    (Mithrandir a.k.a Gandalf, "der Hobbit")

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von pfalzbrenner ()

  • Hi there
    Thank you for your surgesstions. Ended up disassembling the preheater. The problem was that the tube from the nozzle to the kerosine tank had come loose. Mounted it back on and now the preheater works like a charm!


    Thank you for all your help


    Rasmus

  • Thanks for updating us.
    Great you found the error.
    Wish you many happy ignited hours :D

    „Ich finde, es sind die kleinen Dinge, alltägliche Taten von gewöhnlichen Leuten,
    die die Dunkelheit auf Abstand halten"
    (Mithrandir a.k.a Gandalf, "der Hobbit")

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von pfalzbrenner ()