Bad Bad night!!!

    Hi, First of all i need to tell you that last year, i fell from the rocks whilst fishing because my lighting failed. So after looking for a decent lamp to make sure of safety i bought a petromax hk500.
    I took it fishing and spent 3 and a half hours trying to get it to work properly(not happy).
    Anyway i can get it to light but it seems to take a long time to get going and when it does get going there seems to be an extra orange glow around the mantle, also flames shooting up to the top of the lamp.
    When it is turnd off there seems to be small spurts of fuel jetting from the nozzle.
    I have gone through 8 mantles because they keep turning black in places almost like it is burnt out.
    Have made sure of preheating time and am at an end as to how to make it work properly.
    Please help (very nervous).
    thanks

    Hi Rabbit,
    first at all, kindly welcome in the forum of Lamps and nice people.


    To your problems :
    first at all, the Mantles which becomes black, are not burned out, they are just black by worse burning.
    They could have been used, if the lamp would burn OK. After correct burning they will become white again after a while.
    Your problem can be caused by some things like this : Preheatingtime is to short (it should be minimum 90 Secounds
    by using Rapidburner), nipple is not really fixed in the Vaporizer, the needle of nipple is not fixed or to long
    comming out of nipple (max. 1 mm), Burner Chamber is not fixed, the ceramicburner (nozzle) is not fixed in the Burner Chamber,
    the distance between nipple and mixingtube is not correct (should be 13.5 up to 14 mm from top of nipple to Tube)
    This are the most common Problems at the beginning. Check all the points and let me know the results.

    Hi welcome to the forum:bounce:
    Well it seems that your lantern is burning rich in fuel and not enough Air
    The things you should try:
    1. Adjust the distance between the nipple (part 50) and the mixing tube (part 33N) by using the Petromax tool (part 66N) see the instruction to how to do it.
    2. Replace the nipple could be an enlarged gas tip (normal tip wear)
    3. Clean the carburetor - could be responsible for inefficient vaporization of fuel (too much carbon in the carburetor)
    4. Adjust the fuel air mixture in the mixing tube using the adjusting screw
    5. Verify that you are using 500CP mantles - using a 300CP mantle will cause a halo around the mantle


    let us know how it goes

    Hi, Thanks for the help, changing the nipple seems to have worked. The lamp is burning though it doesnt seem any brighter than my coleman (supposed to be twice as bright).
    Will leave for an hour to see if it stays as it is or if it starts catching fire again.

    Hi Rabbit



    Have a look if the stream comes out of the nipple in straight line. Take the inner casing away. Take an old cloth above the nipple, open the hand wheel and check if it is a straight stream.


    Make sure that you use the right fuel, use clear paraffin oil or petroleum. Do not use any cheap coloured lamp oil which they sell in the building center.


    If the lantern is working right, the mantle should be so bright that you are not able to look in it without seeing stars afterwards.




    Regards Jonas

    Hello again, All seems to be okay, (still glowing nicely).
    My Coleman is a Northstar, never had a real problem with it, it just seems to fluctuate to much when fishing (light goes up an down on its own), does my head in!.
    I will see if the jet goes straight once it has cooled.
    closing the air/screw only makes the lamp glow orangy but fully open seems ok but feels like it could go brighter, would widening the gap between tube and nipple increase brightness?

    Hi,
    Well if your coleman in a northstar then there should be no big difference in brightness as the coleman northstar is rated at 550cp as the petromax in a 500cp lantern - if your petromax is as bright as the northstar I wold say all is well
    As for the pulsating coleman
    1. did it do it from day one?
    2. how many hours of use?
    3. what kind of fuel are you using (unleaded or white gas)?

    The Coleman as far as i recall has always fluctuated it has been fairly well used, always with unleaded petrol. My mate bought one a couple of weeks ago and his does the same but not always.

    Is there any way to tell if the mantle is 500 cp as they all just came in an unmarked bag from pelam?
    by the way the jet shoots straight up, but not with the old nipple it comes out crooked?

    Well this sound odd
    I also have a Northstar and it burns steady
    Usually a pulsating lantern means a week Fuel&Air spring in the fuel intake tube or a plugged generator
    You should try a bit more pressure in the tank see if it fixes the problem
    Also remember that using an unleaded fuel shortens the life of the generator
    And it should be cleaned (if possible) or replaced if performance reduces

    550 cp for a Northstar....well i think it's more in the region of 250/300 cp


    Coleman says, it's the brightest lantern they built but a 220 /228 is way more brighter.


    Your kero. Petromax should be a lot brighter then your coleman, at least that's what i've observed with several of my Petromax en Coleman lamps.


    Wil try to dig up a comparison foto, should have one somewhere...



    Cheers,



    Marcel.

    well there is an argument if the northstar is 550cp or 350cp
    Coleman say this is the brightest they ever built and the strong ones are the 500cp's like 237,236..
    from the photo it dose seem your petromax is brighter and we cant argue with facts
    as for the 220/228 I have to differ they are 300CP dual mantle lanterns and produce the same light output like the Coleman single mantles like the 200 and 242 (I have both and I think the 242 is much more bright then the 220)
    but the 220 gives a softer light and a better light spread due to the two mantles.
    If you prefer the dual mantle or the single mantle it is a matter of own choise
    I have added a file describing the different Coleman generators and CP ratings
    curtsey of Matthew Reid of the yahoo Coleman group

    Hello Steelkingdom,
    if you are interrested in a comparisation of Petromax vs Northstar look here


    The ilumination of the Northstar was less than the Petromax (see the shadow behind the Northstar).


    fröhliches Leuchten
    Jürgen
    "Die Zukunft sollte man nicht vorhersehen wollen, sondern möglich machen"
    Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944)

    Hi Jürgen
    As this is a petromax fans site and not a coleman site I will not get into arguments
    I myself think the petromax and the nothstar has about the same light output
    that shadow behind the northstar is due to the construction of the Air intake tube and generator (while the petromax has a generator only)
    also the relector on the petromax helps a lot.
    It seems that its a sin on this forum saying somthing is brighter then a petromax or at leaset as bright - sorry if I offended someone with this
    I will not continue in this disscussion

    Hi steelkingdom,
    i like to make shure, that nobody is angry here, if somebody tells that his Lamp is more highlight than a Petromax.
    But if you take a look to Marcels foto, which shows exactly, that his Northstar Lamp is burning lower than his
    Petromax. Marcel is also a great Coleman Fan, and would never say something negative against Coleman.
    He is fair... May be, if you don't agree with him, the problem is, that your Petromax Lamp is not burning
    with the maximum possible power, may be it's possible by adjustment, to optimize it.... :hail: I've seen Petromax
    Lamps burning more dark than others, i've seen Anchorlamps having more Light than all other Petromax arround...
    Only exception was a Petromax Gasoline Lamp with Universal Vaporizer, which was the most highlight Lamp.

    Joern Hi


    I am not angry - I rather enjoy this forum and the way each side protects it favorite lanterns sometimes this discussion leads to no were as every one defends his own favorite.
    But I have to be open minded and I did an experiment of my own
    well even my Petromax it stronger then my northstar
    I always suspected the northstar to be only 350CP and did not have a comparison of my own till lately
    well now I have to find one of the 500cp Coleman’s (236,237,621...) to compare to the Petromax