New Lamp?

    Currently I have an old Tilley lamp (that lights with the meths pre-burner). I am considering buying a new Petromax, which appears to use a different form of pre-burner to light. Is this so? What is the main difference between the Tilley method and the Petromax method, and do they both use meths?

    Thanks. When you say "petrol in the tank" do you mean the rapid burner operates from the paraffin or kerosene which is used to fuel the lamp (unlike the Tilley which has an external burner that is soaked in methylated spirit which is then ignited to act as a pre-burner).

    Hi Eric,


    yes, the Rapid-burner works with the liquid inside the Tank - you could use parafin-oil or kerozene with the same result.


    (And replacement-parts of petromax are cheaper than tilley parts)


    Best regards, Björn

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Thanks for the help so far. Another couple of questions please. First, are paraffin oil and kerosene totally interchangeable? As I said, I have an old Tilley (that works) which I intend to keep for when I go rallying a 60 year old truck that I own, but I want to buy another pressure lamp for use on my boat. So if I buy a Petromax, can I use paraffin oil in the petromax, or if I must buy kerosene for the petromax, can I then use the kerosene in the Tilley. (I had thought kerosene is another name for paraffin oil, but I see the Pelam price list distinguishes between paraffin - for use on wick lamps, and kerosene - for pressure lamps, but I prefer to ask than blow my lamps up!).

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von Eric R ()

    Hi Eric,


    Yes, you can use both, paraffinoil and kerosene within a petromax-lantern.
    you can even mix it. Kerozene is made of mineralic oil, paraffinoil is made of CO.


    Otherwise you can use 92 or 95 oktane in a petromax, you have to change only some valves from rubber to to oktane resistant viton.


    Inside your tilley, you can use kerozene and paraffinoil, this should cause no trouble. :done:


    Beste regards, Björn

    God created men.
    Sam Colt made them equal!

    Hi Eric!


    The stuff you call "paraffin" in UK the Americans call "kerosene". It is not only interchangable, but really the same.


    The differece we here in Germany make is between "Lampenöl" and "Petroleum". "Lampenöl" - translated with "paraffin oil" is a very clean stuff, i.e. it contains almost no cyclic hydrocarbons and no sulphur. Mostly it is produced artificially from natural gas. "Petroleum" is made from that stuff you in UK call "Petroleum", the stinking black material coming from the ground. At a certain boiling point "Petroleum" is distilled from it.


    International names for fuels are a thing which can make one crazy. Therefore Doron was so kind as to give a translation for several fuels into several languages on his homepage. Have a look at http://fuel.papo-art.com/


    Btw.: Welcome to this forum!


    Kind regards, Christian