Hello from Ireland,
I am struggling with my newly acquired second hand Petromax HK 500 lamp(1year old approximately)
The flame in the rapid preheater goes out.
Also the pressure goes down quite quickly.
I keep pumping to keep the pressure at 1.5 then the flame goes out before 90 seconds are up.
I hope you can help,
Kind regards,
Fiona
Hello Fiona,
probably the pressure is a little to high for the rapid, try to keep at 1.0.
It is possible that to high pressure blows out the flame of the rapid.
Otherwise, if dosn't work, try to needle all the 3 dies of the rapid.
Regards,
Steven
hi fiona,
to see if the fount holds the pressure and doesn't leak air,
empty the fount,
close the valves.
pump with air for ~0.5 bar.
then remove pump piston, hood, glass and frame,
push the fount under water in a bucket.
observe if bubbles appear at vaporizer, rapid torch, pump valve, tank filler, etc.
the rapid torch needs for operation 1-1.5 bar. And it uses a lot of air from fount. So you need pumping throughout rapid preheat. That's normal. It's less demanding, if you fill the tank only half way with kero.
and yes , a storm proof lighter is helpful for repeated ignition of rapid preheater.
all quite normal.
Fiona, when i was beginning to learn Anchor lamps and Petromaxes, i often had loss of pressure...this can lead to things like "glowing mixing tube", i noticed that the lead seals for the vapouriser(carburretor,generator) and the rapid burner are very sensitive to movement(loosening of either very slightly disturbs the seal and causes pressure loss), Now i regularly check to make sure they have not been disturbed! Also when i operate the control wheel, i do that with a very slight pressure towards the left(tighter vaporiser)....When i use the rapid i also check this.
I saw on a recent thread on this forum someone mentioning a method for fitting these lead seals which i imagine would make them less sensitive to movement...i can describe what they said if you like....i also noticed that fitting a new lead washer on top of the old one, rather than replacing the old one, seems to hold the vapouriser more firmly ( this means adjusting the air gap under the mixing tube slightly too ).
Now that you are learning these lamps...Bommel's instruction at the top of this page on the complete overhaul of a Petromax shall become good reading for you. Good Luck! RxR
The rapid needs a verythin spanner to take off easily, although you can remove the rapid by taking off the body, then the jet if you don't have that.... the rapid needs gentleness when tightening, by quarter turns, waiting for a couple of seconds each increment for the lead to "flow"... If you take out first the remains of old lead washers with a pin , you can count the number of turns required without a washer, this allows you to work more ...confidently, RxR
Hi Fiona
What you probably need, is this part
Hi Fiona,
the part Willi showed in the link (thread No. 10) is the rapid nozzle seal with holder. It is mounted on top of the rapid lever which moves away from the rapid nozzle when you operate the rapid.
This little, elastic rubber seal is indeed very often the source of leaking as the rubber piece is gettting harde rafter several years, loosing its sealing capability.
