Lots of questions

    Dear pressure lantern friends,


    I am Antonio from Amsterdam and since I was young and joined the scouts, I am a bit fascinated bij pressure lanterns. In 1982 I bought my first Dolphin Firelite (very handy, a stove and a lamp in 1), and tens of years later on a flee market I bought a Red Heart in very bad shape.
    I want to restore this lamp, and I have lots of questions to get this lamp in working condition.
    Recently I bought a Anchor (Not Sea Anchor), which worked ok, but I disliked the glass ( it wiggles in it's place) and the pressure meter wasn't accurate. So I send it back to the store, hoping for a new one.
    My questions are:


    1. I read a few times about citric acid and hot water to clean a pressure lantern. How much (dry) citric acid (in grams) do I have to use pro liter?
    2. I found a website (http://www.shop.ferben.de/) who sells SeaAnchor parts, and maybe they will fit on my Anchor or Red Heart, but I have never ever found an Anchor parts distributor. Is there any? Does anybody have a scrap Anchor lantern?
    3. Does anybody have Red Heart parts, even if it's from a scrap? I need a new nipple, a new needle and a new vaporizer valve, and a pump valve for my Red Heart. I am sure that the nipple and the needle are different for Red Heart and Anchor.
    4. I saw on be-back-later.com that some people build a pump valve removal tool from an old rod, where they sawed a gap in, to remove the pump valve. Does anybody know the size of this gap?
    5. Should I buy a "bigger" glass for my Anchor lantern, to get rid of the wiggling? There is a site (http://www.shop.ferben.de/) who claims to have the perfect glass for a Sea Anchor lantern that won't shatter when it gets hot, but, since my anchor lamp wiggled in it's place a bigger one is maybe better (see photos).
    6. I will make a picture of both my Red Heart and Anchor Nipples and needles. The Red Heart needle has a screw-thread of 1,90 millimeter, the anchor has a scre-thread of 1,70 millimeter. Where to buy this Red Heart parts? The Red Heart are the old, black parts. PS please be aware that the nipple of the red heart has not a flat top.


    Hope to read your answers very soon!


    Fur Deutscher: lesen ist einfach fur mir, aber Deutsch schreiben ist sehr schwer. Deutsche antworter sehr wilkommen!


    Kind regards, Antonio.

    Antonio,


    Is the lamp a 250 CP? If it is then modern reproduction jets and needles should fit it. You can salvage the old jet (nipple) by carefully cleaning the inside with a drill bit by hand. just don't push through the jet orifice and use a needle and and a penetrating oil to finish the job. Good luck with the lamps. Show us some more pictures.


    Best regards,
    Sean


    250 CP parts on this site: http://www.pelam.de/index.php?cPath=30_49_78


    Side note: I have a new (repro) 500 cp Petromax we were using this weekend camping. I really have no complaints. Anyone know if these "new" lamps of different name are all from the same manufacturer in Hong Kong?

    Dear Vmax,


    No, it's a 500cp, there is 500 written on the old needle. But I do agree that the shape of the nipple is exactly the same as a 250cp, so it is possible that someone has been playing with this old lamp and fitted inproper parts on it.

    Dear Vmax,


    both on the needle and the nipple is written 500. So Redheart did shape these needle and nipple especially for the 500 cp lantern.


    Talking about quality (sometimes people write that a lantern from China can only be crap): the tank of the redheart is made of copper/messing.

    OK, I was looking at that burned up set in the left hand side of the picture. The jet looks a lot like my 250 CP jets so you may be right. As for the newer Petromax lamps I guess I just got lucky because mine has never failed to light off and I have used it dozens of times without any problems. And I didn't see that that glass initially. It looks like it is too small for sure. Anyway, nice lamp you have there!