problems with pressure

    hi all,
    tried tonight for the first time my new new hk500, and have some problems...


    i cant find in the manuel at what point after lighting the lamp i have to close the rocker arm. i do so when the sock is all white, which works, but im not sure if i'm doing it correcly.


    once the lamp is burning, the pressure keeps on dropping down every 5 minutes, so i start pomping, but don't know untill what point i should. (red mark?)


    when i pomp to get more pressure, i only really put pressure 1 out of 10 times that i pomp, so i wonder if this is normal.


    thanks a lot from a newbie!

    Hi dakiro
    You should close the preheater (rocker you called?!?) when the is all white that is correct.
    When the lamp burns the presure shouldn't decrease so fast. Check if there is a leakage.
    Put the Lamp empty and under presure in a bucket full of water. Disassemble the Lamp until there is only the tank, the prehater and the carburator. If there are bubbles you have to fit it.
    The pump consists of a leather. You should lubricate the leather with grease and bend the sides outwards.
    Then it should work better.
    Greets Sebastian

    Der nur nen bisschen Licht beim Fliegen haben möchte! ;)

    One to two minutes running the torch (pre heater) and watch the gauge. Introduce more pressure (pump slowly and steadily) as it drops while watching for the flash over point in the mantle. Once this happens you can flip the pre heater closed and let the mantle warm up on its own. The object here is to generate enough heat to vaporize the fuel before it hits the jet. If the jet is spewing out liquid fuel you were a bit too quick and need to let things heat up more. The lamp should burn for quite some time before requiring more pressure once the pre heater is shut.


    If you suspect it, find the leak like Sebastian said, especially if there is a quick loss of pressure from the font with the pre heater shut down. Another way to check for the leak is a glass full of dish soap and water. Use a paint brush to brush the solution around the seals. The bubbles will show you where the leak is at. Also make sure the font is full. You should be able to quickly come up to full pressure just past the red mark if the tank is full. Make sure there is plenty of fuel in the font. If not then it is Boyle's law at work. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyle%27s_law not enough volume of fuel and you will pump until you are blue in the face and not have much pressure for the lamp to operate.


    Have fun,
    Sean

    hi guys,
    and thanks for the quick reply!
    i'm in a camper in the middle of knowhere, and at night the lamp is the only one i have for outside, so i hope i get it to work today...


    is the order in which i should do things:


    1-dismantelling the lamp so i only have the tank preheater and carburater,
    2-lubricate the leather
    3-empty the tank
    4-bucket of water


    ????


    to lubricate the leather, all i havee with me is vaseline and meindl shoe wax, i guess the vaseline is best?
    thanks again, and i'll keep you posted.

    Einmal editiert, zuletzt von dakrido ()

    ok, the pomp works now, thanks to a bit of vaseline, and i found the leak.
    now how do i repair it....?????


    while puting up the pressure, with the tank full and the arm of the grip up an the rocker arm down i realised that i pumped petrol into the lamp, which was covered with oil before i knew it.
    at the same time i heard a sissing sounds i saw airbulbs appaering.
    this was on the silver screw under the grip arm. so the screw on that space that is attached to the tank.
    i tried to tighten the screw, but don't managed, cause i can't get around it. i don't know if i an dismantel the rest, cause i guess it might be welded.


    :traurig:


    can anyone tell me where to go from here?


    ps. i also don't know how tight the golden coulered screw just behind the grip arm itself should be, cause it seems rather loose...

    Hi
    Fine... if it is the connection between the "nut" and the tank, you will have to soft-solder it.
    If it is the connection between the "nut" and the Preheater, you'll have to change the lead gasket. The last version is a bit easier to fit. Or you get a new tank.
    Edit: Oh I've just seen it is a new Lamp. Then return it to the seller or talk to him what to do.
    The nut under the grip it schould be tighten until the grip does not move any more...
    Greets Sebastian

    Der nur nen bisschen Licht beim Fliegen haben möchte! ;)

    2 Mal editiert, zuletzt von Schmetterling ()

    hi sebastian,
    thanks again!
    i just called the shop where i bought, and they said they'd call me back.
    got a mesage from someone saying i should screw the iece 90 thighter, but i guess from what you write that that's not possible.
    i'll wait for thee shop to call me back, andd will try to have the lamp changed.
    in my opnion, for the price paid, it should just work.
    :merci:
    david

    Hi
    If it is a problem with the connection between the preheater and the tank (not the solded one)
    you can screw it tighter of course, but I thougt it was the solding at the tank which was leaking. For pictures look at the description "a technical description on how to perform a complete cleaning and restoration of a PETROMAX 829 500" from Bommel.
    Sebastian

    Der nur nen bisschen Licht beim Fliegen haben möchte! ;)

    ok, i guess i'm not very good at this, but the leak is at the point where 90 and 115 meet. i can't tighten the srew, cause the bottom of piece 121 is in the way, and i don't see in the manual how to get it of.
    sorry for being a complete O......
    didn't expect all of this......

    Hi
    I'm a bit confused!
    Part 115 is the generator and not the preheater!?!
    You can unmont the frame by getting rid of the screw and the bottom plate.
    Then the way should be free.
    Sebastian

    Der nur nen bisschen Licht beim Fliegen haben möchte! ;)

    ok, shame on me..........
    i completely overlooked the screw in the middle to undo the rest of the frame.
    once i did i could turn the metal tub that's connected to the gasket. and it now doesn' loose pressure anymore..
    the leather in the pomp is still fatty thanks to the vaseline i put on, and pumps better than before, (3 out of 5 pumps it works), but still not 100%
    someone wrote me about turning the leather ring, but i'm not sure how to go about that.
    in any case, at least it works now!
    thanks!!!


    ps. i only saw yesterday that i can buy lamps directly of pelam too, i am concidering a smaller second one.
    i have a big camper truck, and would like to use it indoors. if i let enough fresh air come into the camper, should that be fine?

    Hi
    I hope it works now... the leather of the pump can be bent outward a bit... but do not turn it on left side.
    The smaler one (150 CP) is a little bit tricky. It is not such easy to be lit as the 500 CP. I've got
    one running with gasoline and it works fine but with kerosene it doesn't work. A friend of me has one which I have repaired and it works fine with kerosene.
    It would work, but I think in the camper there is a wicklamp better. I would take an Aladdin lamp. It makes pretty much light and is silent.
    Think about it.
    Sebastian

    Der nur nen bisschen Licht beim Fliegen haben möchte! ;)