And my experience... After sometimes several hours of burning nicely, mine erupts into flames for no reason.
This has happened on a regular basis, despite cleaning and tightening everything every single time I use it. The reason? I guess it is just down to (1) poor quality of production or (2) bad design. However, I suspect the former.
It is such a shame to be seeing such problems (as the original poster) with brand new kit. Poor quality production or bad design? I suspect the former!
It seems a long time since I last posted... and it has... 1065 days to be precise.
I have to say that my experiences with my 829 500CP have been, at best, adequate but short lived. I do not believe that I have ever owned such an unreliable and temperamental piece of kit. Despite tightening everything after every use, it still spontaneously bursts into flames and often leaves me the laughing stock of the campsite or, if at home, the dinner party.
Two years ago, after the wretched thing burst into flames just as I was about to eat, I put it back into its beautiful box and confined it to the back of a cupboard. It has not seen the light of day since.
Then, yesterday evening, I suddenly had the desire to give it another chance. I took it out, gave it a thorough clean, tightened everything and even put a new [double-tie] mantle on (I have the support bracket)...
Mantle one: I must have tied it too tight to the bottom support bracket... it split in the middle when burning it in.
Mantle two: same again.
Mantle three: I cannot believe this... same again!
Went to bed and left it until this evening.
Mantle four: did not bother tying it at the bottom... but it still split at the top when I burnt it. Arghhhhhhhhhh!
Good news is that I did not have any spontaneous combustion.
Bad new is that I cannot even get the horrible thing to light after wasting four over-priced double-tie mantles!
Oh well... the weather is really nice here in the UK.
As for the lamp... I will put it back into the cupboard and return in another two or three years 
Dear Armin and Holger
Thank you very much for your advice.
I removed the 'blowout nozzle' and cleaned the three holes in the chamber below. The blowout nozzle's single hole is offset from centre - in other words, instead of being in the 'dimple' it is off to one side... is this normal?
Anyway... the performance of the pre-heater is exactly as before, in that there is a blue flame at the bottom and then a large yellow flame extending into the upper part of the lantern.
I have tried pressures up to 3 bar and get the same effect. I have also tried with the tank full and half full of fuel and the performance is the same. The pre-heater gets the vaporiser cherry red at the point the flame hits and it lights perfectly after 90 seconds, but I am still concerned that the yellow flame indicates incomplete combustion, further evidenced by soot deposits in the upper lamp area.
Best regards
Tig
Ok guys... my last post for a while as we are going off for a week's camping tomorrow... in the rain probably 
Anyway... good news is that I bent the double-tie adapter so that it now is in perfect alignment with the centre of the nozzle. Bad news is that it took three mantles before I got one without a rip in. Problem is that if I tie the threads too tight on the bottom support the mantle rips. However, these genuine Petromax mantles burn in so small that the bottom hole only just covers the bottom support. I have to tie it loosely to let it contract or else it breaks!
Are there any larger mantles that would do the job better?
Many thanks
Tig
This video shows a pre-heater with a flame that looks just like mine...
Should it be like that for a 829?
I have a question along similar lines for my 829 500CP...
I do not think my pre-heater works properly as it has a large yellow flame that almost comes out of the top of the top cover. Using a magnifying glass I can see just a single hole in the top of the jet, off centre from the centre 'dimple'. Am I correct in assuming that this model just has the one hole and not separate holes for air and paraffin as the other model mentioned in this thread?
Yes, the mantle support is held in place by the nozzle (the base of it is like a large washer with the hole in the centre just big enough for the nozzle threads to pass through. The whole assembly can be carefully lifted through keeping the mantle intact.
Genius! Those boxes are certainly an improvement on the square Pelam one I have. I am not impressed with the level of protection it gives my lamp and a round container like yours would be far superior. Ever thought about making some to sell?
Fantastic! Well done 
As you say, the only drawback is not being able to remove the top, which means every time you need to remove the glass for cleaning you need another mantle.
I am going to try to straighten out my double-tie mantle support to get it central, but I fear I will break the bottom ceramic support in the process.
Brilliant story about the wedding 
... did the bride ever find out about her unintentional performance? 
What a shame about the oxyceramic nozzles! It seems so stupid that they stopped making those and yet continue to sell the stainless steel ones that are equally indestructible 
We are going camping again this weekend and I am tempted to try to bend my double-tie mantle adapter into a better alignment. The only issue is that I think bending the metal near the ceramic bottom holder will crack it. What do you think?
Cheers
Tig
Apologies... I almost forgot... what is this new material they are using for the nozzle? is it better than Stainless Steel and do they make it for the 500 lamp?
Thanks
Tig
Hi Meier
I am tempted to straighten my adapter, but was concerned that doing so would shatter the bottom ceramic cone as it is that part of the (thick) metal rod that needs straightening... how did you manage it?
I can assure you that if you apply Gun Gum (or your local equivalent of exhaust sealer) to the threads you will not have a problem with things working loose.
Best regards
Tig
Bjorn
I tried tying the bottom of the mantle lower on the support but, when burning-in, they just stretch too much and break. I was advised not to tie the bottom of the mantle too tight to allow it to shrink whilst burning-in, but the size of (genuine) Petromax mantles seems to be getting smaller
All that said... the light output is still impressive enough to attract comment from neighbouring campers, but I have been most embarrassed by the impromptu 'bursting into flames' that I started this thread with.
Going back to basics... I read that the distance between the jet and mixing tube should be slightly more than the gauge on the tool supplied to get better performance. The tools has a gradient on it and I wondered whether one should aim for a distance about half way along (albeit we are speaking about fractions of a mm).
Many thanks
Tig
Hi again Bjorn
Regarding your comment on lubricating the leather washer on the pump, I have been using Castor Oil as recommended by Petromax from day one. You will be amused to know that it took me a long time to find Castor Oil having tried 7 chemist shops in my area to no avail. When I searched online I found out that chemists were tending not to stock it because some pregnant women had been using it to bring on early labour. I therefore telephoned the largest chemist chain to me (Boots) and asked them to order me some in. The assistant asked what I wanted it for, to which I replied (in my deepest male voice): (1) I am a man and (2) I am not, to my knowledge, pregnant. After the laughter had subsided the assistant asked what I actually wanted it for and I said, "to lubricate the leather pump washer on a Petromax paraffin pressure lantern". After more laughter the assistant said he would order me a bottle immediately because nobody could have made up a story like that
Regarding the stainless nozzle... whilst Brytelyte claim the invention is theirs, Pelham sell the item under the Petromax brand on their site... Pelham Stainless Nozzle and state "This nozzle last a lifetime. The lantern produces about 10 - 20% more light."... so, shame on Pelham for not telling the truth! Actually, the reason I bought it in the end was because I thought it would last longer.
Out of interest, I have found the double-tie adapter is not perfect. The ceramic support at the bottom does not line up with the centre of the nozzle, so you end up with a banana-shaped mantle like this...
(see attachment)
I have noticed that pictures of its deployment on the BryteLyte site look the same.
Lastly, my lantern fired up fine just now... I think it is something to do with the injector. By the way, thank you Mysticman030, my injector was a bit loose... maybe that needs Gun Gum too! The only thing I cannot seem to stop coming loose is the mixing chamber: it constantly comes loose and eventually I have to re-bend the compression band that the screw presses on because the sharp end of the adjustment screw digs into the mixing chamber. This has to be a bad design!
Sorry... I forgot to say...
Bjorn - you are absolutely correct about the Gun Gum causing holes in the mantle! The first few times I fired up mysterious holes appeared which I am sure were surplus bits of paste burning off and blasing through the mantle. I think that problem has now settled down, but respect to you for spotting it 
Hi Bjorn
Many thanks for your reply.
I must admit that, as an engineer, I did wonder why a ceramic (clay) nozzle was shipped with the lamp as standard. I went for the stainless nozzle primarily because I wanted to use the double-tie mantle adapter and I had read that using ceramic nozzles with the adapter expanding and contracting against it would fracture it.
I opted for the double-tie adapter hoping that the (promised) resilience to vibration would help the mantle survive being transported (in the Petromax wooden box) to and from camp sites... it did not! However... I now have a set of 10 double-tie mantles and I feel compelled to use them 
Also... the Pelam site 'claims' that a stainless nozzle will increase performance (brightness).
Anyhow... having spent the extra money and seated the nozzle and adapter securely with Gun Gum, I feel obligated to make them work. I accept your suggestion that using a ceramic nozzle and (I assume) 'normal' mantles would be more successful, but I have experienced a few evenings where the lamp has performed fine and I can turn the cleaning wheel back and forth without a single problem, so... as an engineer I think, why is this not repeatable?
Going back to when I rinsed out the font with Paraffin, the main particles that came out looked like debris from the pump washer. I had been tempted to replace the leather pump with a rubber 'o' ring version because on my (now old) Coleman stoves I had problems with bits of leather interfering with the pump valve. I wonder whether it is leather washer debris that is fouling my jet and causing these random problems.
I am going to clean my lamp up again and retry lighting... I will update with progress but if there is any more opinion please post.
Many thanks and best regards,
Tig
Hello everyone, this is my first post on your forum.
I have recently purchased a new 829 500CP from Pelam via an agent in the UK and I have to say I am a little disappointed so far.
I purchased the lamp with two extras: the double-tie mantle adapter and a stainless steel nozzle (some of you refer to this as 'injector'?) in place of the ceramic one. Over the first two weeks of operation I wasted four mantles because the nozzle kept working loose and to tighten it meant destroying the mantle. I finally solved this by using car exhaust repair paste (Gun Gum in the UK) on the threads to seal and lock them. I also had to strip the lamp and tighten all of the components because I was losing pressure where connections to the font were not tight enough.
Everything is now airtight and I was hoping, at last, to be able to get more than a few uses out of the lamp without taking it apart to adjust things... unfortunately that is not the case!
The lamp works perfectly and then, sometimes on its own and sometimes if I rotate the cleaning wheel, the lamp 'flares'. By this, I mean that the mantle is engulfed in flames and no amount of spinning the cleaning wheel will clear it and I have to put the lamp out, let it cool and then clean off all the soot 
I have everything adjusted perfectly, including the distance between the jet and mixing tube, but this keeps happening. I suspect that it is something to do with the jet becoming partially blocked with soot, because I am constantly having to clean it out. I am using fresh, clean Paraffin (Kerosene) and I have flushed the tank out to ensure there is no debris getting into the jet.
Any ideas please?
Many thanks in advance.
