Beiträge von Dutch

I checked the jet, it's an original Petromax jet, with 150 engraved on it. I presume it's the Petromax 150 jet.
But, there's also a big chunk of copper that goed with it, you put it on the set and adjust the bend pip so it fits. The air holes in that copper block are very small, so I guess it's a complete different mixture.

I got it running for a couple of days now, also inside, and it works good. I'm a happy man, no more petroleum smell in the house, and if I want to convert it back, just change the jet, adjust the pipe to 14 milimeter, and I'm done

Hi all,

For a while I was sometimes plagued with a very slight 'Leidenfrost' effect sometimes. Today I was strolling in an antique market/car boot sale, and saw an alcohol conversion set lying around somewhere, in a dirty zip-lock baggie. I recognised it on the spot, because of the copper mash. Second look, I saw the Petromax 150 jet and the copper block, so it was confirmed. A Petromax CP500 alcohol conversion set. Acted stupid of course, I asked the seller what it was, he said haven't got a clue. I said, well, I only need the copper mash for a fuel filter in my weed whaker fuel nozzle, how much? He said two euro's, which I happilly paid.

Went home, and decided to install the whole works, had a couple of bottles of alcohol/spiritus lying around.
Drained the tank, took the lamp apart (first time, easy as hell for those who are scary, just follow the links here)

Wrapped the copper wire real tight around the rod (the one with the needle on it, needle removed of course, and also took the time to adjust the hight of the needle, that was a bit too high)
Wrapped it too tight, big wrong, explanation follows

Inserted it, and put the lamp back.

Did a test run on alcohol, 1 bar, pre-heat just one cup, found that info on the interwebz.

Big disappointment, Leidenfrost like crazy, worse then a dripping tap.
Lamp pulsating like a strobe light, turned it off after 10 mins and various pressures.

Started thinking... Why's the mash there, to heat up and vaporise the fuel of course, otherwise it would 'drip' into that heating ring... Hmmmm... why doesn't it vaporise now with the mash....

Deduction: mash is not getting hot enough, because it doesn't touch the sides of the pipe!!!
AHA erlebnis, haha. I've seen the light, and it's not pulsating, lol.

Took the lamp apart again, removed the mash, wrinkled the mash a bit, and wound it up so it would juuust shove into the pipe.
Put the stuff together again
Test run: almost perfect

Lamp is running now on 1 bar, alcohol, almost no noise, about 70% light compared with lamp oil, Peerless mantle.
And, for those who run it inside, no smell whatsoever. On lamp oil it didn't smell much, but after 5 mins outside and coming back inside you could smell the lamp oil, like at grandma's in the old days when she was making soup or cooking beef on an old petroleum stove.

I think I'm gonna leave it like this for a while, to reverse it I only need to remove the copper block on top of the jet, and change the 150 jet to a 500 jet, and I'm runnning lamp oil again.

Bit of tinkering involved, and to summarise it, less light, but less noise, and no smell, and cheaper fuel over here (€1,20 a liter compared to €1,70 for lampoil over here in The Netherlands. Also a nice improvement if you travel a lot with it, and want to run a 'dual-fuel' system. Also, with alcohol, you can look into it without getting blind, a CP500 on petroleum/lamp oil will burn your eyes out, esp. with the Peerless mantles.

Kind regards,

Dutch

PS: I damaged the mantle while taking the stuff apart for the second time, had to install a new one. Little aftereffect: for alcohol you have to install a 150 jet, which is smaller. Also, it pulls less air because of the copper block you have to put in over the jet and the air intake, less air. For that reason, the mantle doesn't balloon to a full 100%, but to about 90%. I'm pretty sure if I convert it to lamp oil it's going to blow to full size, for the moment, it burns oke, you almost don't notice it, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna last me a long time, no carbons in alcohol

Dear Christian,

There was a sticker with the value on the outside of the envelope there were shipped in, $52,50.
Customs value for the mantles is 38 euro's according to customs, BTW for importing is €7,98.
Costs for customs clearing are €13 euro's, that makes a total of €20,98.

I think the problem is, PostNL declared it for customs, and charged me 13 euro's costs for it.
Bloody thieves, lol.

Taxes kill you in the Netherlands, but well, what can you do.
At least I'm very happy with my mantles, and it's still a great deal I think

Take care
Broke Dutch

Hi all,

The snailmail from the US of A has arrived, I'm the proud owner now of 60 Peerless #111 mantles for a CP500
I had to pay an additional 20 euro's for VAT (Mehrwehrtsteuer I think, my German is extremely rusty) and custom costs, but a total of €70 for 60 high quality mantles is a good deal I think.

Take care, and happy Petromaxing
Happy Dutch

Good morning all,

Question, anybody had any problems whatsoever importing Peerless mantles into the EU? I ordered some from the US of A, and they seem to be stuck in the mail somewhere, maybe customs. Anybody knows of any problems, because they are slightly radioactive?

Take care, and have a nice day.
Worried Dutch

Thanks for the quick reply Stefan,

as usual, you've been more then helpfull

Kind regards,

Dutch

Well,

Went to the dealer today, P152 was leaking a bit, perfect service, he fixed it on the spot with a new part.

But, when I confronted him about he 'lamp oil question', his reply was like this:

Lamp oil got some parrafin in it, unlike clear petroleum. This is the same stuff as used in candles. The problem is, same thing I have with wick lamps, if you use it for a prolonged time, the parrafin (fat) will clog up some parts. He showed me some really hardenend parts of lamp wicks then, and I sort agreed with him, I cannot fight with logic, simple.

Question now, nobody ever got this problem? I also read if you put some carborator cleaner in the tank, like a shot glass amount, every 50 liters of fuel or so, you will clean out the water, and also the parrafin parts clogging up your tank? (If what my dealer tells me is true, and I kind off believed him, he also didn't want to sell me some accesoires that were no good in his honest opinion, he seems like an ok dude to me)

Thanks in advance for your reply.
I know Willy also commented he has no problem using Old Dutch Farmlight Lamp Oil, but, I got some German genes too, and I just want to be safe, not sorry. Grundlich und Punctlich (pardon the spelling) \
Thanks again.

Kind regards,

Dutch

All you guys/dolls, the best wishes and a nice and quiet 2014 for you all

Kind regards,
Dutch

Thanks for the tip Willi, I'll give it a try

Kind regards,
Dutch

Thanks for the drawing Lichtgestalt, helped me too a lot

Thanks for the help pfalzbrenner and the other guys, every bit of info is really appriciated here. It's really hard to find info like this in the original manual.


Happy new year, and a really blessed and peacefullf 2014 for all of you


Kind regards,
Dutch

Hi Willi,

I don't think soft soldering is gonna solve the problem, I already tried putting a bar of soft solder onto the pipe, and it melt in like 0.0001 second, so I've got to hard solder it.

The pipe is already in the ok adjustment, 14.2 mm, problem perseists. I'll keep you guys informed about my progress.

Thanks for all the help

Kind regard, and a happy blessed and relaxed 2014
Dutch

Hi Arminth,


Had a quick try to solder the lamp, but got the wrong solder overe here. Did a quick test run with the solder on the mixing pipe, it melted in like 0.001 second, not the right kind of solder. Going to order the right solder, give it a try again, and keep you informed.


Kind regards and happy new year, Dutch

Hi all,

Yesterday I lighted up the lamp again, and while taking the upper part out to tighten the ceramic parts, I damaged the last of my radioactive Butterfly mantles. Bummer.... or, like in German, scheisse....

Had to install a Luxor mantle, ordered 10 ones when I ordered the new lamp, and I must say, I'm really sort of disappointed by the light it gives.
It's sort of a yellowish light, and doesn't even burn off the dark spots due to carbonizing.
With previous mantles, various brands, but all with Thorium, the dark spots would burn off in 10 mins or less, but not with these mantles. Bummer, big time.

Already ordered about 60 mantles on Ebay, Peerless mantles with the radioactive shit on it, which I don't give a damn about, because I already did research on the specs, and a brick wall gives more radioactive radiation, 50-100 mRad per year, and 800 mRad per day is the max you can safely get (according to my army training if I remember correctly). Just be careful to wash your hands after using them, and don't eat them, haha.

You guys got the same experiance with mantles? I alread figured out there's a lot of differences, but I never would have figured out there would be so much of a difference.

Kind regard,
Dutch

Hi all,

I found the problem and feel soooo stupid.....

When putting the new mantle on, I didn't distribute the wrinkles oke, so a little bit of gas was leaking and was heating up the ceramic parts who on their turn heated up the pipe.

I had to check for a while with my class 4 glacier sunglasses, then noticed it.

I installed my last Butterfly mantle, and it's burning perfect now.

I also ordered 60 Peerless 111 mantles from Ebay, blue package, from what I've read on this forum they are the best.

Sorry for troubling you guys/dolls.

Kind regards,
Dutch

Thanks for the help Stefan, I really appriciate it.

Kind regards,
Dutch

Hi all,

It has come to my attention that the P033 mixing tube turns red hot after a while. Is this normal?

I use Old Dutch Farmlight parrafine/lampoil.

I run the lamp at about 2 bar of pressure, with an old school Butterfly mantle, thorium included, har har.
I need class 4 glacier sunglasses (like welding glasses) to look into it, don't see no aura or gas leaking.
The ceramic parts are all tight, no leakage from that part.
Mixing chamber distance from the jet/nozzle is 14mm, set with the Petromax multitool.
The adustment screw is set vertically.

So, I guess I'm doing nothing wrong over here, but is it normal for that pipe to run red hot?

Kind regards
Dutch

Happy Sunday all,

Thanks for the fast reply Willy.

Well, I checked the original manual, and it says you can use parrafine or kerosine (petromax alkan preferred)
I checked the specs of petromax alkan, and they are C5-20, exactly the same as old Dutch Farmlight oil.

I'm convinced now my dealer is just trying to make a quick €, by making me scared and telling me lies about the fuel in the Petromax.

Thanks for the help
Dutch

Hi all,

According to my lamp dealer the use of lampoil can cause damage in the long run when you use it in a Petromax.

Is that true, or is he just trying to sell me to more expensive clear petroleum?

I've read some of you guys use lampoil too in a Petromax, what's your experiance?

Kind regards
Dutch

Hi all,

Question, I was wondering how long a mantle lasts with normal usage. They seem to be almost indistructable, and only damage when taking out the top, or pumping it without the car pressurehose adaptor thingie. I got the present one running now for 3 liters of lampoil, and it still looks pretty new to me.

Many thanks in advance for the advice.
Kind regards,
Dutch