Beiträge von CabinBoy

many thanks, I think I will leave well alone as applying heat to de solder without causing damage elsewhere could probably be a specialist job! However thanks any way.

hi all,

Could someone tell me how to extract the pump cylinder without doing any damage. My thoughts are that once the pump valve has been taken out, the cylinder should unscrew somehow? Many thanks in advance.

Sorry, I just speak English, The Tilley really does not stand a chance in the current market, the Petromax 500 is a far better lamp

Hi DS,

It all depends on where you tie the two threads, where there is the bigger gap between the mantle and the burner is where the mantle will finally end up.

Hi Andy,

Many thanks, I will give this a go, I do still have a carburettor (full of carbon) to try out on.

Kind regards

John

Many thanks Willi, with regards to diesel fuel, and yes I have to admit I should have known better with Ezee pump device, wisdom does not always come with age! I just never thought it through enough! Ok, enough said!

I have tried cleaning a carburettor with a Bowden cable with little luck. Any thoughts?

Kind regards,

Cabinboy

Hi all,

Found the reason to keep the pump valve in the bottom of the tank with the Ezee pump device, if you don’t then fuel squirts out of the Ezee pump device when you screw on the pump - not nice!!

Hi all,

I have been using the Ezee pump device on one of my lamps for a while now (must get another one for my other lamp as they are so good!) but I’ve been wondering whether it would be a good idea (or not) to remove the pump valve that sits in the bottom of the font / tank as it seems a little incongruous to have two valves in situ when one (on the Ezee pump device) would probably do. Does it actually matter that the pump tube fills with fuel? Any thoughts anyone?

Kindest regards,

Cabinboy.

Hi all,

I have started using diesel in my 500 Petromax, I have thus found that it runs way too hot and the fuel tank (font) becomes too hot to even touch, which is of course due to diesel having more energy than kerosine/paraffin. My thoughts were to replace the 500 nipple and needle with 350, which I have done, yes, it has solved the overheating problem and of course there is is a reduction in light output, now we all know that to increase light output the only way to regulate light output on a petromax is to vary the pressure in the tank, I always run my lamps at just around 1.5 bar, my question is, is it safe (for the tank integrity) to increase the pressure from say 1.5 Bar to 2.5 Bar. I am sure that as I have reduced pressure (due to the 350 nipple) going into the mantle that increasing the tank pressure would not blow holes in the mantles, however as I only wish to tickle the light output up a small amount my thoughts are that an increase by one Bar would give me a white light instead of the yellow light at present but still keep the tank from overheating and hopefully not damage the font. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Kindest regards

Cabinboy.

Sorry about the smileys.
I know your post is quite old now and you have probably found someone to service your lamp, however have you tried speaking to base-camp.co.uk they are in West Sussex, really lovely people will chat for hours if your not careful but hey it is nice to find a company that actually cares. I’m in Kent. I don’t actually service Petromax lamps professionally but I am on hand if you decide to do it yourself for any advice. I do have 7 of these lamps that I service for close family and friends. I have done a couple of YouTube videos one on changing a mantle and one stripping down the carburettor. I’m not sure if the moderator at Pelham.de would block me if I was to include my email address or links so for the moment I will leave this open.

Many thanks all of you, problem now solved it was the gap between nipple and mixing tube, I had set it to the prescribed 14mm increased to 18mm now my Petromax is working beautifully thanks again. I did wonder if I was going to have to get my soldering gear out and repair a possible leak on the check valve tube, was not looking forward to that, but i didn’t have to, great, thanks again.
P.S Kero is my fuel, (that’s paraffin if your in the U.K)

Hi all,
I have two of these lamps one a 1960’S and one a fairly new one the sixties lamp is brilliant never fails to work and is as bright as any of the others I have seen, the newer lamp has always run more yellower and of late for some reason just goes out, after a short while. With both pressure and fuel still in the tank. As the mantle is not very bright it is possible to look at it and there seems to be cool spots within it that swirl inside.
I have checked the check valve in the bottom of the tank, ok
I have changed the upper vaporiser, new, replaced recently (hoping to solve this problem)
I have emersed the tank and the vaporiser in a bucket of water to check for leaks, none
I have checked the gap between needle nipple and u tube ok
I use the new style pump device and put the same pressure in both lamps I have even wondered if there was a variance in the pump valve so replaced it.
I use the same fuel in both
I have adjusted the butterfly valve to give maximum light output no variation
I have checked for debris within the vaporiser from top to bottom, clear throughout
I always blow through the u tube on changing a mantle so there shouldn’t be any debis within it
It seems as though it is short of pressure as it runs so quietly it sounds like a Tilley lamp compared to the other. I tried increasing pressure and the mantle fell off due to too much pressure without much increase in light output before it fell off.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

Thank you both for your replies, I will have a go at flushing the tank/font out, there was sand deposits in the tank when I first bought the lamp, I am now wondering if I flushed all the sand all out. Fuel, mantles and everything else are all the same in both lamps. I only buy my mantles from Pelham and I will try swapping over the ceramic nozzles at next mantle change.

Hi all,
I have two Petromax lanterns one circa 1960's the other fairly new (bought 5-6 years ago) both are 500 and both have 500 needles and 500 nipples, the 1960's lamp consistently produces bright white light, the newer one has always produced a far more yellow and dimmer light. I have checked for leaks (in a bucket of water no leaks found even from the fast ignighter), the adjustment of the air fuel mixture is correct, as is the butterfly fine adjustment, I have sealed the butterfly adjuster with fine grade exhaust sealant in case any vapour was escaping past the mixing tube, the burner is clean (always cleaned at a mantle change), checked the carburettor rod for carbon deposits (cleaned with fine wire wool) and adjusted the needle height as it was a fraction too high and whilst I had the helical vaporiser off I cleaned it out with a piece of bycycle brake wire (not an easy task). I have tried different pressures on both lamps as I am aware that two pumps will produce different pressures as will the pressure gauges register different readings. Does anyone have any thoughts? Comments would be greatly appreciated.