Well. I had this problem and one other problem and so on. This lamp is actually nothing but trouble. Each and every time I want to use it, it fails me. I have spent so many hours on it. Patiently replacing making adjustment that are impossible to make (14,2mm above the nozzle.... that is not possible because the top wont go up that much because of the ring just above the gas chamber). The holding screw for this height adjustment also works itself lose (due to heat I assume). The mixing chamber - the clay part with the holes in it - either breaks in the housing or falls down - those are the options. The threading is incorrect - too loose so it only catches at the end. The whole built quality is very poor. Also the blue knob you need to hold to pump up pressure (and you will be pumping that rod till you drop!) is too small. It catches your finger on the metal part - so you have to hold it in a weird position. pumping 300-400 times per starting session is normal. The trouble is that I actually like products like this - well; not the quality - but the idea. Now, I am not sure what to do with it. Maybe join a HK500 support group - see a therapist - specialised in HK500 owners. I mean: you cannot give this product to somebody else: they will come after you for attempted murder - and they would be right in doing so. It normally burns all over the place at the top and fuel is dripping down. I cant sell it: It is now way over a two thousand euros (including spare parts and hours of repairing). Maybe it scares away burglars: "Forget about the guns and the dogs! I own a HK500" well, thanks for sharing. Good to see that people put out an honest review instead of all those fake commercial advertisements/reviews/comments you see all the time.
Marcell - Hi there! The Petromax can drive a person to frustration overload in a hurry, ask me how I know😂....I own one!! And especially NOW having to wait MONTHS to get part because EVERYTHING is on back order. I cured my BIG HEADACJHE I had by ordering the whole carburator assemble from Lehman bros. ($35) and THAT cured the problem I had .... Yes, and its ALWAYS good to have a few spares around of the needles and jets for the upper vapirizer tube. For the first time I have now had a 7 month stabil run with that Petromax with no maddening issues. Will problems happen again? YES, of COURSE. Its a mechanism and all machinery needs looking after. Take a few deep breaths, maybe order that carburator tube and swap that out, or re-build/ clean the one you have, go from there. There IS a mechanical reason the lamp isnt working right and when we get rattled by it, it makes it much harder to proceed correctly. I know, I went through the same thing.
You need a history of repairing Morris Minors and Swiss watches to keep the Petromax running. I suggest non DIY people buy an electric or gas lantern. I have wasted too much time on mine also!
Arrived faulty and behaved exactly like this. Took the top hat off and checked the jet intake. Bent needle or sloppy leaning tube assembly from the factory. Bent the needle so the jet entered the pre heater properly so it didn’t drip back into the lamp assembly. Worked great after that. The amount of pumps needed is way too much though imho. Foot pump or similar would be nice since you need to handle the lamp while it is lit. Saw someone on YT who had that setup. A presta valve would work i.e.
I did eventually get my HK500 working, I bought the HK500 Spare Part Kit and replaced everything I could using the contents. I also stripped and cleaned everything else. Once I got the lamp back together it worked normally. The good news is I have a working lamp now, The bad news is, I don't know exactly what was causing the problem.
In my opinion it got to much fuel. That can be caused by a leak on the top valve of the carburettor. If the same symptom occures again, start the lamp without the top cover and watch the valve. If there is a leak, you can see gas going out at the side. Another issue could be, that it don't gets enough air. So the distance between the mixing pipe and the valve must be adjusted accoringly.
The orifice clogged, due to fuel contamination,you can easily clear it with piece of steel wire from, bicycle brakes cable, if you had it lying around somewhere, ....
As said below it's either a loose nipple (ohh err missis) or the mixing tube is not set correctly above the nipple. The bottom of the tube needs to be 14.2mm above the nipple. To do this turn the lamp ON with no pressure in tank to drop the pin out of way so not to cause damage to it when measuring distance. I had exactally the same issue with 1 lamp almost gave up and then adjusted the gap and no more sooty flamey mantles.
Carburator distance must be 14.2mm and nozzle is leaking, tighten with 9mm wrench. Heating up for 5 Minutes (!!!) is waay too long. 90 sec if not starting stop and do fault search.
Some years old now .. did you succeed in the end , looks a new lamp ... the fuel is not vapourising needle/jet/air gap probable attention .... spares are not easy now to get for these , needles especially
Haven't fixed it yet but I've been short of time. I've ordered the spare part kit and some Alkan fuel so I'm going to try striping it down and replacing everything that's in the kit once it arrives and cleaning everything else. Fingers crossed that and the new fuel will sort it. I'll update here if it does.
+Jamie Whitehorn So I was able to properly fire the flash. It helped her to clean the upper nozzle and mixing screws, but before I stripped it all. I am sure that you too will work
Hi Jamie I have the very same problem. It’s interesting to hear it’s not uncommon. I have changed fuels to no positive result. The next step is to clean/change the needle and deposits. Hopefully this will resolve. I’m sure this is progressive too so after one bad burn too much carbon is built up around the aperture. It’s mechanical so it can be fixed and it’s old technology so it should just require maintenance
Easy fix... if you take off the top you will see we’re the fuel comes out their will be a tiny needle that goes in and out when you turn the blue knob. More thank likely it’s bent. If you still have the box they all come with spares. If that’s not the problem then the fuel your using is not Turing into a gas state with all the pre heating done. U need a fuel that has a lower burn temp.
Bad QC at the factory on the assembly really sucks. It may be that every part is correct it but not properly aligned in assembly. Meaning customers get unnecessary problems. Thecoleman dual fuel lantern is not as fidgety as this one...
The first time I fired up my new Petromax I had problems! They are fiddley and if you don't like messing with old Morris Minors and Swiss watches at the same time then the Petromax is not for you! I suggest the non DIY people buy a gas or Electric Lantern. There are advantages to owning a petromax but you will need patients it not as simple as filling it with paraffin and away she goes!
When you open the wheel, at 3:30, you open full throttle. That’s wrong, you are flooding the lamp. Open it nicely, aprox 1/4 turn, then it will work ok.
If you are going to give advice that is contrary to the operating instructions you should explain yourself so we can be confident you know what you are talking about. "Full throttle", as you put it, is what the operating instructions call for; it works fine for me.
From what I've read these lamps are really badly made. The original Petromax company no longer actually exists since the 60s. Just a bunch of trademarks bought here and there. They don't even have a proper website. From a company that makes things that use paraffin. I would stay well away from that thing before there is an accident.
I bought one of these and have yet to get it working - at the moment its just a pile of shit that does exactly the same as your pet Roman pile of shite 😐
Usually preheat time is 50 sec to 1.5 minutes. And yes, you should turn the brightness knob slowly. Worst case scenario, pull the lamp apart and clean the generator and put a new mantle on.
hi Jamie,As a p.s to my last post take a look at my 'how to change a mantle on a petromax' video, you will notice that I don't use the rapid lighter the reason being is that it is not very kind to mantles, uses far too much fuel and you have to pump like mad to keep it going.
I have one with the same problem I saw a Venezuelan who cleaned the inner tank with coca cola and vinegar for 48 hours and then coated the inside of the tank with epoxy resin to prevent the impurities from causing problems in the combustion, I already did electric me Can not deny with the lamp because the spare parts are impossible to get at least in my country Argentina
My petromax does the same as this I will strip it down and check and adjust it if that doesn’t work it’ll be for “static display” I also have a Coleman Northstar that is a joy to light, takes about 30 seconds from the first pump to lit. I know which one I would be spending my money on.
No. Broken mantle lets a straight plasma-like flame out. Here we can see 'lazy' flames - unburnt excess fuel. Nipple leaks and mixing pipe misadjusted.
