Hipolito H502 Automatic

Hi folks,

This is my first post here so be gentle with me please

This weekend I picked up this Hipolite H502 for a tenner.







I've been trying to find some information on it and any advice would be fantasticly helpful. I've read that it's a copy of the Petromax 500. I was wondering if that's the HK500?



Number reads 0568, is this a date stamp or a serial number? Is there any way of researching it somewhere??



One thing that has confused me somewhat is this attachment underneath the mantle. On all the other pictures I've seen, the mantle has only been attached at the top. I was wondering if this was an optional extra or some other attachment?

Many thanks in advance for any help or advice

 

Welcome MrHappymoose,

The Hipolito H502 is a copy of the Petromax 829, which is a 500 candlepower lantern sometimes called 500CP or 500HK.

The thing under the mantle is to support the double tie "shockproof" mantle (see link). Many collectors think it is a waste of space and you would do well to remove it.

There is a useful guide to restoring Petromax lanterns and its clones here.

James.

 

That's great James, thanks for that. it's confirmed the things I've been finding out and means I am looking at the right stuff, always a bonus when playing around with pressurised flammable liquids

I'd found a pdf version on here of the website you linked to for servicing but was confused by the extra mantel attachment. Having used gas lanterns in the past I can see the reasoning behind using shock proof mantels, is taking it off more of a collector thing to bring it back to original spec? As I'm intending to refurb this and use it, I'm tempted to keep it in place.

 

Removing the mantle support has got more to do with making the lantern usable. The main problems with it are:

(a) Double tie mantles are harder to find and more expensive than the single tie variants.

(b) The double tie mantle doesn't form a very good shape when burned and as a result it is not as bright as a single tie mantle.

(c) The mantle is rarely damaged through external shocks and is more commonly damaged when taking the lamp apart for servicing.

From a safety point of view the most important thing is to only run this lantern on Paraffin, never Petrol.

 

Again, many thanks James. As I clean it up I'll remove the support then in that case, especially as I'm more used to using single ended mantles as well. I've used a similar lantern before so I was aware of using paraffin but thanks for the heads up anyway

I'm going to enjoy sorting this out and getting it working again I think

 

HK is the German measure of light power. Actually Hefner Kandels. One Hefner Kandel is about 0.91 Candle Power so in fact 500HK is about 450 cp. That was translated in the literature to 500cp which kinda gives you a feel for how accurate these lamp power ratings actually were when Petromax can casually call 500HK 500cp when there is a measurable difference. However this Hipolito model is the only one of its type I have ever measured to actually do over 500cp so in fact the claim is realistic.

I have not noticed any stamps in the base of Hipolito lamps but that certainly looks like a date stamp for May 1968. That is perhaps early for the brand but by no means impossible and would certainly fit with the appearance of the lamnp. ::Neil::

 

Thanks for the info Mackburner. If that is a date stamp then that makes the lamp older than me, wish I was looking that good

 

Another question that I don't seem to be able to find an answer for, once I have the lantern working and I'm pumping it up to pressure, whereabouts should I be looking to have the needle on the pressure gauge??

 

On the red line, which should be about 2Bar. Steve.

 

I think it's Hefner Kerze / Hefner Kerzen which I'm guessing are the singular and plural...

 

Brilliant

 

Shows you how good my German is. I belong to the talk louder school of languages. ::Neil::

 

I've got a maintenance on the way for this now which has a couple of single ended mantles in it so I'll definitely be taking off the support. As the only lamps I've used before have been gas lamps I've never really paid much attention to mantles. Are there differences in makes? Are some better than others? Are there particular things I should look out for or are mantles just mantles??

 

I'm a big fan of Peerless mantles since they still dope them with thorium over here. Other opinions may disagree.

 

And yet another question (Sorry about all this ) I got the maintenance kit today, what's recommended for lubricating the leather pump washer??

 

Any oil will do but I have a small handy oil can for sewing machines.

Pressure:
Push to pressure filler cap on a gas refill bottle (outside). It should read 2bar.
Btw they are more indicators then real measuring devices.

 

Thanks WimVe. I've read that vaseline is also ok for lubricating the pump washer, is this ok?? It would make life a little simpler as you can get small tins of it that would be a lot easier to keep in a kit without fear of it spilling or anything.

 

Interestingly, I've just been having a fiddle and it does appear to be holding pressure. I'm now wondering if I should just fit a new mantle and bung some fuel in it and see what happens rather than do a full strip down and clean. Would this be a false economy though I wonder.....

 

Hello ,

First do you also have a name for use in daily live ?

What I do with newly found lamps is simple clean it, look for obvious defaults and then fill her up, pressure test and light it.

Nothing more satisfying then a bumpy, old rusty piece of engineering that works like a charm.

 

Most people call me Jon

I've just replaced the pump washer and the pressure gauge washer is in perfect condition. To be honest, even the pump washer was soft and hadn't really dried out at all. I shone a torch inside the tank and it looks spotless. While it's definitely holding pressure the needle on the gauge wouldn't move. I've done the check with the butane cylinder and the needle moved fine then so my guess is that with an empty tank I simply wasn't getting enough pressure.

I think I might just give it a go

 

And then there was light

I might just be a little happy as after the mantle settled down it worked fine I think I might have been a bit impatient with the preheating as well as there was a bit of flame to begin with but as it warmed up properly it just sat there making a lovely hissing noise and lots of light

 

Damm you beat me...

Hi Jon,

Your observation is correct.
A full tank is on pressure with 5 pump strokes an empty one not even after 100 strokes and a box of plasters (? pleisters);-))

I can't see if you have the spirit cup so you have to use the rapid flame torch.
I prefer the soft spirit cup start.

Quick check:
fill her up, pressurize THEN without the hood and inner burner casing, open the valve a little, pointing the lamp away from you. You should see a nice straight spay of fuel. f not fuel pick up is blocked or/and jet not clean.
If OK, put the lamp together and enjoy the light tonight.

========================

1) there is only an on/off valve no adjusting of the light output
2) start it up outside
3) tell all your family members that they turn off the lamp in case of ... with the small screw on the pressure gauge.

 

I don't think I put as much fuel in as I thought then as it took a few more than 5 pump strokes but other than that I did as you suggested and checked the preheater and so on. I do have the spirit cup fitted but at the moment don't have any methylated spirits. I think I would probably prefer the softer start as well, that rapid preheater is a bit fierce

A quick polish and we'll be using it in the garden 8) I have a sneaking suspicion that this may become addictive, there's another one of these for sale just down the road from me and the guy I bought this one from has two more different ones as well

 

Well, just nipped out to the garden to try and fire it up again but unfortunately rain stopped play I did manage to get this pic of the preheater running



but then by the time we had it properly alight the heavens opened and as I don't quite trust my lighting technique enough yet to light it indoors we decided discretion was the better part of valour

I think there might still be an issue with the pump yet as it doesn't seem to pressurize with every stroke which is making things a bit heavy going. Any ideas what might be causing this and how to fix it? It's got a new leather pump seal, do they need bedding in a little or something?

 

Good to see you got this one running correctly.

I love those preheaters.

Especially when my neighbor is working diligently by the fence not paying no attention to me before I fire one off.

You can bet he pays closer attention to me when I walk to the table with a lamp now.

 

It does take a bit of getting used to

At last we actually have quite a balmy night and my lighting technique is improving





The globe has sooted up a little from my not so successful lighting attempts and I do intend to take it out and clean it as well as giving the whole thing a good clean and polish, other than that, I think I'm just going to leave it alone! My one concern is the pressure gauge. It's extremely difficult to get it up anywhere near the red line. At an indicated 1 bar there's waaaay too much pressure for the preheater and at about an indicate 1.5 bar the lantern is burning smoothly with no pulsing at all. Is it ok to use that as a guide or should I be pushing for the 2 bar?? Also, when I'm storing the lantern, should I store it full of fuel or if it's not going to be used for a while should I empty it?

These are such an evocative style of lantern. The minute it was lit and we had that unmistakable hissing sound and that mellow, warm light lighting up the garden I was transported to so many family camping trips and trips beach fishing with my Granddad and Mrs Happymoose was taken straight back to the time she spent in Africa. Ok, maybe you need to work a little more for the light, but that just makes it so much more satisfying when it all works

 

Be careful when removing the burner, the mantle is very easily broken from the "snap" of the inner burner coming loose or hitting the preston ring.

My preheater runs best just below 1 bar; but once it's warmed up good I can bring it closer to 1.5 then it's safe to light. Because of the tendency of the lamp to back burn into the generator below 1 bar I usually preheat it with the meths cup.

I store any paraffin lamp empty, I've seen algae start to grow in as little as 6 months.

 

Those pressure gauges are notoriously inacurate. They are more a guideline. When it is running, just pump until your thumb hurts. That's about the right pressure.

In time, kerosene does start to react with the copper in the brass and go a green colour so it's best to store a lamp empty if it's not going to be used for some time.

 

Algae growing in paraffin? - I've never heard of that...

What species of alga is it..?

 

Don't know the species David, but I remember there being a problem with an algae or fungus like growth in the integral fuel tanks on the Navy Sea Vixen jet aircraft that I worked on in the 60's. They ran on AVCAT, which is close to kerosene. Had to empty all tanks and clean out as it was clogging filters. Steve.