Aida/Petormax problem?

My friend has a Aida 1500 lantern and we installed a new jet, new cleaning needle, lead gaskets and installed new nitrile pips last week. It burns very bright without the vent installed, but every time he goes to put the vent on, the mantle turns yellowish and starts to flare up. He has tried adjusting the air on the side of the burner, but it doesn't seem to help. The needle is set at about 1mm above the jet at high end. Any thoughts, or advice would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance.
Dan

 

What type of fuel is he using?

 

The usual cause of a dimming mantle and a flare up is an enlarged jet, but have you cleaned out the J tube?

Spiders get in there and muck builds up and that restricts the air flow and from your description it sounds like an air flow problem.

Neil may have some other advice for you, Jeff.

 

I agree with Jeff and chek the ceramic nozzle is screwed tight while a little false air-intake here will course a yellow mantle too.

Claus C

 

Hello Claus, that's a good point!

 

I have seen a few Petromax types do this and I have yet to understand why. I "cured" one by raising the J tube to around a 20mm air gap. I have also noticed it is fairly common for them to be brighter without the outer hood fitted. The only thing I can think of is that the J tube may become rough inside which increases the friction and therfore the qualilty of the burn. ::Neil::

 

Thank you Gentlemen for all the comments and help. My friend will be bringing it back over in the next week or so and I am going to try each one of the things you guys suggested. I'll keep you posted and thanks again!!!

Dan

 

I assume the vent is the top hat.
This means that it can only be a problem of hot air getting out.

The top hat in fact causes the hot air to stay (longer) under the burner assembly.
Or the hot air can't escape easy.

It also obstructs the air intake (a little).

I guess that there exist a critical balance between air/fuel rate. With the top hat inplace the balance tops to the wrong side. Placing a new jet/needle set and the right (manual) J-tube distance may be a good start to solve the problem.

Maybe you can also try to see what happends when you place a piece of metal before the air chamber with the top off.