Yesterday a started to work on my Radius 101. After an initial cleaning, new nozzle/needle and a new graphite seal the lamp fired up but did suffer from “black mantle” disease. After a new and even more carful cleaning of the vaporizer and mixing tube this issue was solved. Now my remaining problem, I can’t get the very thin needle for the 100 CP nozzle to last. Even if it works after that I carfully assembled the lamp, after first burn the needle look like and “S”. I have now wasted 2 needles and do only have one left as spare. Any hints and advices? I have consider to use 200/250 CP nozzle/needle to make the system more robust. A Optimus needle fit but the nozzle thread isn’t the same. Are the any 200-250 CP nozzles that fit on a Radius 101? The obvious alternative Radius 102 seem to have the same thread as Optimus and will not fit.
Hi, a 250cp needle & jet won't work at all in these tiny lamps. They are very(!!!) sensitive to rich fuel/air mixture, which will surely be the case if you use a 250cp needle & jet. Maybe you got 150cp needles as spare parts, and they wont go through the original 100cp jet with a correct orifice diameter? Try to fit the needle into the jet by hand when removed, and carefully adjust the vaporizer assembly. Nothing must be bent, and the needle should appear exactly in the center of the vaporizer when the jet is removed. BR, Martin
My thinking was to run the lamp with bigger nozzle and lower pressure to compensate. At the end of the day it must be the amount of fuel that matters and not the size of the nozzle. And yes, I’m almost sure I have the right needle since everything work after assembling. But I guess you are right, since the needle is so thin everything needs to be perfect. I will just take a few of deep breaths and redo the assembling again, very, very carefully.
Running with a bigger needle/jet just at lower pressure won't compensate the problem because there will be not enough air drawn in, so still too much fuel. You only can switch to other fuel: petrol and in particular alcohol will need bigger jets for the same amount of air, because the calorific value is less. But be careful: usually these appliances are designed for a specific sort of fuel, and using another could cause serious hazards.
