I purchased this Petromax 826 online which looked great for fettling. What was not mentioned in the description was the tank had obviously at some point been over pressurised and had at some point been repaired not sure about this repair ? It also had various deep dents and seemingly at some point been used for target practice for a pellet Hmmm ? So what do I do with such a lamp? Firstly I dismantled the lamp to basics checked and replaced the seals did a pressure test which it passed so then I fuelled the lamp up and lit it Great, so now I have a working but awful looking petromax 826 I reckon 1960s ?? I don’t like how it looks so I am going to commit to drastic measures by filling the indentations prep and paint the Font ….. NO No I hear it said but in my view it`s got to be done. I have not seen a painted Petromax 826 Has anyone else got one ?? Look forward to your views/comments ..
The two screws top hood and the angled vaporiser show a pre war Px from the 30s. Is there a 826 stamped on the fount? The Px 826 is rated at 350 CP and originally was nickel plated. What you're going to do is a matter of what you like Matthias
After cleaning you'll have a nice brass shining lamp. To correct myself, the 30s 826 were rated at 300 CP. I wish a successful fettling. Matthias
It looks 1930s by design. I've not seen a painted Petromax 826 too but there was another almost similar Petromax 2826, which is perhaps painted or enamelled. The repairs and dents are part of the lantern's history. So long as it works, that's a seriously worthy piece. It should have nickel plating originally. You should be able to find tell-tale specks of remaining nickel(around the folds and edges, hidden sections, etc). Its unlikely for a lantern to completely lose all its plating just by age or heavy use. I know some guys are bare-brass enthusiasts who might deliberately polish off the plating. That might include the seller as well.
The style of the hood makes me believe that a spare from an old Hasag 252 found its way on this lantern. The Petromax parts have a different look as can be seen from the posts in the reference gallery.
Are you referring to the Argentinian model 833? Or some others? From pictures on the web, the top cap of the 833 is white enamel but the shape is similar to a standard Petromax. Not like the sloped one on this thread and the one you posted here.
I dont know. The type designations are missing, and the inner case is also completely missing. I got the lamp from Rome. It belonged to gypsies.
Obviously, there are some subtle difference in the features between the German and Argentinian Petromax. The central plate of the frame rest was also enamelled. I'm pretty sure its still a genuine Petromax. I don't know much about the history of the Argentina Petromax and its connection with the German headquarters. But I think the Graetzs must have already been planning to move some of its smaller business divisions (lamps and lanterns) to South America and elsewhere sometime during or after WWII. Perhaps to focus more on its then core business (radios, electronics, etc) in Germany.
Yes there are signs and areas of it being nickel plated almost all of which has been removed in its history. I would not have minded a few indentations from use over the ages but the rifle pellet indentation really does ruin it. So I am going ahead with a Font Paint job and polish up the rest of the lamp. I`m thinking Deep Maroon/burgundy as was the Vapalux 300x post pics of progress. Thanks for the info
Vapalux 300X Burgundy is attractive. What about the pellet indentation? Are you filling it up with auto polyester putty, epoxy or solder?
Hi Am trying a similar product to P38 2 Pack Body Filler. My only concern would be when the lamp is Pressurised would it push the Filled area to the surface creating a raised area ? I suppose it`s all an experiment. In the back of my mind If the worse happens I can always strip it down again which would be easier to do if I use the p38 as opposed to soldering. Interesting can`t wait to see what happens as have never tried filling a dent in this way before !
It certainly looks so spruced up. A lot of us here are highly attracted by red shades, burgundy, etc..
