Ron Foo's Old Lanterns

One of my favorite lanterns is the Petromax lantern. This lantern has been around since 1910 and was the first “pressurized” lantern meaning there was no wick but had pressure to force the fuel into a generator. This lantern operates with kerosene, was developed by Max & Adolf Graetz in Berlin, Germany around 1910. From their efforts arose the brand "Petromax" and the parts for these products have not changed in over 80 years.


Petromax Lantern running on Diesel and Coleman fuel.

Even though these lanterns were designed for use with kerosene, almost any sort of fuel could be used. Diesel, kerosene, mineral spirits, gasoline, “Coleman fuel” (the stuff you find at Wal-Mart for about $4.00 per gallon), lamp oil (scented and unscented), and even Citronella oil to help rid you of mosquitoes will all burn in this lantern. If you happen to be running the lantern on, let’s say kerosene, and you run out of kerosene but have a lot of mineral spirits, put it in along with the kerosene. The lantern will run just fine.

I have had my lantern running on a mixture of diesel, kerosene, and citronella and the lantern operated just fine. Also…, you will not find any lantern out there brighter than a Petromax. Most lanterns (Coleman, etc.) have about 100 to 150 watts or so light output. Compare this to the 400 watts a Petromax gives. My friends have said it’s called a PetroMAX not a PetroMIN…

If do own a Petromax, here's a handy modification for easier operation. The pump that pressurizes the tank is good, but it takes a lot of pumping to run the preheat torch to heat the generator. Then you have to pump more to get the lantern up to the red line on the gage. An easier solution is to make a valve so you can connect the lantern to a tire pump or compressor.

Go to your auto parts store and buy a schrader valve. Take the pump handle out of the lantern and remove the pump handle. What you want is the part that screws onto the lantern. Drill the part to accommodate the schrader valve. Here's what mine looks like. I understand somebody makes this ready to go on the Internet. This is a simple and quick project.


Then… Buy a small tire pump and put it into your Petromax carry case. You'll be able to maintain the pressure in your lantern while pre-heating or operating the lantern.


Remember! Pump to the red line! No more than that!!!

A Petromax lantern is made from solid brass. No thin sheet metal that rusts and then plugs generators. The basic design has not changed since the first model and the parts are interchangeable with little or no problem.

There are several knock-offs of these and the Butterfly brand seems to be the most popular, or it seems that way. Parts will even interchange with these!

The German army used these lanterns in both World Wars and is in use even today. The Petromax even saw use during Desert Storm. With a special attachment you can even cook and boil water on top of the lantern.

They are NOT cheap. You’ll spend at least $140 for the lantern but they are the best things around.

Understanding how a pressure lantern works is pretty easy. Fuel, under pressure is passed along a small tube called a generator and metered through a small valve that shoots the fuel stream into a chamber called (in the case of a Petromax) the Upper Vaporizing Tube.


The upper vaporizing tube is the "U" shaped tube at the top. The metering valve is in the box shaped opening
on the left.


This is the other end of the upper vaporizing tube. The mantle is connected to the nozzle.

Close-up of the metering
needle valve.

Metering needle close-up. The needle is about .010".
The needle is protruding through the metering nut.

Coleman generator circa 1948.
The generator is the item at
the top of the photo.

Coleman generator from a late model "Dual Fuel" lantern. The generator is the disk shaped part.

This tube is the main key to how a pressure lantern works. As the fuel enters the tube it vaporizes into a gas from the heat of the burning fuel. Heat produced from the burning fuel then passes down to the mantles through a nozzle causing the mantle to glow. Mantles are made from rayon and coated with materials such as magnesium oxide and other chemicals to cause them to emit light. Heat now rises to heat the generator causing the fuel to vaporize and the cycle continues over and over until the fuel is shut off or exhausted.

The amount of heat produced is considerable. The Petromax produces about 8,000 Btu per hour. This is more than enough to boil water or heat an area.

If you would like to see more lanterns, especially Coleman's click here.

Then click here for lanterns by different manufacturers.

If old stoves are your things then click here.

Both of these pages are at the museum's "other site" that has many, many pictures gathered from many shows and events.