Removing a Perfection 525 Wick

Ok folks... any tips here before I mangle this thing into a brass pretzel ?
also: how do I install the new wick when it come in?

Does the whole housing around it come off? the part with the gauge.

I used to work at a hardware store that sold kero heaters. Couldn't tell you how many times people would bring them in where they tried to replace the wick. They'd have the whole spring mechanism taken apart... there is 4 wing nuts and the whole thing comes off to give you full access to the wick. Of course that isn't comparable to a new one.

You have to remove the old wick by pulling it up while turning the adjuster.

You would be much better off just getting one of the Japanese heaters which are far better. I see them all the time at the dump now that kero is so expensive.

OK, got the son ma biatch out after letting it soak all night in Gasoline and then methodically wiggling the wick back and forth, up and down for 10 minutes until it finally broke free!
I notice their is a metal casing around the wick (is that part of the wick or part of the stove )

Its part of the wick. My grandma had 4 or 5 of those heaters for her brood houses. You will have to be sure the wick raises evenly or else it will smoke on one side and the flame will be low on the other. Those are neat little heaters too bad they don't have a tip over safety shut off Id be scared to use on in my house. Check this out http://www.milesstair.com/PERFECTION_HEATER_WICK_ ... ATION.html

carlherrnstein wrote:Its part of the wick. My grandma had 4 or 5 of those heaters for her brood houses. You will have to be sure the wick raises evenly or else it will smoke on one side and the flame will be low on the other. Those are neat little heaters too bad they don't have a tip over safety shut off Id be scared to use on in my house. Check this out http://www.milesstair.com/PERFECTION_HEATER_WICK_ ... ATION.html

great link! thats half the price of the 500 I ordered! thanks a bunch

Speaking of wicks, we have several antique oil lamps where you turn the wick up and down with a little wheel. I have replaced the old crumbling wicks with new ones from the hardware store. The problem is, if I buy typical cheap lamp oil at Wal Mart, it smokes a little and stinks up the room when burned. If I buy the more expensive light weight paraffin oil (guaranteed non-smoking) then the wick doesn't soak up the oil fast enough to keep a good flame going. If I turn the wick up higher, the flame flares up momentarily then settles back again to too-small. So I need either a different type of wick (which I haven't been able to find) or a different type of oil. Suggestions, anyone? Would K-1 kerosene work or would that be stinky too?

I have a couple aladdin mantel lamps that I have used clear K-1 in without any problems, K-1 is sometimes dyed red for tax purposes I've never used red kerosene so I cant speak for it.

good points on what oil is best I intend to make this lil' Perfection Heater a funky fun design and I will make it better than new condition but I don't think I'll be using it much anyways (but I will try it just to see what it does )

The Perfection heaters are very useful and work well when tuned properly. I have made several posts about kerosene heaters recently. Here are some links where you can find information and people familiar with this type of device.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KeroseneHeaterandSt ... Collector/

http://www.milesstair.com/

I've recently been buying kerosene heaters with the very desirable "double heater" burner. Look on youtube for the video about the Toyostove RCA-87 which is the same model as mine.

EarthWindandFire wrote:The Perfection heaters are very useful and work well when tuned properly. I have made several posts about kerosene heaters recently. Here are some links where you can find information and people familiar with this type of device.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KeroseneHeaterandSt ... Collector/

http://www.milesstair.com/

I've recently been buying kerosene heaters with the very desirable "double heater" burner. Look on youtube for the video about the Toyostove RCA-87 which is the same model as mine.

I have completed this total rebuild of my perfection in less than 4 hours! crazy easy compared to rebuilding stoves and it kinda gives you the exact same satisfaction (Im going to make a thread about this alternative therapy for all us addicts here!)
Im going to fire this puppy up and take some photo's to post Such a simple machine with totally repairable parts (this thing was a froze rust bucket found at the dump for free and after I took it apart everything was easy...simple float, simple burner, simple gear, simple 2 bolt main construction, removable labels and best of all the only part ever needed is the wick which is available for $10 bucks!!!

@earthwindandfire maybe you can shed some light on this lil' cooker for me? how does kero blow out this kind of power and BTU's