Help, my parafin heater has gone crazy

[bridbod]

I have a parasene 4 heater which worked fine this time last year, but what happens now is
1. I raise the wicks to light them
2. then lower the wicks until they stop smoking
3. after a minute or two lower them a bit more

but the smoking starts again as the flames get bigger.
I can crank the wicks down big time so there's barely a flame, but then soon after
they extinguish completely.
I must have spent hours trying in vain to find that sweet spot where the flame stays constant, neither
dying away nor growing and starting to billow out smoke.
Just wondered if anyone has has similar problems and did they find a solution

(I've also tried trimming the wicks and reversing them to no avail)
Oh and both wicks behave  (misbehave)the same :'(

[bridbod]

[kt.]

have you soaked the wicks prior to use.  They smoke more if used dry.

[pumkinlover]

Funnily enough my small heater has been doing this- then making loads of soot ???

[chriscross1966]

Condensation in the tanks?... water getting to the wick wouldn't help...

[jimtheworzel]

try boiling the burner in a pan to remove the soot, then clean out the burner chimney with a wire brush to get rid of all the unwanted soot thats causing the probs

[bridbod]

Wow. thanks for your replies
The burner behaves the same whether the chimney is in place or not.
Maybe the wicks didn't have enough time to soak up the parafin, but they've been swimming in it
for a week now and they're a healthy lenght.
Me thinks a tank clean out (dry out) and new wicks and a burner scrub (although it
looks almost new) is next, otherwise its getting jumped on !!

[bridbod]

New parafin and wicks did the trick, back in business again  ;)