Propane Lantern Problems

[Fat Old Guy]

I have a moderately old propane lantern that has developed a strange problem.

 

If I shut it off and attempt to relight it before a few minutes have passed, it won't relight. I can hear the gas whooshing. The match is right up there where it needs to be but it won't ignite.

 

Any ideas?

[eisely]

I would guess that the volume of space enclosed by the glass globe is too filled with unburned propane and products of the prior combustion to provide enough oxygen to start the ignition. You might try simply blowing gently up through the air holes at the bottom to ventilate the globe.

[FScouter]

Propane is heavier than air. Normally, when you open the valve it comes out through the mantle and should drift down and into the lit match you're holding under the mantle. But if the lantern is hot, the propane may be hot enough to rise up, thereby avoiding your match. Just a theory.