Hi All! Can anyone point me in the right direction of a decent model of the above make? Are these better than Tilley? Thanks alot Adam
Hello Adam, is it a lamp or a lantern that you are after? They are a well made lamps and lanterns and bowlfires and they are much better than modern Tilley lanterns, but in my opinion, they are not better than the pre 1956 Tilley products, nor are they any worse, except for one point. The Bialaddin burner was designed as a lantern burner, it was designed to fit into a hood which sat on a cage. So when it was fitted to a table lamp gallery and the gallery and burner sat on the vapouriser, that was not so good. After a while the burner becomes worn and the table lamp will not work so well, this can be cured by fitting another burner of course. Tilley lamps do not have that problem because the burner is designed differently, Jeff.
Hi Jeff, Iam after a pressure lantern, Ive seen a few on ebay but i dont know which is best? Thanks Adam
Any of them are worth having - they're engineered as opposed to merely assembled. Arguably, they're at least as good as Tilley up to 1956 and many would say better. After 1956, they're better than any equivalent Tilley lantern. That's not to say Bialaddin (branded Vapalux after 1968) got better after 1956 - Tilley just progressively declined in quality after that date. As someone here is apt to say, Tilley sacked their last engineer in 1956 and replaced him with accountants - you get the picture...
Personally, I like the 315 as I find it easier to light than the ones with the cylinder glass as you can slide the preheater up if you forget to start pumping before the flame dies down.
I thought it was more a case of the entire lamp/lantern design as opposed to merely the burner design. Any lamp or lantern where the hood and burner are supported by the vapouriser - and Tilley were just as likely to do that as Willis & Bates i.e. Bialaddin - will be prone to this. The harder steel vapouriser can wear away the softer brass burner so that the jet tip is no longer at the optimal point with respect to the air intakes and the venturi effect is reduced. The problem was eliminated when both manufacturers supported the hood and burner on the globe cage, which they could do with their lanterns. Or is there some cunning modification I don't know about, that Tilley burners have compared with their W&B equivalents? I have to say, though, that I've not experienced the problem of 'burner recession' in 8 years of collecting so it's never been a problem for me, but maybe those who have been collecting longer or more intensively than me have seen and suffered from it...
Hello David, we have discussed this point before, but it was a while ago. There are significant differences in the burner design. The Bialaddin burner was not designed as a table lamp burner, the Tilley burner was. The last time that we discussed this point, Neil concurred with the point which I made and if I find that post, I shall add a link, Jeff.
Yes there is. Tilley burners have a stop inside which sits on top of the vaporiser. The Vapalux burner does not have this so in the lamp the burner is sitting with the ends of the air tubes sitting on the vaporiser. In time the vaporiser distorts the air tubes and rises through the air gap and this can affect the mixture. That can't happen with Tilley as the stop is part of the main casting. However there is an argument that the Vapalux burner lasts better than the Tilley and you are more likley to get a good old burner simply because they are bigger and heavier than the Tilley so don't wear out as quickly in use. Both burners die of old age but generally Vapalux live longer. ::Neil::
Ah, now I recall this conversation and I remember at the time reaching down to my left and lifting the burner off the Bialaddin table lamp lurking there and squinting down the burner spigot to see a complete ring i.e. shoulder inside, upon which the burner rests on the vapouriser - as opposed to the three air intake ends. Well, I've just done exactly the same thing - same lamp, still there (that's the beauty of living on your own; if I don't move something it stays put!), with exactly the same outcome of course. I remember trying to get an image of it but couldn't manage. So I'm still confused here. Perhaps I ought to do a little measuring to establish where this shoulder is with respect to the air intake ends...
Interesting. I have never seen a Bialaddin burner with an inner stop. Seen quite a few without sitting on the air tubes in a table lamp though. Maybe they realised it was a problem and made a change for the lamp burners. ::Neil::
Have a look on e bay, there are one or two people selling unused ex mod stock vapalux m320's at a reasonable price.
Hmm - 'twas ever thus. The Army have been selling those off for years... I'm not so sure the prices being asked are what I'd call reasonable, though. I suppose it depends on what 'reasonable' is being compared with - the price of a Korean one today, what Bairstows were selling them for, what you're actually getting for your money (a cracking good lantern, no question) or what the seller actually paid for it. I've heard prices of as low as £4-5 each. And you wondered where your taxes went... I know I bought a batch of these lanterns (used, but just refurbished by the Army) from a military surplus dealer in Darlington some years ago for £18 each complete with the spares/accessory kit (funnel, 2 spare mantles, spare vapouriser, fuel can, seals kit etc.) He'd been knocking them out at £25 apiece but instantly dropped his price when I told him I wanted them all. I presume he still made a tidy sum on the deal. They've been a great source for eBay sales, spare parts, trades and give-aways over the years...
You know me, Kenny - a heart of the purest marshmallow! But I generally find that what goes around, comes around... 8)
