Hello, i have been visiting CPL for some months now to help improve my knowledge of tilley lamps. I decided to join yesterday and this will be my first post. I have aquired a PL53 (will post pics when it arrives), however the hood and wire globe carrier are in serious need of repair. Im thinking of replacing these parts, i have seen the cages on the bay for £12, but notice that they have cages cheaper on base-camp but im unsure which one i need. Does anyone know what part number the cage is? I notice that base-camp had some all bass hoods for the PL53 but they are sadly sold out. Does anyone know where i could procure one? if i have posted this in the wrong section then please advise. Thanks in advance, Neil
Welcome to CPL! Smarter people than me will help you with your PL53 question, but you're in the right place Al
When i got home the lamp was waiting for me, looks quite sad at the moment. Tank doesnt have any dents but should it have the longer 7inch vapouriser as this one seems too small?
Welcome. If you ask Mike at Base-Camp to send you a cage for a PL53 globe that is exactly what you will get. He has some original manufacture, but they have some corrosion due to poor storage in the past. They are however, good and only need a clean-up. I bought one recently and was very pleased. A replacement hood is a much more difficult problem; they are hard to find. Good luck - Steve. PS. Just seen your lamp, and to me there is not a lot wrong with the cage. Looks totally restorable. Hood is buggered though!
Thanks Steve, your right about the cage.. it does have a break in the wire which perhaps isnt visible on the pics, but i managed to bend it back into shape ish. The hood is well battered but hopefully i will get lucky and find one. I would have snapped up one of the solid brass ones that are out of stock on base-camp, shame but i'll keep looking.
Is that one of the rarer hoods with the brown interior, as opposed to the usual white? If so it is a shame it is in such poor nick.
Hi James, im afraid i really don't know that much about the PL53 hoods, but this one is brown on the inside. Are the brown interior ones rare? It is a shame that the hood is buggered, this particular one has some custom attachment to the top. Does anyone have an idea of what year this particular example is from?
Hello again, does the handle screw off from the tank? as this one seems pretty stiff. Should i try WD40 or is it best to leave them if they appear ceased to the tank to avoid damage. I was hoping to clean the fount up a bit over the weekend and removing the handle would make the task significantly easier Thanks
Try a bit of auto trans oil or penetrene on handle and thread hot air gun or gas heat, wrap leather round collar and grip with pliers wrigle handle a bit as you turn. Graham
Neil, I have restored a few of the PL53s and I have never managed to get the handles off one yet! They are always well siezed in and I once ruined a tank trying to get the the collars to unscrew. From there-on I always work round it. If the handle is good and does not need to come off for any other reason, I would leave it alone. Steve.
Thanks Steve, there isnt anything wrong with the handle so i will leave it be. I will post some more pics as the cleaning process begins.
Looking better now, i have picked off all the rusty bits of metal at the top and reapplied the custom cowel until i can find a replacement hood. It will do for now.
Aye it was some hard work but the end results worth it. You cant really see on the pic, but there are small pink spots on the brass which i think is tarnish. It didn't seem to want to come off. Does anyone have any advice on how to remove it or is it there to stay? Thanks in advance.. Neil
I have a problem!!... i have fired the tilley up and it burns bright but loses pressure slowly. There is a hole on the rim of the pump. the hole looks as though it should be there but that is where it is losing the pressure as i can feel the air coming out of it. Does anyone know why this would be and what do i need to do to stop it? Thanks
That hole is meant to be there and is where pressure, ie air, escapes from when the tank is vented by slightly unscrewing the pump. The idea was that you don't get paraffin also venting out if the tank is still full. If air is venting from there during use, it indicates that your pump to tank washer needs replacing. This is hardly surprising, given the age of these lanterns, and is part of a routine service. I'd renew the other seals as well at the same time, if I were you. If you don't want to make the seals yourself from nitrile rubber sheet, you need a Tilley 'old 498' service pack, or the equivalent in Viton from our fearless leader, Ross - aka Spiritburner. There's a link to his products on the site - in Member Services, IIRC...
Hello, that is a WW2., PL-53 and the wartime brass was of poorer quality, hence the pink spots, they cannot be removed as they are part of the alloy. You need to replace all of the seals on your pump as they are starting to fail and yes that hole is meant to be there, New Tilley washers are available from this website via the link below, Jeff. http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/
