I am currently trying to service one of my X246B’s by installing Tilley’s Service Pack 1 but am running into problems with the control valve. My lamp was evidently produced in November 2015 and I believe all the parts to be original. I can see no way to disassemble the internals of the control valve assembly, as there is nothing to unthread from the valve body to access and change the spring (610) and washer valve (155). A search for information on YouTube only yields happy Englishmen easily and conveniently dropping all the necessary parts in place while carefully explaining that they are also servicing X246B’s. I understand that there are brass and aluminum variations of the control valve assembly, but the aluminum one I have does not come apart as do the ones I’ve seen on the Internet.
@Jaska Any good? when you take the plastic knob from the spindle , then you unscrew the gland nut.. the little washer may be hiding inside the piece with the filter unscrews revealing the spring and moulded washer
Yes, the gland washer (234) was indeed lodged inside the gland nut. From what I can tell, the new gland washer should be fitted with the narrower end outboard (facing the plastic knob). Is this correct? I am still unable to unscrew the end of the control valve assembly to reveal the spring and washer valve. The aluminum body appears to be one single piece with a portion of it externally threaded. There is no sort of “cap” to unscrew whatsoever. The one in your picture clearly has grooves cut into the cap for unscrewing it. Mine appears to be an unserviceable throw-away model.
ok here is mine screwed back together if you get a pair of pliers and grip Only on the unthreaded part it will come undone.. to prevent marking use a piece of leather or similar? ps you should not need the pliers to put back together :-)
Well that did it. Thank you, podbros! All it took was a large pair of locking pliers and my wife’s right glove . Any word on the positioning of the cone-shaped gland washer? The old one is perished to the point that it’s hard to tell which way around it was originally.
Hi Great stuff, well done sorry forgot to say, I usually put them with the small side facing the control tap so that the larger face sits into the cup? ps I would put a small amount of paraffin or 3-in-1 oil on the shaft to help and stop any damage
Here’s a little follow-up question I have regarding Service Pack 1 compatibility. I’ve noticed that when using the supplied little rubber seal for the end of the pump (the pump valve?) the pump doesn’t work. There is a noticeable difference in thickness between the original seal and the one contained in SP1. In practice, this means that my pump will only work with the replacement seal if I unscrew the retaining nut about half way to allow the spring to compress when the plunger is depressed. This is not a problem with the new spring, either, since it behaves the same with both the old and new springs. For the time being I’ve rebuilt my pump but have left the old seal and spring in place until I learn more.
The washer kits etc., from the Fettlebox are of good quality. Tilley FL6 Floodlight Deluxe Washer Kit - The Fettlebox
I am indeed in the process of putting together an order with Fettlebox. I’ve sent them a message to ask for a bit of help figuring out exactly what I need for my lamps. In the meantime, I’d still like to determine what could be wrong with the genuine Tilley parts I’ve bought.
Jaska, a picture of the old and new components next to each other will help to solve the problem. The cap should screw all the way on.
OK, here are some pictures of two #155 seals included in a recently purchased Tilley Service Pack 1. There is a difference of 0,5–1 mm difference between them in both the height of the seal (which I've referred to as base height in the attached images) that rests outside of the spring and in the overall width. As I've tried to explain, the thicker/wider seal prevents the pump from dispersing any air because it compresses the spring too much—at least that's how it seems to me. To use this seal, the retaining nut has to be partially disengaged/unthreaded. My understanding is that there should be two identical #155 seals in SP1, one of which is for the control valve and the other for the pump. I haven't brought this to Tilley's attention, but it would be nice if they would look into this and, if appropriate, send out another visually inspected SP1.
Many of us will replace the "modern" seal with the older brass cup and flat seal. Read this thread: Tilley lamp pressure pump
What I meant to ask is whether the old style brass cup and seal can be directly used to update the new style pump. In other words, can I just remove and discard the retaining nut, spring and seal from my pump and install the old style brass cup and seal in their place? As far as Fettlebox is concerned, they don’t sell the parts in question, do they? I thought they only provided replacement seals, not the other pump valve parts.
You would use the existing spring but use the cup and a flat seal. I would look on eBay or the base camp.
