Tilley X246A

First time poster, I have a couple of modern Coleman Powerhouse Lamps , but fancy a classic , just picked up what I think is a fairly original 246A

Planning to strip and rebuild hopefully the brass is in tidy condition and I can polish and laquer it

Any advice and pointers greatly appreciated

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Car polish the hood (ventilator), sand the cage and use a heat resisting silver paint. Our site sponsor (the fettlebox) can supply all the washers needed for an overhaul. Use an old piece of leather belt on any things that are stuck so that the metal fittings are not damaged. Rinse the fount out with citric acid solution (1 tablespoon per litre of boiling water) for say 10 minutes. Read up on this site about painting options for the fount (tank) if you change your mind about taking it to brass and lacquering it.

The black knob can be removed by pulling it off firmly (there is a small metal clip in it so don't lose that).

Read up too (on this site) on how to service the vapouriser (generator) and check you can see light through it. Dunk test it all to ensure no leaks.

Follow the manufacturer's lighting instructions including adequate pre-heating with the usual methylated spirit torch which you may or may not already have.

Good luck.

 

Thanks so much for the in-depth pointers on the restoration

Looks like the Fettlebox is closed until 20th March.

I plan to strip and clean all the parts, salvage original fittings but replace all the seals in the pump and control valve is it best to replace springs too , will a service kit for the 246B from Tilley Service pack 1 be correct for my lamp or should I just get the washer set ?

 

Welcome to CPL @Beanie

Before ordering a SP1 kit check which seal is in the non return valve (NRV) on your lanterns pump and cock. Yours probably has the flat seal in a brass holder. The SP1 kit comes with a blockish seal and no brass holder. Whilst it will work in the 246A the flat seal is better.

Clean and check for blockages but don't dismantle the burner unless absolutely necessary, the threads tend to deform making it difficult to reassemble and seal.

 

Ah right , thanks for that Robbo , I was planning on leaving it intact until I had the parts so there was little chance of mis-assembly , I’ll have a peak at what I need then

Appreciated

 

Robbo, just surfing the web, is this what I may find ?

 

Thats good advice

they may be that earlier type or they might be a cut off version.. just the ‘cup’ part.. you can just make them out from this photo of one of Tony’s lanterns..



another image ..

 

I’ve stripped the pump, it’s the longer version , hasn’t seen a “cut” version , will see what’s in the control valve

thanks Podbros

 

Thanks for the advice so far - the lamp strip has begun , still waiting on seals but thought I’d get my head around the parts involved

a bit of cleaning up of some while I wait , vaporiser looks good , I can see light through it with a bright torch

I still plan to polish the tank , the area where the paint has rubbed has been buffed by hand and I think it will come up well

 

Spent a bit of time on the lamp over the weekend, got all the paint stripped off and the tank polished (Autosol) , not quite happy yet, but its looking better

All parts have been stripped and cleaned, new seals have arrived but will clean up the cage before final reassembly , hopefully thats later this week

The vaporiser is clear, the burner has had a good clean up (without dismantling) with Barkeeps Friend and the control valve cleaned up too

 

That would be one of the last batch of X246A's, as the X246B was introduced from 12/64 as I recall.

 

Hullo Beanie,
that is certainly coming along :-)

 

That's looking great.!

 

Well she’s done (are lamps female ?)

Not able to test fire tonight as I’d like to do that outside initially and check the burner for the little blue flames before fitting a mantle , hopefully tomorrow

Tank all done by hand , pump , valve , vaporiser , burner all stripped cleaned and new seals throughout . Glass cleaned , the worst part is the hood , but it’s the original I think

Cage rubbed down and painted with VHT paint , I went with charcoal to contrast the polished brass tank

Maybe not everyone’s taste , but it’s what I had in my mind for it

First of my collection - 2 more already waiting , a Speculum 246B and a Gold 246B

 

Looking good.
I'm going to have to order in some elbow grease and get busy on my lampses now...

 

It's cleaned up nicely, congratulations

 

The dark frame looks great against the shiny tank.
I also have a BR49 finished in a similar color, so I really appreciate your approach.

I'm looking forward to seeing it lit up.
Thank you for sharing.

 

Here we go , glad I did a test run , slight weep on the tank to Valve seal .

Had nice blue flamlets so let it cool , filled and lit a 246B that’s now in my collection while waiting then added a Mantle

Overall very pleased with the outcome




Speculum next I think

 

It's working well.

 

Nice!