Hello Lamp-folk! I've been lurking around these boards for a little while and I thought it was time I said hello. After falling in love with Tilley lamps when I was in the scouts, I hadn't given them much thought for about 18 years. Then, a few weeks ago I saw this on sale in a junk shop, and it brought back all the happy memories. I had to have it! I believe it's a mid 50s X246 "Guardsman" (experts feel free to correct me). The side of the fount is stamped "Tilley-[owl]-England", and the base plate says "Made in England" (no date stamp). It has a wingnut-style pump, although I haven't found many examples of this pump in my searching. Through studying a lot of the posts on here (and a fair bit of trial and error) I managed to get the thing running yesterday! It needed a full set of new seals and a new pricker wire, and I've cleaned out the burner and the tank. It's not perfect yet - it seems to burn brightly for only a few minutes before turning dim and requiring re-pumping. I suspect it may either be a small leak somewhere, or perhaps a blockage in the fuel line, but if you have any other suggestions I'd be glad to hear them! Of course, I couldn't just stop at one lamp - I've already picked up a knackered old X246B to start working on, but that's got a long way to go. Anyway, I'm really glad to have found this place. If it wasn't for all the helpful information on here I wouldn't have known where to start. Here's to many more fettles! -- Dale
Hello Dale and welcome aboard! That lantern will have a pressure indicator, which is the small brass tube which protrudes from the top of the tank. Inside that tube there is a small brass rod and when the top of the rod is level (flush) with the top of the tube, then you have the correct amount of pressure in the tank. Somtimes that indicator sticks and sometimes it leaks, to check for leaks, remove the fuel from the tank and then pump pressure into it, set the control cock to the closed position before pumping in pressure, then submerge the tank in water and if there are leaks you will see air bubbles. The fuel feed tube can get blocked or partly blocked over the years, to cure that problem, unscrew the control cock and shove a length of tying wire down the fuel feed tube until it hits the bottom of the tank, I do that a few times and then I clean out the tank. The burner may be almost burned out, Tilley burners function the way which you have described when they are almost knackered, the vapouriser may also be near the end of it's working life. It's a matter of trial and error, do let us know how you get on, Jeff.
Hi Dale, mine had the same style pump when I got it, so whether original to the lamp it not it's probably not uncommon... Personally I prefer the other style with the knurled knob and so swapped mine after this picture was taken. The pressure pip on mine was initially stuck as mentioned earlier but a few squirts of WD40 over several days eventually freed it up...
If your lamp has the stamping on the tank side then it is date stamped in the base. Take a careful look because the stamps can be faint but that Tank style is always date marked. A stuck pressure tit is easily freed off with an application of a penetrating oil and then gently tap the inner to make it move. WD40 is not a penetrating oil so get something purpose made which will work better and faster than WD40. The best easing fluids are either AeroKroil or best of all make your own with a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF. ::Neil::
Thanks for the welcome and for the helpful responses! Jeff, my pressure pip is definitely non-functional (didn't surprise me too much given its age), but I'll try the bucket-of-water trick to check if it's leaking as well. I'm about to give the fuel line a good clean too. I'm not too keen on the idea of replacing the burner and/or vapouriser just yet, since I'm on a tight budget. Luckily I work in a chemical lab, so access to cleaning solvents and ultrasonic baths is not an issue. Gneiss, thanks for the pic - certainly looks familiar. Personally, I think I prefer the wingnut style of pump. I've had a knurled ring take the skin off my hand one too many times! Neil, thanks for the tips. The base plate is not in great condition, so it's entirely possible there's a date stamp there I'm just not seeing. I'll keep trying!
Well, the bucket-of-water test was revealing. Clear leakage from the pump. Closer inspection revealed a rookie error - I'd installed the clamp washer and its brass ring the wrong way around! I've given it a quick light and it seems to be working much better, but I won't know for sure until the sun goes down (better half doesn't allow lighting indoors). As for the pressure pip, there were no bubbles in the water test, but I've since given it a squirt of WD40 and there's now a lot of bubbling when the pressure's up. Should I seal this up (solder?) or is there any hope it could work again? Acetone/ATF sounds like a pretty slippery mixture. As a chemist, I can't resist whipping up a new cocktail.
If bubbles come out there, you probably got a ruptured bellows, and if so no chance that it will work again. A blob of solder in the little hole is probably the easiest and best way to solve this. The pressure indicator is a pretty meaningless thing anyway, even if it's nice when it works.
Hello Dale, if you are going to solder the pressure indicator, then do remember to clean out the inside of the tube and the top of the tube and the top of the rod or the solder will not grip. Jeff.
That pressure tit is inserted from the inside and only held in with soft solder so you need to be careful you don't get too much heat around there when soldering it up. Trick here is to drill down the innner rod maybe a quarter inch this not only cleans the brass before soldering but gives you more space to fill with a solder plug. The best way to do the job is to drill and tap the outer tube to take a small brass screw which can then be solder sealed and then filed flush with the tube top. The Acetone/ATF mix was the result of an investigation by some US university who tested several over the counter easing fluids such as Croil, WD40 and the like and they found WD40 performed the worst by a long way and the Acetone/ATF was the best by around 20% over the best of the rest which was AeroKroil. Simple and cheap to make and I have been using it for a few years now with good results. ::Neil::
... In case you're wondering (as I was) the "ATF" that is being referred to here is Automatic Transmission Fluid for a motorcar, not Aviation Turbine Fuel (which is essentially kerosene or parrafin). Cheers
Dale, don't be too hasty in soldering up the pressure pip because it depends what you mean by "a lot of bubbles".. After I did the WD40 trick on mine I got quite a lot of bubbles the first time I pumped it up too but it was just trapped air and probably WD40 being expelled once the pip actually started to function again - the bubbles stopped after a minute or so. Fortunately someone on here had warned me that might happen.
Funny you should say that.... After pumping up a few times and getting nothing but bubbles from the pip, I bit the bullet and put in blob of solder on Saturday. The next time I lit the lamp, it looked like the solder was flaking off. Sure enough, the more I pumped the more the solder rose until eventually it dropped out completely. Lo and behold! The pip is alive! I'm planning to repeat the water leak test to be sure, but I had her lit for an hour or so with no noticeable dimming! The other half and I had an evening barbecue illuminated by this magical glow (sorry about the wonky angle): Thanks again for all your help! -- Dale
Hello Dale, that's good news! That was one point about Tilley pressure indicators which I forgot to mention but you got a happy ending anyway and the lantern is working well!
