After noticing a few leaks from what could only be washers, I decided to replace all the washers on my M320. Now the lamp is not as bright, and when I remove the top, the fuel only shoots up a few feet (after a half dozen pumps). I had read on another thread that it should "hit the ceiling." After the rebuild, I had a little leftover "dot" that I assumed was an extra piece, as a I couldn't figure out where it went. I kept it, but now suspect that it's a PIP. If I missed something like this, then perhaps it's the cause of my problems. Where does it go??? feeling a bit foolish, Mark
mark, if you've got the NRV pip left in the kit then the old one should still be there in the font,big flat screwdriver blade needed ,its in the pump tube...,,,normally if the pump handle doesn't start rising up after pumping then the NRV is working ok,,,, If the valve and pickup pipe section of it is clear then its probably a vapouriser issue with a bit of errant carbon restricting the flow...However i'm note sure that hitting the ceiling is necessary,I can get good light from a decent flow , I'm lucky by having a couple of 'standards' .. good lamps that i can pinch a vap or burner off to swap and see the differences,,,,Sounds silly but even the mantle tying/type of mantle can make a bit of difference....
A few feet after half a dozen pump strokes sounds OK to me. These lamps operate at 30psi or better so in use you pump 'till your thumb hurts. It will get brighter with every pump stroke. ::Neil::
Mack: if there is enough pressure, yet there is still an overly rich mixture (even after several minutes of light) then the vapouriser hole must be too big, right? Can't poor vapourization come from crud in the vapouriser? Is it cleanable or serviceable at all, or must it be replaced? Finding a vapouriser seems fraught with peril, doesn't it? One from an online vender costs almost as much as another M320. Do you have any advice on how to select a replacement?
Has anyone tried fuel-injector cleaner? In the US, we would use a product called Seafoam to remove carbon from an engine's combustion chambers and fuel-injectors by introducing it to the fuel mix. Once the Seafoam (a liquid) coated the chamber, and then sat for twenty minutes soaking into all all the carbon, the engine would be restarted, producing a global-warming cloud of James Bond exhaust smoke that was all vaporised carbon. The heads and pistons would clean like new. My sense is that the same process would work in a vaporiser. Add it to the font, pump the tank, coating the vaporiser's insides (and indeed everything else,) and then burn all the crud out. Perhaps I'll try this before picking up a new(?) vaporiser. Any thoughts?
Hello Mark, Vapalux/Bialaddin and Tilley vapourisers only last for a certain number of burning hours. If you are able to clear any of the carbon then it will work for a while longer, but if the jet is enlarged then that vapouriser is knackered. It's a good idea to save the cleaning wire. You may find an unused old stock vapouriser on Ebay, Jeff.
is the cleaning wire inside the vaporiser cone or wedge shaped in any way, or is it a straight? I suppose I'm asking to determine whether the prolonged use of the cleaning nozzle will enlarge the hole.
It should have a sharp point and yes that can happen, but operating the pricker wire is necessary sometimes, Jeff.
Well... I picked up a few NOS vaporisers (one from ebay, NOS, but cheap and ratty looking,) and two from one of our vendors, and am looking forward to swapping them into my Vapalux and Bialaddin and having one extra for when the bad thing happens.
Vaporiser deterioration is due to a few factors. Yes the pricker wire might in time enlarge the hole but I would expect the tube to have died of old age before that becomes a problem. The main reason for jet enlargement is actually due to the passage of a hot gas under pressure wearing away at the upper edge of the hole. This tends to make the hole rough sided and this roughness causes a poor gas flow but along with this effect there is a general slight enlargement. In jets on Petromax you can sort the rough edge by lapping the jet down a thou or so on an oil stone and this will often rejuvenate a jet. Tilley and Vapalux generators also clog with carbon and this reduces performance. An injector cleaner sounds like a good idea but once one of these starts to give a poor light the only real cure is a new one. ::Neil::
A "NOS" ebay vaporiser arrived, and frankly, I can't feel the needle emerge when I press the other end. Can I assume that this one is knackered? I keep reading about people cleaning the needle, but can't quite see how these things come apart. there doesn't seem to be a place that wants to unscrew.
There a little Google search in the right hand column below Fettle Box Add which is useful to find previous posts try - cleaning vaporizers in there. (Sorry crossed in edit mode hit a wrong key and post went in incomplete) Graham::
There? Where? It's knackered? And it doesn't come apart? I'm sorry if these sound like simple questions, but I'm new to fettling these things, and generally would like to fix something before ordering a replacement part.
Hello Mark, have you tried that vapouriser? To remove the cleaning wire/pricker, just grip the bottom end of it and pull it out. There is a spring fitted to the cleaning wires and sometimes it comes out with the wire and sometimes it does not. If it does not come out with the wire then it will fit over the wire when the wire is put back into the vapouriser, if it does come out with the wire, then be careful not to lose the spring, Jeff.
Mark, Tilley and Bialaddin/Vapalux vapourisers are simple. They last generally 500 hours. Then you replace them and throw the old one away. They don't come apart and there are no user-serviceable parts. You can fart about with them as much as you like (and some people do) - heat and quench, carburettor cleaner, upper-cylinder lubricant or whatever. Any or all of these might offer a slight, short term improvement but in the end you'll have to replace the vapouriser i.e. what Neil said...
If you have it out of the lamp and are pushing it by hand then you have to push surprisingly hard as the spring is quite strong. I usually press it against a bench to test them..
Exactly what I do and you'll just say feel the end of the pricker if you run your fingertip over the end of the vapouriser. They don't protrude much - probably far less than a millimetre at a guess...
