I have acquired a tilley x359 with the blow lamp. It has a top very similar to my 246s- different to the ones in the CPL gallery. Is this a normal variant? How is the blow lamp meant to work( I know they have a bad rep)
Good question! - I've never known one to work. Having said that, no doubt 20 people will now post pictures of them in full working order. Instead of coming up with a variant of the tried and tested system used by Petromax and others, Tilley came up with their own system which relied on a fixed and a pivoting pin to move a shaped seal to open and close the exit port of the atomiser. This was OK in theory but in practice, the pin(s) fell out and/or the seal went hard. Either way, it soon stopped working. I think the idea was that you pressurised the tank and then opened the blowlamp with a half turn. You could then light the spray of atomised fuel with a match or whatever. Doubtless you would have to keep pumping during pre-heating. I suppose after 30-45 seconds you could turn off the blowlamp and open the control cock and the lantern would light. That would have been Plan A, anyway... Regarding the hood, the X359 had a special kind as you've seen in the LRG. Such were the poor sales of the X359, many of these hoods were surplus to requirements and found their way onto other lanterns - mainly the X246A, I think - but probably not the other way around. I'd imagine your X359 has had a replacement hood at some point...
Post a pic... Unless you are somewhat OCD, I wouldn't even try to get the pre-heater to work. There's a bloke up your way who makes a might fine metho pre heater... Cheers Tony
They're just along from the hen's teeth and rocking-horse droppings but as Tony says, best of luck...
We don't do values here but in this case I can tell you I really don't know because I have never seen one for sale or sold. If you need one then it's going to be worth about the same as a complete X359. ::Neil::
@David Shouksmith not 20 people, but I think a video should be worth 20 pictures. If you haven't already seen it.
Bloody typical of you, Matt! When folk aren't queueing up to give you VL1s and Optimus No. 9s for peanuts, they're falling over themselves to give you Tilley X359s with working blowlamp pre-heaters. I swear you're in league with the Devil...
Well I have had one work for me. A long time ago now but I got lucky and found brand new unused blow torch which I shoved in the lamp and it ran fine. Probably won't now of course because the rubber will likely have perished and I have no idea where the lamp might be so I am not going to try any time soon. ::Neil::
I found my X359 hood on a yellow BR49 - a short one without the wick pre-heater; I think they are not altogether uncommon in that format, so worth keeping an eye open. Does anyone have a suggestion why Tilley created a different style hood? It doesn't look to be significantly cheaper to manufacture and Tilley didn't persevere with this style
Those yellow BR lanterns both short and tall were made for Sourthern Rail and the tall one was fitted with the 359 hood. I guess because Tilley had a lot of overstock from a model they were not sellling well and used them up on this contract job. As both were used by a single user it is very possible that hoods got swapped in Southern's workshops. I never have understood why they designed this hood. Maybe something to do with aspiration with the blow torch. ::Neil::
R u from Tassie?? I have had 3 x359s but only one with the torch and it worked well ! The gasket it the torch base is the issue and they are prone to leak Drop me a line if your local and we'll chat 0499533799 Cheers Andrew
I have just rebuilt my grandfather's x359. It seems to work great with the exception of the blow torch. It lights and produced a great flame but coats the glass and mantle in soot so I have been starting it with metho. Any ideas on how to reduce the soot?? Cheers, Phil
Welcome aboard! There is a post about fixing those torches somewhere on this website, but most folk remove the torch and screw in a bolt with a seal and preheat with a meths torch.
@Matthew92 Bugger, I got this complete X359 in my to be fettled queue....... Showing that video clip is like showing a red rag to a bull. Gunna have to move it up the queue. The challenge has be set. Cheers Pete
@PDK G'day Phil, welcome to CPL. I've fettled 2 of these and both have the same problem. I believe it is because the jet orifice is worn and allowing too much fuel through. Unfortunately I don't think it can be fixed. As the seals are not leaking just leave the torch on the font and use metho to preheat.
You guys all have such great looking, neat as a pin workshops! Mine always looks like a sh..house in distress! What am I doing wrong!
@george Hahahaha .... Im a recently retired engineer that means I boarder on OCD This is my shed ...... haven of sanity. This where I find peace. Cheers Pete
Pete, I could eat my lunch on your work bench, WITHOUT A TABLECLOTH! I can't even begin to show you what mine looks like! Just bought some shelving units so I can organize this mess. Got well over 300 lanterns now and still growing. I'll 76 this year and I think my mind has started to go!
@george ....... never let is be said, everyone is different. I originally was a qualified indentured tradesman, Electrician, my love of tools came from my trade background. The engineering side gave me the orderly and the need to fix things, although my Dad had a lot to do with that, he was always fixing things. I'm sure you love being in your workshop as much as I love being in mine, and that's what counts. Cheers Pete
Thanks @ROBBO55 and @JEFF JOHNSON. I was hoping it wasn't the jet. I did strip it down and replace the pin. The seals are in great condition and don't leak at all. Cheers, Phil
Your welcome Phil. Yes, a common problem. Without the seal in place on the pins, if you operate the torch one pin gets caught in the mechanism and sheers off. (Yes I did find this out the hard way )
So did Tilley apparently, when the blighters were sent back under warranty. When you do that, the trouble is, of course, that you've just ended up with a very expensive X246A...
