Sorry about the barrage of Questions, I tried to upload this in a more convivial tone previously. Premise: I bought this lamp last night. I have no experience with Tilley Lamps. All my experience is with Vapalux M320s and an M1. Should the Burner slide off the vapourizer like my vapaluxes? Should the Hood be attached to the lamp, or just rest upon it with friction? What is the correct attaching mechanism? I plan to put everything above the cock into a basin of Diesel for a few days, to get rid of Crud. Is there any reason why I should not? (or indeed should) The permanently attached wick will not be going on the new Vapourizer, is this correct? Will a modern Tilley enameled hood fit an old Tilley? Thanks Eoghan
Yes, the burner should slide off exactly like the Vapalux. The hood rests on the globe cage via gravity - there is no attachment mechanism. I wouldn't put anything in a bowl of diesel for seconds, never mind days. It'll stink and it'll do no good. I'm not sure what you mean by a permanently attached wick. If you mean preheating torch, the Tilley has one that attaches by a spring clip mechanism. They're OK but they tend to get lost. Many people slide a spare Bialaddin/Vapalux preheater onto the vapouriser. In my view, that's a good idea and it is far less likely to get lost. Finally, yes, a modern hood will fit onto your Tilley but will be the wrong colour. Your lantern is the more desirable X246 with the loop handle attachment. They're good lanterns...
Well put David . Welcome Eoghan. Not much difference between Tilley and Vapalux in the principle of how they work. Just treat it as you would a Bialaddin/Vapalux and you cannot go far wrong. Steve.
I've kept the brown hood with mine even though it is in a far worse state than yours simply because it's right for the lamp and a black one isn't. I'll just bide my time until another brown one in better condition comes along and then I'll swap it out. It just depends if you are willing to wait in order to keep the lamp as true to type as possible.. By the way in case you aren't aware the burner should lift off with the hood just as it does on the Bialaddin...
Went at it this evening. Sheared the Spigot trying to separate the vaporizer form the burner. Also discovered how the burner should attach to the hood, interesting system, I will probably have to run a die over my threads. I am expecting to find a withworth thread here, never encountered one before. Looking forward to purchasing a special Die. Hopefully I can get the spigot out of the burner. Currently thinking about running a tap into it. I presume It is brass so it should thread easily enough. One of the pictures hopefully shows the retro fitted warming through wick. This has into the bin already. The red tinge I fear is from Red Diesel. Thanks Eoghan
Ah, now I don't think you said they were seized. Best bet there would have been to try to light the lantern - often the heat will be sufficient to break the bond. In fact, I just did this the other day with a bowlfire. If not then a few heat and quench cycles using a blowlamp or whatever to provide the heat may well have worked. After that a long-term soaking using paraffin or some other penetrating oil. The general idea is that the parts took a while to seize together so they're going to take a while to get apart. Regarding the threads, you may find that they're not Whitworth - Tilley sometimes used their own...
Thanks David I suppose if they were machined onto a component, why not. Seems strange that each works could have had their own "standard" threads at one time. Just had a quick look on ebay, A second hand, good as gnu, burner is probably my best bet.
Definitely your best bet it's really not worth the time, effort, or agro chasing out that old thread. There's plenty of replacements around. As for companies using their own threads ! It makes perfect sense really, it means you have to buy THEIR spares Oh an BTW , welcome to the funny farm
With an old well usd burner like that it is better left alone. You will be able to unscrew it all by heating to dull red and quenching in cold water BUT the threads on well used examples are often burnt away and once dismantled will not screw back because the threads are gone. Better to go look for a replacement in better condition. ::Neil::
