I am trying to get my father's 1970s X246b going; I tried a few years ago but gave up - but was inspired to try again by the success of my various Primus stoves and the general loveliness of pressure lamps, which I don't need to tell anyone on this forum about. I got a washer kit for it, and it was going quite nicely on a recent trip, however it went out abruptly and has been troublesome ever since. I replaced the control cock and tried again; it ran well, however was then leaking paraffin out of the pump while running. Taking the lazy 'throw money at the problem' approach, I also replaced the pump, figuring this could be a problem too - the pump washer was fine, BTW. (It also has a fairly recent vaporizer). Despite the replacement parts it runs only feebly now - it seems impossible to get it up to pressure despite the whole thing seeming well sealed. I haven't tried soaking the vaporizer in citric acid or something yet; nor have I tried a complete flush and replacement of the paraffin in the tank (the fuel is relatively new). Does anyone have any suggestions? I appreciate the X246b may not quite be a 'classic' pressure lamp but I figured this forum's denizens would be most likely to have ideas!
HiPaul It sound like the NRV is leaking in the pump, this would account for the loss of pressure and the leaking fuel. When you pump up the lamp does the pump push back out? this would be a good indicator that the NRV is leaking. The only other thing to check is the main seal on the pump assembly. Failing this pump the lamp and hold the tank under water to see if there are any other leaks (remove the pump rod from the pump assembly first) Peter
Hi Paul, welcome to the forum. I may be wrong but it could be that there is some dirt or sludge in the tank which has got into the fuel feed pipe and blocked it. The best suggestion I have heard for this is to take a piece of thin garden wire or something similar and poke it down the hole into the tank where the control cock screws in, you should hear or feel it hit the bottom of the tank. You could also try blowing compressed air down that might work. Once you are happy that it isn't blocked swill the tank out with some clean paraffin, it might be worth pouring it into a white bowl or something so you can see what comes out. If the leather cup washer in the pump is dry you might find it difficult or damn near impossible to pressurise the tank. You need to remove this and soak it in some oil. I find sometimes they won't work properly even if they seem wet so I use some grease which is designed for use on the leather washers in air rifles. It seems to work well. Hopefully you will be able to sort it and let us know how you get on. Best regards Matt
Welcome to the forum. As Peter mentioned, the best idea is to do a leak check. Remove the burner (complete top) and empty the fuel. Pump it up and put in a bucket of water. You'll soon see if there is a leak anywhere. Then you know where to put in the effort.
Thank you all for the incredibly quick suggestions, I'll try them out. I think the pump is fine as it's brand-new, so I suspect a fuel blockage looks like the most likely culprit. I'll try a leak check too. Will let you know how I get on!
I am convinced this lamp has some sort of grudge. I cleaned out the fuel feed pipe in the tank body, which was indeed obstructed, emptied the tank and swilled it with brand-new paraffin: there were indeed a few foreign bodies in there. However the pesky thing still runs so weedily it can't even properly shape the new mantle I fitted (to replace the one I ineptly trashed while fettling). There are no signs of liquid leaks at the moment, and with a brand-new pump and control cock I can't see where else any pressure problems could come from. I'll have another go at the feed pipe to make sure a foreign body hasn't got in there again, then try the pressure test , then try to see whether the vaporizer could be the issue...
And as if to further confirm the grudge... I ensured the fuel pipe was completely clear, using a powerful headtorch to look inside the tank and see the appropriate piece of garden wire freely moving through. Then I pressure-tested it... completely airtight apart from a small fizz at the top of the vaporizer, which is surely to be expected. I fired it up again and yes! Things were looking healthy, but then the slightest nudge suddenly shifted it back into feeble mode again. No amount of slight - or even more confident - nudging could coax its enthusiasm back. So now I'm really stuck. What could be causing a very slight movement to suddenly choke off the fuel flow? Any suggestions gratefully received...
Sounds like a vaporiser problem to me. Try it with a pint and a half of water in the tank and remove the vaporiser. Pump 100 strokes and then open the valve. You should get a good flow through. This will be OK to do with kero in the tank of course but water is easier to deal with. If your flow is good then fit the vap tube and see what that flows like. Should be a good vertical stream. I would suggest you bring it here and I wil make it run but it's the thick end of 200 miles so not really practical. ::Neil::
I'm tempted here to give my usual advice regarding X246Bs, but since on this occasion, it has sentimental value, I'll hold myself in check...
Thank you Neil, I'll give that a go. And I appreciate your restraint David! If I ultimately fail to revivify this pesky lantern then I'll almost certainly be looking for something properly classic. Now i've got the idea of pressure lamps back in my head there's no way anything else will be lighting the tent for the future camping trips.
Progress! I tried Neil's suggestion of testing the tank, and then vaporizer, with water and this worked splendidly, with an impressive 3-foot high wire-thin fountain of water issuing forth from the vaporizer. Two subsequent lightings of the lamp have proved very successful - although there is a certain modulation in the light it's strong and otherwise consistent, and the lamp sounds good and kicks out the heat. I can only assume that this flush with water must have dislodged something. I'll always be slightly nervous about whether or not it's going to work but at least I have a battery of techniques now for testing and sorting it. Many thanks to everyone for their helpful advice. Now if you have any ideas about a proper classic lamp I could look for as a backup...
Paul Good to hear you have now got your lamp running, it can get very frustrating sorting problems out. As for a good classic lamp I would go for one of the Bialddin models, the 300X is my favourite. In my opinion they are well made, reliable and easy to work on (better than the later Tilley lamps) All the best Peter
Hello Paul, any of the pre 1957 Tilley lanterns will be far superior to the later lanterns, check out the links below, Jeff. http://www.classicpressurelamps.com/forum/showgallery.php?fid/158/ http://www.classicpressurelamps.com/forum/showgallery.php?fid/155/
