With the Xmas holiday now in full swing, I finally got round to start working on the few lanterns acquired in October and November, including this PL53 with pre-heater. As some of you may recall, I ‘won’ this on the Bay of Evil for a significant sum and took a gamble on its general conditions and operability. Sometimes I trust my instincts too much, but I think they were right in this occasion. I had also promised to Aussie Pete that I would post updates on this lantern. So, everything came apart relatively easily using small pliers and some old leather for protection to the brass couplings. The old washers were literally rock hard and cemented in situ and had to be burnt out by careful application of a small blow torch (which was carried out outside). The vapouriser’s pricking needle was also caked with soot (struggled to get it out), which I gently removed with 400 grit sand paper. However, the tank now holds pressure and I get a steady stream of kerosene jetting up. After replacing all the seals and the leather pump, it was time to tackle the preheater. The control valve for the preheating fuel consists of a simple threaded needle, and not a ball and joint design, which I read about. As I couldn’t get fuel out in the wick holder, I assumed the delivery tube was blocked. I fed a short length of copper wire through it and some black gunge was removed. Fuel now guzzles out in abundance. The original zig zag wick appears to be in serviceable condition, so I limited myself to clean it and remove 2 dead spiders from it. I replaced the original battered and rusty enamelled hood with an identical one which is in much better condition and added a blue etch logo Durosil globe, and a new Tilley mantle, just to finish her off. I am not going to polish any parts of this lantern, as I find the original patina very attractive indeed. I am planning to light her up tonight after reading threads on this forum on how to use the preheater. I’m also going to post a video of the ‘first ignition attempt’, so show you how it goes; wish me luck. Below is a photo of the lamp as received. These are photos taken during the fettle.
Thanks Jeremy. I’m really sorry guys. Not sure what’s going on here but it’s as if the website has a mind of its own using my iPhone 7. Sometimes images load up correctly, and sometimes they upload skewed at 90 degrees to the left! Taking photos in portrait or landscape mode makes no difference. I’ll have to look into this carefully before posting any more rubbish. Otherwise I’ll be responsible for a whole lot of painful necks out there!
@Alex74 That looks so much better with the replacement hood. I agree with you, the original patina preserved on this lamp would look better. She’s a grand lady with character. I do like it, well done. I successfully light my BR49 by its preheater using the follow method. I point out that this method was written by another lampie, I just don’t know who. “As far as lighting is concerned, shut the control cock/pricker and put a few pump-strokes into the tank. Lift the shroud on the paraffin pre-heater and open the rectangular knob. Fuel will flow into the bowl of the preheater. Let it flow right round and fill up. Shut the rectangular knob. Light the kero in the preheater and keep the shroud lifted until the flame goes right round and gets going properly. Wait a minute or so and then SLOWLY lower the shroud and let the lantern pre-heat. If you've lowered the shroud too soon or too quickly, you'll have a sooty yellow flame from the preheater which is not what you want so lift the shroud again and be more patient this time! The idea is that if you wait long enough and lower the shroud slowly enough, the flame is strong enough to cause an upward convection current which draws air in through the holes in the shroud, thus oxygenating the flame which will consequently be blue - this is what you want. Lighting from then on is as per normal Tilley procedure. To be honest, I've never read (or even seen) the Tilley instructions for using this preheater so my method (and explanation of the underlying science) is from experience. It works for me! It probably hasn't worked for countless frustrated users in the past who weren't sufficiently patient and ended up removing the paraffin preheater and using the traditional Tilley spirit torch instead. I suspect countless numbers of correctly functioning paraffin preheaters have been removed and discarded when the real problem was impatience.” Good luck, the above method works well with me, patience is the key. Hope this helps. Cheers Pete
Here we go... she was a little temperamental to start with but finally rewarded me. and I want another one with the preheater!! They’re fun!
@Alex74 Well done mate. I had my heart in my mouth when you were pumping her up one handed on a wobbly stool. Glad it didn't go over. When I fill the preheater I just fill it unto the edge of the wick holder in the trough. I have found that a full preheater is just too long, then again, it's warmer here in Aussie. Cheers Pete
Thanks guys, yes - filming with one hand whilst trying to pressurise a wobbly lamp on a little stool was not for the faint hearted. Next time I’ll position the phone in filming mode on a chair and bring the lamp nearer to the camera whenever I need to show closeups of the flame! Also you’ll get to see my ugly self in the process. Jeremy is correct. The preheater burn was relatively clean but definitely not odour free! You could smell the new mantle being toasted as well as a very strong ‘eau de Heathrow T5 piste’ in the air. That’s a typical sign of a kerosene diffused (i.e. not sufficiently pre-mixed) flame I guess, so I’d argue that the use of the pre-heater was probably designed for outdoor use? Anyway, the pre-heater is more fun and much easier to use than expected. The next video will feature a late night competition ‘light up’ of two PL53 lanterns, one being lit with a standard meths torch, and the other being preheated ‘by itself‘. Which flame will be more efficient at pre-heating when I open the main fuel control cock after only 45 s from ignition? I suspect a paraffin partially premixed flame is much hotter than a meths diffused one. We’re burning C2H6O (CH3CH2OH) against a hydrocarbon mix containing C15-C20 branched and linear chains, which will form a lot more water and CO2 per unit time. Given the high enthalpy of formation for water and carbon dioxide (assuming exhaustive combustion) I’m expecting a difference in flame temperature of approx. 400C. Not to be sneered at....we’ll see!
@Alex74 If you’re using iPhone 7, are you uploading your photos directly from your phone? I have no trouble like you. I go to the “Upload a File” button and then hit “Full Size”. I also have no problem downloading to a Mac and doing the same thing. By the way, videos cannot be permanent here if the service provider link changes. Cheers Tony
Hi Tony, Yes - I am uploading directly from the same phone I use to take photos. Haven’t tried uploading full size images though, because they are over 4 Mb in size. They’d clog up the server I expect? I generally choose ‘medium’ or ‘large’ image sizes but I guess it’s worth trying just once? Thanks for the heads up.
But do you hold your phone as I said before? If you hold it correct, these problems shouldn't occur. Always with the home button to the right. iPhone doesn't like portrait mode, so just take you pictures in the normal way, i.e. landscape, and always with the round home button to the right. If you must take portrait pics, most people with iPhones uses some app that fix this problem when uploading to other places or attaching in e-mails. There is also some setting that can be changed in your phone. Just search the web for this problem, and you will get tons of solutions. Or get a real phone...
I’m liking the look of the PL53 with the BR pre heater and I think I’ve all the parts to put one together. Would I be right in assuming they were never sold in this configuration?
Or get a real camera. My Coolpix 5400 from 78 B.C. I bought 4th hand for pittance makes all the quality pictures I need for the internet. A simple picture manipulator like Web Resizer Web Resizer - Making Photos Faster - Optimize pictures for websites and email helps to improve any shot if needed. Photography has never been this cheap, but using a smart-phone for a camera even if bought for other purposes, not my cup of tea. Mike
Well fettled! Those paraffin preheaters turn up on a variety of Tilleys, so it's possible that they were sold separately , but I do not have any paperwork which proves that, but Tilley were in business to make a profit and if there was demand for those paraffin preheaters, then in my opinion they would have sold them.
Ok, thanks guys for the advice. So if I post a full size image taken with this phone in landscape mode, it uploads fine. See below a shot of the ‘festive fettling work’ in progress in the lounge... however the same image posted as a medium or large size file, uploads at 90 degrees. Doh!! But it’s a start I guess.
Regarding the originality of the pre-heater on PL53s, I asked this question before on a different thread ‘Pl53 - how to get a mirror finish’. At the time I was stripping the tank if another PL53 (without preheater) that was covered in green oxidation and far too gone to preserve the ‘patina’. If I recall correctly, Aussie Pete suggested that Tilley preheaters were available for purchase in the 1930s, making this a possible ‘genuine’ alteration. Given how much fun they are to play with, I wonder if we should ask Julian Shaw to look into making a new replica for sale. I reckon they enhance the look of early Tilleys and allow the discerning user to light up directly.
@Alex74 MAAAAATE!!!!! There are some real beauties in your "to fettle" pile ........... I'm not real envious .......... O' bugger it!! ............ I'm a lot envious Enjoy Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year ...... with lots of interesting fettling going on ...... Cheers Pete
@Alex74 This site can handle large files: images up to 9MB; but need to be fewer than 30 million pixels. I think your phone will fit those parameters without fiddling with the file size. Tony
Tony, Pete, thanks and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too. I’m working to get all of those lamps working by New Year’s Eve...
