G'day all.. Following on from my earlier success, I went fishing on the Bay of E last week, and my latest Tilley catch arrived today. I was fully expecting to replace all the washers, no problem, but as can be seen from the picture, the '707 Spigot' is missing from my lamp, it appears to have been sheared off. So, do I:- a) Regard this as a total disaster and throw the catch back again and hook another? or b) Treat this as a minor inconvenience and go see if I can remove the broken end in there? If your answer of choice is (b), then how do you suggest that I go about the task, please? - I'm quite happy about using large and small hand tools, but my array of power tools is limited.. Many thanks Ian Roll
That burner is most likely knackered, the threads which the spigot screws into look stripped, but you could take a junior hacksaw blade and cut whats left of the spigot out, but I would get another burner and submerge the old burner in a tub of vinegar for a while until it loosens enough to take apart, so that the dome and the mixing tube which is inside the dome can be salvaged and the air pipes and nuts can also be salvaged. Do let us know how you get on.
Hello @Ian Roll , if you want to salvage the burner follow @JEFF JOHNSON directions, soak the burner in straight vinegar, pull it apart, if bits are very tight, suggesting heat and quench, try, repeat, the spigot may be removed with an easy out, like whats used when the bolt/stud has snapped off. The burner spigot can be bought on julians ebay or the basecamp. I hope this helps.
@Ian Roll Juliands on the bay of evil has complete replacement reproduction Tilley burners for under £20. I have used 3 of these and they work very well. So if you cannot find an original burner assembly and your lantern is as @plantpot has asked, then this may be an option. I find that I learn more when I restore disasters than when I restore easy ones in good condition. Good luck mate Cheers Pete
Hi @Ian Roll looking at the deformation around the burner holes I’m afraid to say I think it looks pretty knackered. Burners like this will continue to work to a certain degree but as soon as you try and remove them they disintegrate. See pics below of one I did recently. Yours may not be as bad as this was but you get the idea. Vinegar works, I personally use 50g of powder citric acid in 500ml of water to clean all my brass burners, the crud literally falls off and this aids unscrewing the burner. However you may still find out after that it’s knackered. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice one and all. I'm now soaking the burner in white vinegar (I chance to have a gallon or so going spare, as you do.. !!), I'll leave it there for a week or two, brush it occasionally, and see how/if this thing comes apart. I'll report back on here with progress.. Ian
Don’t leave it in undiluted vinegar for a week or two. Leave it an hour and check. And so on. Cheers Tony
I agree with Tony - if you leave the burner in vinegar for too long, all you'll succeed in doing is preferentially leech out the zinc from the brass leaving a copper coating. In my mind, vinegar is for cleaning off the crap from the surface rather than freeing parts - use proper penetrating oil for that. By the way, WD40 isn't penetrating oil - you might as well save some money and just leave the burner in paraffin or diesel for a week as give it a few squirts of WD40. The other thing is, I'd be very reluctant to dismantle the entire burner. For a start, you don't need to and secondly, if it's worn as it appears to be, you'll probably not manage to get the three air intake tubes screwed back in. Then you really are in the clarts. Just my two penn'orth...
Hi folks Or cheaper if you buy direct: https://www.tilleylampsandstoves.com/product-page/tilley-lamp-burner No P&P! Regards Jeremy
