I posted up a query on my recent X359 find and here are the photos as promised, dated 1160. The lamp is in good condition overall but I am unable to light the lamp as the pre-heater internal sealing washer has been damaged. I managed to find the remains of the washer in the box the lamp came with but it is of no use unfortunately. I would really like to restore the pre-heater to working order and wondered how best to make a new washer, and what material to use ? I noticed the tank has the extra? boss mentioned in Mick's posting, not sure what this would be for. Hope you like the pics, any advice appreciated. Regards David
My Friend Henry took his apart a few years back and we have these images of the washer and such. I guess any hardish synthetic rubber will do Viton might be best but you got some fiddly cutting to do. ::Neil::
Thanks Neil, will try and source some Viton and give it a go. A sharp scalpel and some small punches should do the job. Regards David
Henry and I had my Tillite preheater apart some years back at one of the Newark meets. The problem turned out to be the small pin visible in both sets of images, which had come loose and was adrift inside the works. Looking at the images, it's not clear where the pin is fixed to - in David's lantern the pin is attached to the metal cover whereas in Neil's (i.e. Henry's) images, it's fixed to the alloy block and locates one end of the seal. Or, maybe there are actually two pins, one on the block and the other in the cap, which locate either end of the seal. That would explain why the seal has cut-outs at either end. Any ideas? Not urgently, mind - even if I knew where my X359 was, I wouldn't be planning to be fiddling with it any time soon...
The two pins would make sense. The pin fixed to the alloy block would act as the 'hinge' and the pin fixed to the metal cover would be the 'driving pin' so that when you turn the metal cover the driving pin pivots the inner seal on the fixed 'hinge' on the alloy block, hence covering and uncovering the jet opening in the burner and allowing fuel to flow. This is my interpretation of the operation of the unit.....but now means I also need to find a small brass rod to replace the missing pin on my heater !! I will hopefully get this lamp burning again, need to get small piece of suitable Viton to remake the seal. I think it can be done but will be a fiddly job for sure. Thanks for pointing this out David, seems to be the logical answer...!
Yes, that's exactly how I envisioned it, too. I guess it would be nice to have the Tillite preheater working, but apart from that little bit of kit, the X359 is just an X246A which you can, of course, light by conventional means. I'd be wary of using the Tillite anyway - I've heard tales of discoloured and even cracked globes due to it's use. Also, someone here (Steve Wood?) has an X359 where the Tillite baulks the globe and prevents it seating correctly. All-in-all, not one of Tilley's better ideas...
Just had mine apart enthused (fooled) by the recent discussion, it has 1 brass pin in top nozzle plate it was out and vanished on the floor made a new one and soldered to plate, bottom pivot is a part of the diecast bottom body. After all that it still leaks from tillite The valve disc plate I am sure is what I know as "Paper Bakelite" 1.4mm the brown printed circuit board base material.
Yes, mine was loose too, and rattling about inside - we (Henry Plews and me) were lucky not to lose it considering we dismantled it in a field at Newark. I sellotaped it to something for safe keeping but now I can't remember what that was. You wouldn't have thought something as hard and inflexible as that would make a seal - maybe someone's already tried to make a replacement. I have the impression mine was some sort of rubber (or perhaps fibre) sheet that had gone hard with age. Whatever, I put that away in a safe place, too...
The valve sheet looked to have been punched in a die to me, seems to be original the broken one in previous post here could well be the same material with layers in the break. The brass pin I substituted a bit of 1.5mm brazing rod and lo temp silver soldered it in.
Is Tilley X359 the only lamp using this preheater or is it possible to find on more commen lamps/stoves or even better in a sparepartstore , though I already searched through Basecamp. I am in need of such a preheater Claus C
Yes. It was so crap that it was soon replaced by a bolt screwed into the hole in the tank thus making the X359 a very expensive X246A albeit with a 'posh' hat...
Ok thanks David. So the X359 with the blind-bolt can actually be original replaced by Tilley them self or was is costumers blinding them of? Claus C
I'm not absolutely sure about that because my example still has the Tillite. However and IIRC, the bolts are (mostly) the same type so it looks like they were an official factory modification. But no doubt there'll have been some private mods. made too. The other thing I'm unclear about is whether this was a change during production or just a mod. made to items returned to the factory under guarantee. I'd have been mightily brassed-off if I'd paid the premium for a Tillite and eventually ended up with just a bolt instead. Perhaps Tilley offered some sort of compensation or simply replaced the duff lantern with a brand-new X246A. I doubt we'll ever know...
So is it pretty well set that replacement preheaters are unavailable? Mine is broken right in half, a previous owner had epoxied it back together but it leaked badly. I wonder if I put a in its place if I could mount the preheater on the bolt and make it look right while being non-functional. The downside is it gets in the way of manual preheat.
Welcome aboard Curt! When those pre heaters fail most folk fit a bolt and a lead washer to the socket, Jeff.
I have 2 of the x359's that came from my great uncle A.W. Thacker. Interestingly, one was missing a globe. Only 1 has the top hat reflective shield. I am not sure why it has the shield since the vast majority don't. I'm guessing my dad lit it up and cracked the globe. I have restored both of them, bought a new globe and was about to lite it. However, based on this discussion, I will refrain. But I do not have a preheater. Maybe this should just be ornamental. Both Tillites "seem" fine - ya right! Next project are the 2 heaters to restore. But again, ornamental? Maybe so.
Hi Bob! Many thanks for all your help with all the history Your lamps must have proper provenance indeed! Perhaps some photos would be very welcome? Many thanks for all your insights and rolling back the years best wishes
I posted several pictures in the thread A.W Thacker - in the beginning https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/aw-thacker-in-the-beginning.18898/#post-156862
