This lamp was an exercise in perseverance, which is why i am pleased with it. The screws holding the glass in were rusted in pretty solid, the vapouriser was so rusty it fell into two halfs so the poor thing had been left somewhere damp. It took seven weeks of careful heating soaking and picking out bits of rust to get the glass out without breaking it. Amazingly there was just enough of the original screws left to carry on in service, although i do remove them and apply copper grease after running the lamp. Hope you enjoy the pics.
Now that is interesting. I suspect the hood is much older than the lamp but more importantly is the XN cock. In that lamp I would expect to see a GF cock. Is the socket deep enough to accomodate the long cloth filter and therefore the lantern made to use the pre 1940 type. If it is then that is the first time I have seen a 1940 pattern PL53 made for an XN cock. ::Neil::
That is an interesting lamp, but I reckon that the screws are a modification by a previous owner and I will not be surprised if the bottom half of the XN., control cock is missing, as I have had a few WW2., lamps turn up with only the top half of the XN., control cock.
Hello, and thank you all for your comments. The hood was not enamelled, it is brass with some sort of plating on it, probably nickel. If it was a home made conversion to cageless it was done very well, apart from material choice. The socket is deep and the NX cock is complete, i will take some pics when i get a chance.
That sounds like one of the hoods that were finished in matt chrome (i.e. chrome plated but not polished afterwards - or perhaps it was Tilley's own speculum metal plating that wasn't polished). Anyway, whatever the metal used, I've seen it subsequently polished up (usually for an eBay sale) and it looks OK - except it's not original and who knows what happens to it if the lantern is subsequently lit. I imagine it reverts to matt chrome. I've also seen them where the plating is completely removed to expose the brass which is then polished. No doubt that just goes black when the lantern is used...
Thanks @James K I should have realised that, now the patina and condition (no rust holes) make sense to me. Nice work
Thanks Jeff. One of two PL53s I have bought has a chrome hood like the one above. Does anyone know if this type of hood predates the more common red enamelled steel type? Also, some red enamelled hoods seem to come with a white interior, possibly to maximise light reflection. Are they older still?
That’s an interesting find. I didn’t know that the PL53 had a plated brass hood. Thanks for sharing. Cheers Pete
Neil I’m returning to this 2017 thread. You asked above whether the tank could accomodate a complete XN cock (with long sock filter). More photos were posted after you asked that question. What is your verdict as to date of manufacture? Anthony Note the comment above about the white interior of the red hood. Cheers Tony @Mackburner @Anthony @James K
What a fascinating PL53 (my favourite lantern), what’s the verdict on the screw mountings for the globe, still thought to be a modification? Stevie
Referring to the XN cock question,my understanding is that it should have a fabric sock filter hanging below and not a metal gauze filter
@KAB That’s correct, but I have a couple of XN cocks that have been previously refurbished with a short gauze filter. So the definitive test here is the depth of the fitting in the tank. Cheers Tony
Now James I have seen a lot of tilley pumps but I carnt really remember seeing diamond knurling on the one way valve has anyone else
Pete I’ve got a stash of Tilley and Kayen pumps. I’ll check them on the weekend. Cheers Tony @pete sav
It is always difficult to date some of these variations with PL53s. I think the unpolished chrome plate hood is 1940s or wartime if you like. As to single colour or white under brown I just can't date those. The globe screws are unusual and it is tempting to say home made but this was wartime and Tilley did some odd things at the time so maybe factory? Who knows? Makes little difference to what is an interesting and desireable lantern. ::Neil::
Sorry to be a pest, Neil, but given the photos of the tank above, do you think that it is one to take a properly set up XN cock, or does it post date the XN cock? Cheers Tony @Mackburner
Hard to tell from those pics. Doesn't look deep enough for an XN but you need to measure it really and you need the tank in hand for that. ::Neil::
Thanks, Neil. I thought the tank fitting for the cock looked too shallow, and that the XN cock had been modified (I have a few XN cocks that have been modified to take a gauze filter). I think the tank is 1940+ and the cock is modified. The pump is very interesting, and I’ll look at my pumps tomorrow. @James K Where did you find the lamp? Cheers Tony @Mackburner
Thanks Neil. I’m about to buy a couple of service kits to refurbish the PL53s after polishing. I’ll let you know how the work progresses!
Lamps 1, 2 and 3 in the above pic have a socket depth of 42 - 43 mm and should have an NX type cock. Lamp number 4 has a socket depth of 21mm and will only accept the ribbed GF type cock or later types. As I understand it, anything with a deep socket was made before 1940. This tank must be from about 1940 but is fitted with the later type handle. I would guess it was made when the production line changed over, but it's true story is lost forever and we can only guess. I must confess the hood and the tank came to me from different lamps. The hood came from a typical landfill grade pl53 on eBay and it had a very hard life. The tank came from a job lot of various pl53 tanks I brought. I did spot the NX cock and assumed the valve to be missing for it to be there. It was only when I was fettling another lamp with a desoldersd NX cock and needed a handy spare that I discovered it. I was fettling the hood about the same time and they both looked good together. The pump did come with the tank. I do like this lamp.
Thanks, James. It’s hard to see from the photos just how deep that space for the control cock is. So the tank is the old XN type at 42mm. Cheers Tony