Hello all, dived into a new hobby.Purchase (E-bay), a Tilly 246B, liked it so much bought another the two Tilly Guardsmen (246). My flat now smells of paraffin but not objectionable. The best of the bunch, 246B, I dismantled, cleaned and reassembled using a service pack SP1. Tried several times to test fire it, no mantle fitted. After several attempts it would seem that I am not getting fuel from the vaporiser. With a good pressure build up and the vaporiser removed should I see fuel at the fuel control outlet? I have tried swapping round the cock and vaporiser with the other 246B, but no change. would welcome your thoughts on the matter, especially where I should expect to see fuel when under pressure.
Hi and welcome to the forum. With the control cock removed from the fount, try poking a bit of wire down through the fuel pick up pipe (it runs runs to the bottom of the fount). It might also be an idea to clean out the fount, they can get a build up of sludge in the bottom. The X246B isn’t the best of the Tilleys, the quality isn’t as good as your guardsmen lamps. Good luck with your fettled! Stevie
If there’s no fuel coming up through the tank when the control cock is off, your fuel pickup up tube is blocked (or you forgot to put fuel in the tank ). With the cock off a couple of pumps should make fuel spill out of the tank. You can clear the fuel pick up with a suitably sized length of brass wire. Cheers Tony Edit: Crossed with Stevie.
Start right from the beginning. Empty tank, remove cock, place thumb over hole and pump up. If you get pressure here you know your pick-up is not blocked. Put the cock back on and do the same, prove it works, now add the generator. You will find the problem, just go step by step. Empty tank works, or fill with water so you don't make too much mess. I would guess the pick-up is full of gum. Acetone will dissolve it.
Thank you all for the advice. 22:55 now so will have a good poke about tomorrow. I had presumed that a new pump leather would ensure pressure (feels firm to pump). Have acetone. Will let you all know tomorrow. Once again many thanks for the replies. As the 246Bs were first purchased, they are getting the attention. The Guardsmen appear better mechanically than the other two, maybe because covered in oily soot (threads are easier to undo). did have fuel in tank. Didn't realise that there is a pick-up tube. Night all.
Welcome from Queensland Australia. The above posts have the nitty gritty on how to go about solving the issues. Good luck and looking forward to seeing your lantern’s money shot photo (the first light after the fettle) Cheers Pete
Morning all, 05:15, fuel ways are clear. Disappointingly, no pressure from pump, new service kit fitted, feels nice and firm. Should I expect a jet of air from the central hole in brass guide at bottom end. Strip down again.
09:30. stripped pump again, no pressure. Moved onto one of the Guardsmen. This has had nothing done to it. tested it without a mantle Attached my money shot. Nice Bunsen flame but a yellow skirt. Will add further photo tonight when dark. Would love to fit mantle (have several 164X - will they fit)?. I know once fitted the fettling work will mean destruction of the mantle.
Welcome aboard! The link below shows a diagram which may be helpful for restoring your X-246-B. Does your pump have an NRV., (Non return valve) fitted to it's bottom end? https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/x246b-diagram.6859/
_________ ___ |__________________ ___| _________ The leather cup/bucket should be inserted this way into the pump tube.
I think that is the simplest and smartest bit of advice I have seen in sometime. When I first got into the hobby, I'd clean out the tanks making sure I did it well. Sometimes I'd forget to check the fuel pick up or just assume that because the inside of the tank was pretty clean so too the fuel pick up would be. I'd then move onto the next thing and then reassemble the lamp. It only took one blocked fuel pick up tube for me to do as you suggest, prove it works. All one's hard work is undone because clearing a fuel pick up can be messy. Of course you have to pull the lamp or lantern to bits too so it is time consuming. I nearly always use high pressure from my compressor and blow down the fuel line back into the tank. I keep the fuel cap off and that allows moisture and debri to be blown out of the tank. I think if you blow from the fuel cap bung hole you risk blowing debri into the fuel pick up and causing a blockage.
That looks more ambiguous than it is probably meant to be! If the pickup tube is still in doubt then after pumping, unscrewing the filler cap should result in pressurised air escaping. If there is, I’d assume pickup blocked, if not then the pump isn’t pumping. That would be my logic anyway!
Hi, They say a picture is worth a thousand words.... The Bucket (Leather Pump Cup) The correct way round. Before fitting soak the leather cup in 3 in One oil or some use olive oil so it become nice and soft. Work it in with your fingers as well Dissasemble the Non return Valve and make sure the hole in the end of the brass pump tube is clear, replace the rubber bung with the correct type (square for later models round for earlier) The end nut has a hole... keep this clear... Make sure the pump barrel hole is clear as well Happy Fettling
I keep some cheap mantles around for testing (and general use). I get mine from eBay for very little money so I'm not too bothered if I need to waste one or two when I'm fiddling around solving minor problems. Now then, the cheap Chinese mantles do need to be altered a bit it's true, but the cost is low enough so I'm prepared to do a bit of work. Here's a post I uploaded a while ago that might prove useful. Mantle Shenanigans And here is a link to some of the mantles I'm talking about. Yes they come from China and yes there are 50 of them but you'd be surprised how quick you can get through them plus it's cheaper to buy in bulk. Also the price has more than doubled in the last few weeks so if you want some I'd get then asap! Hope this helps and happy fettling.
I did understand your sketch. My pump is as set up in the photographs. When the end brass piece is screwed up the "tit" on the NRV is hard up against ther pump outlet hole, seems to prevent air passing through. the spring on mine appears to have more coils than the one in the photograph.removed the NRV and air pushes out of the end hole.
Have bought items from China through E-bay, worth the wait I suppose. Will try these mantles, will wait until after virus (possible nobody at work to dispatch). Thanks CoilinG.
And you have the rubber valve and spring in the right way round,,, the rubber seal facing toward the handle end of the pump, as in my photograph and the spring toward the bit that screws out with the small hole in the end. All logical I know, but it has been done before! I bought a load of those mantles from China, they work really well and are bright
Welcome to CPL Joshua. Too many coils in the NRV spring can become solid when compressed and jam the pip against the exit hole. A previous owner may have changed the original spring and now with your new pip there is no room for movement. Did the pip you changed look like the one shown by Plantpot? The early 246B's had the same flat pip in brass holder as the 246.
The pip is definitely against the hole. it is a square rubber, the one that came out was round. With this removed air will pass through the hole. Will look for the originalspring and rubber.
I ran into a pickup tube problem once. Followed step by step troubleshooting following stoves operation. This problem took 2 complete days to troubleshoot. The problem? A pinholle in the pickup tube. I assume it was a pinhole, I couldnt see it. The way I finally proved it was to insert a rubber hose into top of pickup.Put an air regulator on the hose. Connect air, turn regulator to no flow.Remove filler cap. Put just enough fluid to immerse pickup tube. Barely open air regulator. A pinhole will "hiss" at low pressure. Opening regulator further will cause pickup tube to "gurgle".
I think I should have been more clear about the pickup tube post. The pickup tube was on an old cheap lantern. The tube did not have a valve, just a tube fixed in the font.
This may be the nub of the problem. The X246 'Guardsman' has a circular NRV washer (Part No. 155) which sits in a brass cup (a 'jumper' in plumbing terms). Corners were cut ('twas ever thus with Tilley as the years went on) and the X246B had a shaped washer that sat on the end of the spring without a jumper cup. These parts are NOT interchangeable. Now, there are two types of seals kit 498 (similar to the SP1 service pack but without the spring, knob etc) - there's the so-called 'old' 498 which contains the 155 NRV washer and the (new)498 which contains the shaped NRV washer. I'm assuming the situation with the SP1 service packs is similar - there will be 'old' and 'new' versions. So, X246 lanterns need the old versions and X246B lanterns need the new versions. I can't for the life of me remember what the X246A NRV arrangement is but it's academic because you haven't got one! Anyway, a well set up Tilley pump should generally make a satisfying farting BBBRRRAAAAPPP sound when operated out of the tank. If it doesn't, then there's probably something not right with it. Hope that helps...
