I've now got three Tilley Guardsmen lamps. One of the Guardsmen has hardly ever been used (it still looks new) and the other two I've stripped and fully serviced them including all seals, washers, 164 mantle, clean burner, wire pick-up pipe, flush out fount and fill with Premium paraffin. None of them leak air pressure and don't require pumping all the time. They all pulse! I've replaced one lamp with an old Hendon NOS vapouriser and the other with a new vapouriser and still all three pulse. I've tried various levels of pumping right up to 100 strokes but still they pulse, between three and four pulses a second. Please can someone tell me that not all Tilleys pulse and that I have some bad luck. If that's the case, I'll keep on trying to solve the problem. One of our girls has a Vapalux that I gave her and I've have two more. NONE OF THE VAPALUX LAMPS PULSE!! Dave.
Carbon on the pricker wires can cause that problem, if there is a strong smell of paraffin, then some part of the burners may have loosened and it can be the mixing tube which is located inside the dome of the burner.
I'll check the pricker wires although I'm puzzled because both the vapourisers are brand new and unused. One is a new very old stock with the brass knurled base. I'll also try again to remove the domes on both burners. When I serviced the lamps the domes were stuck so I could not part them from their bodies. Does anyone have experience of unscrewing a stuck dome? Any ideas most gratefully received. Thank you Tony and Jeff for your advice. Dave.
@Dave Lockett The best advice is to not disassemble a Tilley burner - especially if it is old. This is because the threads on the component parts get worn and pitted after long use and do not re-seal properly. The best method it to endure everything is clean on a burner (no lurking spiders or wasp nests) and make sure all parts are tight. If the burner had been disassembled, screw back together with nickel grease or liquid muffler putty. Old burners out burners don't work very well if leaking air. Cheers Tony
Many thanks Tony, I was thinking about stripping the burner down after reading Jeffs mention about the mixing tube loose inside the dome. Have ordered a burner complete from Juliands and will see how it goes. By the way, the paraffin levels in the founts are towards the max level. Dave.
I soak suspect burners in vinegar for a while and that usually loosens the dome, but there is also the heat and quench method. Sometimes the domes are not reusable once they have been removed, so a new one must be fitted, if it's a modern dome then a modern mixing tube must also be used, because the modern domes and mixing tubes are shorter than the old ones, if it's an old style of dome then an old style of mixing tube must also be fitted. All parts of a Tilley burner must be tightened properly or it will not work properly. Tilley burners do burn out after a while and then they are only fit for stripping for spares. We never know what type of fuel and muck has been in a tank before we get it and even though a tank has been flushed out and looks okay, there may be hardened residue which gradually softens and mixes with the fuel and then causes problems, one cure for that is to put a bunch of ball bearings and small nuts into the tank along with some paraffin and do the shake rattle and roll task and repeat it until the paraffin comes out as clean as it was when it went in. That is my advice which is based on my own experience much of which has been learned through trial and error.
@Dave Lockett The burners from Julian Shaw are fantastic! Questions: How much fuel in the fount? How many pumps of pressure? How long have the lanterns been running? Have you tried repeatedly reciprocating the cleaning control? All pressure lamps and lanterns pulse but generally at a speed we don’t usually perceive. There must be an answer to your problems out there somewhere. Good luck and please keep us informed of your progress. Regards Jeremy
All pressure lamps hunt to some degree but they are designed so the pulse frequency is fast enough so you don't notice it. It is due to variations of the pressure in the generator and generally more tank pressure increases the rate. The pressure variation in a generator is caused by the rapid increase when the fuel is vapourised to a gas and that causes a back pressure down to the reservoir. The gas then escapes through the tip which reduces the generator pressure and the tank pressure can then feed more fuel. One of the reasons old lamp generators have an asbestos packing is to reduce this back pressure effect. In a Tilley the back pressure is to some extent contained by restricting the fuel flow through the bottom fitting of the generator and the passage through the cock. Sometimes that restriction is not enough and there is little can be done to increase the hunting frequency. ::Neil::
I've had some pretty awful tanks over time, and some where the contents have turned to black oily pitch like residue. Caustic Soda at about 50 Celcius is a quick and easy way, but you need to clean out well and truly after, especially if the pressure indicator (if fitted) is something you don't want harmed, as the walls on it are rather thin. Marine clean also does a great job if not too badly coated inside. I bought a bag of coloured fish tank gravel to scour tanks using marine clean, and it does work extremely well, but you could easily block your sink waste trap with the stuff when tipping it out if not careful. It has good sharp edges to it and is fine enough to get in and scratch away at the corners.
I agree, and have even used it to clean the shower in the bathroom when that task has been neglected for too long. Re-use is not something I've attempted, as it usually looks pretty disgusting when I've done with it !
Just wondered if you had any idea what the height of the dome and the inner mixing tube on a Julian Shaw model might be. That clearance is of some importance, as seems to be the shape of the dome, and his model looks a bit on the square side. I almost bought one before I got onto my current quest to find the running problem causation, but was not sure if it would stink the house out on an indoor model as some of mine were already doing. Cheer, Roger.
In case it is helpful to someone taking such a measurement, one way to measure the height of the dome is to place a lump of plasticine or similiar on the top of the mixing tube and screw the dome on such that it shapes to the internal surface, then remove the dome and measure.
That's the kind of solution I like to hear of. Not sure if you're thinking inside or outside of the box, but I'm feeling inspired non the less. Much obliged, Roger.
I've managed to get my hands on a Tilley dip stick and filled the founts up to the mark on the dip stick. It's cured the pulsing. I thought the levels were o/k at about half-way between the bottom and the pump port. I took Broadlander's advice and bought a new burner from Julian Shaw, it works a treat with no parrafin smell from one of the lamps; despite changing all the seals etc., one of the lamps always smelt of paraffin. Now it's cured. Dave.
Hello Dave. Not sure you have to keep them brim-full all the time. What a chore that would be ! On your second point, I've a suspicion that the hunting/pulsing thing is a combination of different factors. Namely the "personalities" of the burners, and the characteristics of whichever "Vap" you have fitted at any time. The two seem to inter-act in finicky ways, but seemingly there are few reported issues on Willis & Bates lamps which is odd, as all the relevant features in the combustion department are in essence at least, identical. Glad to hear a Shaw burner smells good. I've seen a few favourable comments on them now, and I'm an indoor lamp kind of old git ! TTFN Roger.
@Dave Lockett Glad you have found the Julian Shaw burner to be good. I would personally never put mor than 100 pumps (maximum total) of pressure in a Tilley as you may well cause “dishing” of the base of the fount which is indicative of seam failure and is irreversible. Regards Jeremy
