Tilley FL6 age?

hi, i have bought this nice beast of a lamp.

a minor fiddling and it was functional.

does anyone know the age of it? the top is galvanized and there are blind rivets used on the chimney. all looks original.

i saw that this is the lamp no. 1701 with tripod 1702 but i can not find an exact date on it.

also: does anyone have a ( high res. PDF?) manual of this lamp or set?

kind regards from the Netherlands,
abel

 

another few images

 

@Amdparts

Hi and welcome to the forum.

That’s a great lamp and even greater having the tripod! Others here will give you some information regarding age etc.
If you need service parts you can get them from sites sponsor, Fettlebox, by clicking the box on the right.

Thanks for sharing, what will your next lamp be?.....

Stevie

 

hi Steve,


thanks for your reply. i have only a couple. a few types like the normal petromax pressure lamp and one Chinese copy.
for now it's done with collecting or i should stumble over a rare type like a hanging or wall mounted one.

i already read that it's a danish set and some late model because of the blind rivets. but what date is "late"?


kind regards,
abel

 

@Amdparts
Hello.
Here you have the manual.
Tom

 

Thank you very much Tom!

 

Hi Abel ! Welcome !

Also the shape of the tank base edge points towards a 'later' date.. '60's' would be my guess, but others may be able to date more accurately as regards the Danish connection?

Great to see it working

Thanks for sharing

 

@Amdparts
Hey.
It seems that the tripod comes from Denmark.
However, there is some uncertainty as to whether it is manufactured in Denmark or not
It is interesting that you have found out that the tripod has the number 1702. I have never heard of it before. Can you tell me where you got this number from.
FL6 was used in the Danish cevil defense for a number of years, and I am in contact with someone who helps at the Cevil Defense Museum, who will investigate where the tripod is manufactured.
If the tripod does not come from Denmark, where did you buy it?


Tom

 

I'm not sure your lamp is from the Danish Civil Defense. The lamps I am familiar
with are all painted black, with the cevil defense's logo in gold. I can be wrong.

Tom

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Interresting with the number on the tripod and the lamp. Where are they located? I've got three tripods and same number of lamps (not lambs - well, got one of those in the deep freeze).
Cheers

 

I think the topic starter has read about the type numbers 1701 and 1702 for the Tilley short stand and Tilley tripod for the FL6.

 

@Amdparts

Grey paint colour on the light box and tank indicates a later (1960s+) manufacture; but your tank is black. Black may have been the requirement of the purchaser.

Is there a date stamp or other stamping on the base plate of the tank? Sometimes this is hard to see.

Best regards

Tony

Edit: I’ve not seen a galvanised FL6. Can the Europeans indicate whether this is common in Europe?

 

I had a galvanised one once, it was made in N Ireland so 60s/70s i guess

 

Thanks, Paul.

Cheers

Tony

 

I was going through my paperwork looking for a mention of the galvanised FL6.
Havent found it yet but I found this ...



@Tony Press, I do not have or have seen a galvanised FL6 in Australia but I did pickup a galvanised door in Australia a while ago.

 

Thanks,@Anthony

What’s the date on that advertisement? It would have to be after 14 February 1966 if it’s Australian.

Cheers

Tony

Edit: “Gun metal elephant’s breath with aluminum trim”! It has to be USA.

 

It is a Thacker catalogue so USA.
Not dated but it has the X359 and the X246 so post 1959 and pre 1962 in theory.


PS

 

I have a galvanised FL6 with a greyish/ivory painted tank which has a date code for February 1969.

 

Well the Swiss military used galvanised/grey FL6 lamps.
As far as I remember the colour was mostly grey tank, galvanised top. But there was also a batch of spare tanks black going around so mixed colours should pop up.

It was a light source in case of emergency for military, Postal services, Railway companies and civil defence. They all had/have stock spare parts. So I wonder if strict colour schemes would stand for long.

I have not seen yet typical German, French or Dutch FL6 cases or colour schemes.

 

@R100, interesting that the door latch is the older style and not the latch like this one,

My spare galvanised door also has that latch.

Could you show the method for holding the glass in place please?
I assume it is like this.

 

Anthony,
The spring clip door latch is the older version. It is fitted to my FL5. The screw type latch is the later type.

Also, see the photograph for the glass retention fittings which are identical to yours.

 

@Anthony @R100

Er.. I thought the screw latch is the earlier type and the sprung metal latch the later cost cutting modification?

 

Thanks for showing that R100.

The spring clip I was showing was this one,

not this one.


Its looking like they went from this,

to this,

and back again.

 

To answer one of the original questions, won't the date be stamped under the tank...

 

@BigStevie

I hadn't realised they went back to the spring click latterly. Thanks for correction.

 

@R100

Don’t take my word for it, it’s information I picked up somewhere along the way, could well be erroneous!
Unfortunately the decaying brain can’t recall where I got the information....

 

@David Shouksmith

I’m assuming that the FL6s were date stamped at least from the move to Dunmurry, and maybe from 1957 in line with other Tilleys but I haven’t looked into it.

Tony