Is there nothing that can be done with a blown tank bottom? The one I have is otherwise in good shape no leaks just bulging at the bottom and new ones are like hens teeth. Has anyone had a go at a repair?
X246B tanks as rare as hens teeth? - Tilley have been making them since 1964 so there ought to be plenty about. Unfortunately 3-4 years ago I took around two dozen of them to the scrap-man to weigh them in for brass so I don't think I can help you...
Perhaps non blown out bottoms are rare as hens teeth. Most attempts at “repairing” these bases will result in a torn seam as David pointed out; beat to find a beater with a good tank.
New tanks are not available from the tilley lamp co, your best bet would be to find a scrapper with a good tank or wait for a good tank to come up on our favourite auction site.ive just scrapped a 246a tank with a blown base and found a replacement on e bay. Ian
Welcome, @John the lamp. As discussed above, once the X246B tanks have a blown out base they are not really repairable. This is because the force required to bulge the base will have torn the soldered seam that bound the base plate to the bowl, thus weakening the the integrity of the tank. The best bet is finding a tank that’s not blown. I have one but far cheaper for you to find one in UK. Someone here might offer you one. Cheers Tony
I had a blown 246b tank so I hit it with a hammer... gently of course as I figured I had very little to loose. It stayed unused for ages until I decided to put together a bunch of parts into a working 246b. It still works and hasn't blown back out yet... not that I'm saying it would work for everyone but it did for me. If it's going to be chucked away why not give it a go? As for replacement tanks, there's plenty of them on eBay usually for £10 or so. If you buy some red spray paint they're easy enough to fix up.
