Hi. Well, I have my very first Tilley Lamp; bought from a local auction. But what model is it? It says 'Manufactured United Kingdom' on the side of the tank and the number 579 stamped on the bottom. I have done some searching but with little success. It's not old, unlike me, but I would like to start learning. Any help appreciated.
@Graham Thorpe , what a great lantern to start you off, you have 1 and what’s more fun than 1 lantern and the answer is 2 lanterns, you can get everything you need from the fettlebox and anything else just ask the fellas they will point you in the right direction Happy fettling
Thanks Darryl. I have paraffin stoves, heaters, and a non-pressurized lamp but this is my first step into a pressurised lantern. Fun times
Thanks. 1979 was a great year. I have so much to learn and so many hand washes to have cleaning it up.
A great buy - lots of advice to be found here on cleaning as well as fixing up - a good lantern to start on. parts available and you can't go far wrong. I like that colour too. You will be amazed how it will clean up. Congrats. C
Great way to start off -Tilley! I can comment on the x246, and 246A but I don’t have a “B” model. Check the bottom and make sure it’s not “dished out”. That model is prone to dishing so go slow either the pumping - not too many pumps!
Nice find I must say I love the colour, have fun, very easy to fettle. That's great another Tilley Saved from the scrap heap yea.
Welcome Graham. I have a few Tilleys now, and like You started with an X246B. Soon You will be looking to get the earlier ones. I love fettling them and have learned a lot from everyone here.
@ColinG ahh but mine was a MK1 ! My first lamp ever though was a Vapalux M1. Tilleys came a bit later on in my collection.
2 Guardsman and 2 Vapalux 300 bought as one lot at a farm dispersal sale for me, closely followed by the TL10 and R1 we had at home when I was a lad. After that, things have become blurred but a Veritas Superb with Gold painted tank and a Coleman 237 were very early additions.
I collected in phases early on. Tilleys first, then a load of Vapalux and Bialaddins. Then I discovered cheap Chinese and Hong Kong brands so I collected as many different ones until they became a bit too expensive, but that was the same time as I discovered Coleman and found as many as I could until I started on Veritas and tried to find as many of their lanterns as I could. Never got a 9955 but maybe one day. Now I'm content with whatever comes along that doesn't cost a million pounds!
One of these, you mean, Colin? Veritas 9955 - Model B | Classic Pressure Lamps & Heaters Price? - on Special Offer this week, a million thousand quid...
As Tilley carried on cutting corners to save production costs, one of their last alterations was to leave out the central horizontal ring of the frame. It doesn't seem to make much difference and was probably the most benign change that they made. Not sure when it was introduced though.
@Buggerlugs I don't think Mk1 and 2 are official terms though....Just a way folks distinguish between them here and there on this forum!
I can't date the change exactly but it's about 1976. The last with centre ring I have as November 1975 and the earliest without the middle ring is September 1977. That can probably be refined if we can find more examples of X246B dated between 10-75 and 9-77. There is one exception though because I have one listed belonging to Tony with the centre ring and dated October 1979. I am not convinced about that because Tony's lamp is painted red and in 1979 I would expect the metalic orange paint so possibly the tank and globe cage are from different lamps. ::Neil::
There are parallels here with the X246. I have 4 of them, 2 with the bale handle in the more modern slot arrangement, and the other 2 have the larger loops on the frame.
Well, I gave it a go. and it works. But the control valve seems to be an On-Off thing. Is that normal? I was expecting some light control or is that just done by pressure? Some leakage but washer kit on the way.
Entirely. There isn't really any "light control" as such nor was there ever intended to be. Certainly don't try to use the control cock to dim the light. All you'll do it advance the pricker end into the jet where it will burn away and you'll end up having to replace it sooner or later - probably sooner. You might be able to dim the light output by reducing the pressure but you'll just have to pump up the lantern again a bit sooner. Generally, folk decry the light output of an X246B rather than try to knock them back. Claimed output is/was 300cp but in reality, more likely around 120cp or so...
