I was looking at my priming clip for the tilley and was wondering if the wicking material is asbestos since it does not look to me like cotton. Anybody care to comment? While at it, I decided to make a priming cup for my Tilley and Bowlfire as shown here. The bowlfire priming cup it a bit longer (1 inch) as the bowlfire requires longer priming due to the stainless mantle. It was kind of touch and go attaching a flat brass hook at the bottom so I can insert a wire to raise up the priming cup closer to the mantle on the bowlfire. In all it was well worth the project. Now to find a suitable wick. Ron
Well done Ron! They are looking good and functional. I guess you could use a bit of a fibreglass rope or braid for a wick. Or just skip it. It works well with an open spirit cup too.
Hi Ron, splendid work mate! I guess you can use some of the rope that's used in woodburner doors, but like Christer said you can first try without. The wick is mainly there so you don't spill, and all our pressure stoves do without anyway. All the best, Wim
A few turns of flat, wire reinforced fibreglass wick does the job well. Methylated spirit loses some efficiency when it boils so burning through a wick like a Tilley or Bialaddin preheater is actually hotter. An added advantage is that the liquid flame will not spill...!
Thanks for the suggestion, I am unsure about whether what material is used in ye olde priming clips but it looks to me like this (its not cotton) care to guess I just rolled a few turns just similar to the priming cup of the Vapalux. Of course the newer ones may be fiberglass already from what I see on Ebay. Ron
Ron traded this to me last summer (the one on the left) after I got my Tilley bowlfire. He said to fill it up half way or more to preheat the vaporizer. Is that correct? It sure burns a long time. Duane
The burner on the bowlfire is a simply a bigger chunk of metal than the one on the lanterns so it needs more pre-heating to get all of it up to a temperature where it will not cause the kerosene vapour from the vapouriser (=generator) to condense and hence, flare-up. These ain't Quik-Lites or Insta-lites or whatever. They take a decent amount of time to preheat - the lanterns around 2-3 minutes and the bowl-fire maybe 3-4 minutes. You can extend these times if you're lighting outdoors, particularly when it's cold and wet and especially when it's windy. In extreme conditions you may even have to prime twice or use what I call a 'strategic flare' by opening the jet very slightly under low tank pressure to allow a small amount of liquid kero to ignite around the burner to supplement the pre-heater. Tilley heater/radiators came with a windshield which dropped down over the burner to concentrate the pre-heat flame around the vapouriser and burner. The Bialaddin Bowlfire did not (it was an optional extra) which can be a pain. IIRC, I've fitted the Tilley windshield onto a BBF for priming outside - it fits and works. Oh, and BTW - there's no need to raise the pre-heater on the BBF; the originals didn't have the strut mechanism because it was unnecessary...
Thanks David. I made a cowl out of two soup cans screwed together, however, I need to cut the ends of the screws off or use shorter ones as they catch on the mantle and I want to install the asbestos mantle I just got, so I don't want it buggered up, those are rare. I was able this last weekend to get the bowlfire going without the cowl when I forgot to put it on when I preheated the thing. Still waiting to fire it up and see if turning the control cock a third is all it needs to run as it should. Duane
I think you may be a little confused, Duane - the Tilley control cock has internal 'end-stops' and won't rotate more than 1/3rd of a turn (unless, of course, you have damaged it inside...)
It may be damaged as it rotates a turn or more, that is why I mentioned the sweet spot. I'll have to get it out of my pickup, all packed for what looks like a trip I may have to abort due to too much snow. Duane
Ah, well then - that 'sweet spot' would likely be where the pricker is in the fully down position, thus allowing maximum fuel flow...
David, I guess I could easily check that by taking it all apart with just the vaporizer left in place and rotate the knob. Maybe tomorrow, I think I'll go camping on my way home instead of going to where the snow is so deep. That way I can use the thing and make it earn its keep. Duane
Yes, you can feel the end of the needle sticking through the jet when the pricker rod is in it's raised position...
Forgive my ignorance but am I right to assume I could use this on my X246B latern? If so do you have any sizes? how far up or down the tube thing would I position it?
