Out of the 4 1/2 junk Tilleys my uted benefactor gave me, I reckon I'll get 2 or 3 usable lamps. I have one almost ready to try, but I need a mantle (from Sands hopefully), and a starter (?). What do the starters (pre-heaters?) look like? I saw one Tilley at the local tractor-pull last weekend and the stallholder showed me something like a muff that goes around base of the tube, which I assume would be soaked in meths and burnt. Am I on the right track or not? (BTW the feller wanted $180 for his admittedly shiny Tilley lamp).
@Julian Whittaker these are the pre-heaters. The one on the left is a push on and the one on the right is butterfly style where you squeeze the handles together to open it up. I believe the butterfly style is the older version.
Yes, assumption is correct. Try to remove excess metho before placing torch on vapouriser tube else the excess runs down and if the fount has been repainted in some instances it can stuff up your paint. Usually once the metho in the torch starts running low is when you get the final lighting to occur but best to follow the einstructions for the lantern. However, I run the torch for a set period of time and then close the pump seal fully and after a bit time I add a few initial pumps to start pressurising the fount and then coinciding with the torch running down I then open the control cock valve. Seems to work but everyone has a slight variation. Main thing is don't try to light it too soon before the vapouriser is hot enough otherwise you have a few flames going everywhere. Best to light it outdoors in a safe environment. Good luck.
