I acquired another couple of Tilleys yesterday for renovation purposes and, superficially, they look pretty good. I don't know their history or how they've been used, cared for, or serviced. Standard stuff... I noticed a few strange things on disassembly and clean-up, but perhaps the strangest is the vapouriser from one of the lamps. There was no pricker wire in it. When I removed it, a substantial quantity of carbon grit fell out on its own. I soaked it for a few hours in a strong vinegar and water solution, then torched and quenched it in water twice, tapping out more grit each time. I serviced an old pricker wire and tried to insert it in the vapouriser, but it simply will not slide all the way in, even with lots of fiddling and wiggling. Curiously, when I shake the vapouriser, it makes a rattling sound. I've serviced a lot of Tilley vapourisers by now, and I honestly don't recall if I've noticed that characteristic before. I'm almost suspecting that perhaps someone broke off the end of a pricker wire in the vapouriser at some point. Has such a thing ever been known to happen, or is there by design something in the jet end of the vapouriser that has a tendency to jiggle around when it's shaken?
Is the rattle an old spring from the pricker rod trapped inside the vapouriser? That happens quite often. Tony
Oh boy, I sure hope it's not that. It sounds like the rate of successful extraction might be very low. Is there anything about the internal construction of these vapourisers that could potentially cause an obstruction? I don't imagine this could be just an enormous buildup of carbon, but could it be? I'm tempted to install this vapouriser on a lamp and pressurize the fount just to see if fuel flows through it.
Does it have a brass knurled base or steel and crimped. The brass type will unscrew. They are very tight but will come out and allow you to brush out the bore or the steel tube. ::Neil::
I’ve checked out the other thread linked above and tried another two times to torch and quench the vapouriser, but it’s still blocked. I also temporarily installed it on a working lamp and tried to light it, but there doesn’t seem to be any or enough fuel flowing through it. For this reason I don’t think the problem would be a dislodged spring, since that shouldn’t shut off the flow of fuel (in my estimation). The vapouriser must be the “steel and crimped” kind, like most/all of my Tilley vapourisers except the ones on my early Guardsman and X246A. Here are a couple of pictures of what I’m looking at. The one with the pricker wire installed shows how far the insertion can be made after a lot of struggling. That far and no further. It won’t reach the point where the spring action would engage.
Well, up to the first of the pricker wire guides at least. It’s possible that one of those has broken loose. John
@Jaska The picture of the jet end of the vapouriser shows it is quite a modern one.. these are very poor quality and quite often when you get them from Tilley they don’t work… brand new! .. this is such a common problem that when you phone them they will send out another straightaway .. the fact that it didn’t have a needle in place does point towards perhaps the end of the needle rod has come off at the weld or as @presscall has said perhaps the guide has come loose when you buy a needle from Tilley you have to crimp or grind down the weld as they mostly don’t go in !! sad state of affairs :/ regards, pb *Edit : a strong magnifier is a good tool in cases like this; sometimes you can tell if the jet is obstructed
