Wire mantle on R1 appears a bit small

Wow it looks like the same thing will happen to that wire mantle too.
I wonder why?
Or is it the manufacturer that you are getting them from?

 

I'm not sure how many people will run a whole tank solid on one or not, but that's what seemed to kill the last mantle.
I've been just taking it easy so far and only used it for a couple of hours on a low heat.
The wire seems to be holding up so far, but flakes off as it cools down each time.

 

I have never seen that before. I use the ones from here: https://www.tilleylampsandstoves.com/

When you mention "low heat" how are you controlling the heat output ?

 

@Fireexit1
Is that Juliands shop? Tried clicking on the link but it keeps saying about being unsupported ? :/

 

“Low heat…”???

The Tilley vapouriser has two speeds: flat out; and stop.

Is that residue carbon?


Tony

 

Kinda my thoughts there Tony.

 

Works fine on my PC - but yes - and of course also available on ebay

 

cheers! It’s probably the phone.. moaning on about the browser being unsupported.. wah wah

do you mean residue carbon in the vapouriser i.e. clogging?

regards
pB

 

2 ways it can be done, using the knob on the valve is one way, but I found it's easier to regulate by lowering the tank pressure itself and leaving the valve fully open.
What I don't get is the pressure indicator on the tank is not overly accurate, if I pump it up to indicate so called "correct" pressure when the indicator comes up flush, the burner flames are huge and reach the bottom of the mantle, I don't think that would be ideal to operate under those conditions.
I was trying to keep the flames about 5mm long this time.
They would have been roughly 8-10mm long all night prior to the mantle falling apart.

 

Attempting to regulate the output with the pricker needle is inadvisable. The high temperature environment and flow of fuel vapour could erode the fine tip.

If you think your pressure pip is not operating properly, fill the tank to 3/4 full. Close the fuel flow and pump to 100 pumps. That should be top operational pressure. Then see where the pip sits.


Tony

 

Yes, I find its easier to regulate output by tank pressure, I wasnt sure if it was designed to be regulated by those means, but naturally a knob like on most stoves will adjust the flame.
I do wonder if the pressure pip is not a reliable indicator, I definitely didnt do anywhere near 100 pumps of the tank and the pip would pop up to the top quite easily.
I was getting quite a large flame and backed off the pressure because of this.
I also did not get a full 12 hours from a tank, it was closer to 8 hours.
The tip of the jet looks fine to me with no signs of wear, so not too sure why the fuel consumption was so high, but i suspect I may have still had it running a bit high, and going by the pressure indicator, was still on the low side.

Its definitely steel flakes, they will all stick to a magnet.

 

Without having the radiator in-hand it’s difficult to diagnose your issue(s) but…

If it were mine, I would put a working Tilley lamp X246 burner, mantle and glass on the radiator and see how it performs. If you know it performs properly on the lamp it should also perform properly on the heater.

If it burns outside the mantle on the radiator and not on the lamp then you have a problem with the radiator burner or vapouriser.

The metal flakes/dust indicates faulty radiator mantle material.

Tony

 

Ok, I also believe it's bad material that the mantle is made from.
The retailer was suggesting to me that the heater is running to high, hence why I questioned how large the flame should be on this.
Should be easy enough to try out an x246 burner on there.
Only other thing that potentially could have affected run time was the fuel I was using.
I had used it with a tank of odorless kerosene which appears to be a different hydrocarbon, whether it's density is any different, I'm not sure.
But I'm not using it anymore, I just had a bottle of it I wanted to use up.

 

I have found the heaters less forgiving than the lanterns when it comes to more worn burners. Somewhat counterintuitive but based on a relatively small sample.

 

That's interesting to hear.
When I get round to it, I will take a video to give an idea on flame size.
Don't think the burner is worn, perhaps the jet on the vaporizer is, but not sure how fast those things wear out. Looks ok to me but it's such a tiny hole to begin with.

 

Oops sorry I meant to say vaporiser - not burner.

 

Yeah i figured that might be the case. Is there any real way to measure these things for wear?
It doesnt look like its had much use and it was still in its box when i got it.

 

Others have talked about the jet diameter

Tilley 606 and 169 vapouriser jets

Acupuncture needles can be handy for gauging. I have bought "new in box" vapourisers that have been duffers, and have seen people flog the same on ebay. Many of us put the old vapouriser in back in the new wrapping and put it away "as it might be handy one day" - these then find their way onto the market and get sold by people who do not know what they have and just look at the going price on ebay. I have also bought the new manufacture versions with mixed results out of the box.

 

Sorry, that sounds wrong what I wrote earlier.
I was meaning the whole heater was in its original box which I still have.
Doesn't look like it's had an awful amount of use.
It still had the asbestos mantle installed which I removed and was afraid to use. I've kept it in a sealed jar. Don't know how dangerous they are to use, but felt I would be better safe than sorry.

 

I am in the same camp when it comes to asbestos - especially the "fluffy" type. It does sound unlikley that it is the vapouriser which leaves the fuel. I have found some "odourless" kerosine types to be not very good, but it does seem to vary.

 

I very much doubt it's got anything wrong either.
Will report back on how many pumps it takes to pressurise the tank and flame size, etc.

 

So 100 pumps gets the pip to this level here.
And when I fired it up, the flames roar and touch the bottom of the mantle.
I'm not sure if this is normal, but probably is not ideal for the mantle.

 

That looks just like mine when it is working well.
Safe to say that your pip is not working properly. You could try to clean it a little from the top

 

With the pip, clean the crud out, and then put some thin engine oil machine oil in the hole while the pressure is off. Leave it soak for a few hours.


Cheers

Tony

 

Ok, so it's OK to have long flames that run well down away from the burner holes?
The retailer was trying to suggest that the heater was operating too high and I thought that running like this might have been too hard on the mantle?

Good point, probably just dirt and grime?

 

Metallic wire gauze mantles are usually made of metal alloys mainly consisting of nickel and chromium.
There are some made of stainless steels. Since stainless steels contain a fair portion of iron, they might not last as long due to the combustibility of iron and the expansive nature of its oxide(rust/iron oxide).
The Nickel-Chromium alloys can have varying ratios. One of them is the well-known nichrome.
Sometimes they would add a small amount of other elements such as aluminium, molybdenum, yttrium, cerium, silicon, tungsten to vary the characteristics in order to optimize them for the application. They can significantly improve the oxidation resistance of the material by forming a strong outer layer of inert oxide to seal the underlying metal from rapid deterioration by heat and oxygen.
However, too high a percentage can lead to counter-productive effects of the material, especially on strength and workability.
In at least one of Coleman's device, the radiant element for use in these wire mantles are made of Inconel. Such as inconel 600 and 601.
Although some of the alloys are non-magnetic, the magnet test alone cannot be used to tell that the mantles are made of regular steel. That's because nickel is also magnetic.

 

Tilley R1 issues

look at the flames on the last photo

 

That looks quite a normal flame.
No ideas what pressure it was running st however, the pip on that heater appears to have been messed around with looks like a screw has been placed in it?

 

Which photo looks like the pip has a screw in it?

Tony

 

This one here, actually looking at it further, i think that screw is holding in the handle, just looked a bit weird to me at first on my phone.
Anyway, its unclear to me if my jet is worn on the vaporizer or not, but others here are saying there is nothing wrong with my flame.
I think its irrelevant to the issues ive had with the mantle anyway, it should still be able to withstand the heat.