Hello All, I've very recently discovered the oddly fascinating world of pressure lamps ...... And ..... I was talking to my neighbour who said he has a Tilley lamp somewhere buried in his garage which he's going to dig out. He said he can't remember ever having to use a pre-heater torch to get it going. He seemed quite certain. I wondered, is he mis-remembering or did Tilley ever have a lamp that didn't use a pre-heater torch? Thanks in advance for any insights. JP.
@JP Edwards All paraffin-fuelled Tilleys have to have pre-heating but presumably you’re referring to the separate lighting torch clipped onto the vapouriser. Tilley briefly produced a version of their product with a built-in pre-heater fuelled by pressurised paraffin from the fuel tank, the X359, seen in action HERE. John
Yes, I was meaning the separate lighting torch clipped onto the vapouriser. So my neighbour must be mis-remembering, probably decades since he's used the lamp, we'll both have a tinker with it when he excavates it from his garage. Have to say, that video with the Tilley lamp / combined blow torch was impressive. Amazing amount of energy used to preheat! I wonder why they didn't persevere and release a model without the glitches - seemed like a good idea not needing to carry a separate lighting torch and methylated spirits. Thanks for your reply John - very informative. JP.
There is always a possibility that the lamp he was referring to is not a tilley but another make like Coleman which runs on petrol, a lot of people refer to any pressure lamp as a tilley irrespective of the manufacturer.
Welcome JP, If the lamp that your neighbour was referring to is indeed a Tilley, then the answer is no. Not all Tilley lamps were designed to use a preheater torch. At least for these:- The Tilley BT25 Floodlight uses LPG or propane gas as the fuel. Therefore, pre-heating is unnecessary. The same goes for the BT26 gas lamp. Can't tell if your neighbour was mis-remembering until he digs out the mentioned lamp from his garage.
Thank you Jeff. By the way, the alliteration of your name reminded me of Guy Fawkes. When, in 1605, he was caught by the King's Guard in the middle of planting 36 kegs of gunpowder under Parliament House he was asked to identify himself - put on the spot he gave the hilariously implausible response of "John Jonnson" From this thread, perhaps he could've saved the bother and simply gifted the King an X359 - with which the King may have incinerated himself
