I have obtained a 1938 onwards Tilley FL6 and it has finally arrived after several months. Very happy with it but I believe a few things have been repaired or altered along the way. The existing handle with grooves. Do I replace the above handle with this NOS one? The glass in the FL6 is Tilley on two pieces and I have a replacement third piece (part 280B) on the way. Strangely the 4 floodlight to fount bolts were metric M6. That has me puzzled but there was also a repair on the yoke bolt wingnut holder at one stage. I have had to go for modern wingnuts on actual bolts because of wear. I have been trying to work out the approximate age and it is confusing as anything I have come across. I can only think it is probably 1940 to about 1955 perhaps. Here are some notes I have made from what I have read in this section. Any thoughts, correction or clarifications would be most welcome as I would love to have a better idea at dating these wonderful Tilley exemplars. Features · 5000 Mean Reflected Candle Power · 250 cp burner powers the FL6 (slightly smaller than the 300 cp X246 burner) · Vapouriser is the 7” part 169 · 14” Separate Reflector (earlier FL1 –FL5 had the back of the case as the reflector) · Armour plate glass (has superb resistance to thermal stress. · Oil Capacity – 6 imperial pints (3.4 litres) · 9.98 kg (22 lb) empty weight (12.76 kg when fuelled with 3.4 litres) (excluding stand) · Correct mantle – Tilley 191 or Veritas FL Mantles but I noted that several members have also advised that a self-tie X164 mantle works very well. Three Stands available: o Short Stand (S.1) – holds mantle 18” above ground and weighs 2.25 kg (part 1701) and earlier ones were flat bar and later ones tubular. o Tripod Stand (S.2) – holds mantle up to 8’ above ground (part 1702) o Spiked Stand (S.S.1) o A fourth stand for attaching to trees was used on special FL6 units that had the pump at the front. I understand that who made those stands has not been resolved. Identification & Dating · Narrow small bore pump (which is quite long) – Dec 1936 to 1937 · Wide pump – 1938 to 1970s (XN Control Cock – circa 1938 to 1940) · Pump in front; special production for Sweden electrical in 1950s Here. · Brass ID plates on 1937 and early ‘1938+’ models · Decals may be mid-1940s onward · Some have riveted backs (start date not clarified) · Square welded box on early ones; spot welded box are on later (circa 1953 and 1960 Here. · Pop rivets holding case to attachment box indicate late N. Ireland (circa 1966 to 1970) Here. · Yoke can be a bit loose sometimes and issue is whether to use washers. Here. · Founts date stamped from late fifties. · Clip holding glass front closed on some (at least 1960) Here: · Two types of wide pump; early and later. Not sure what the difference is? · When did the pump handle and floodlight handle become the same? Would love to hear more about dating FL6 and any corrections or comments on my lantern or the notes above. Thanks
Nice lamp, @segman. I would keep the bespoke handle on the pump. You might need the NOS one for your next FL6. I’ll ponder the time period, but I’d say 1940s to early 50s but not early 1940s. Tony
Thanks @Tony Press and @Anthony for the approximate dating of the floodlight. Further, I have identified another handle the same as mine from 2015 and both are from Woolongong, NSW area and likely just very well made replacement handles. Lastly, the outer burner air pipe holes in the reflectors are interesting. On a 1937 unit the two holes are elongated at 22.3 mm by 27.3 mm and face about 10 and 2 O'clock. Later reflectors appear to have these same holes shorter at about 25 mm and oriented more towards 4 and 8 O'clock. Will be interesting if anyone else can confirm this pattern in the future. Yes @Buggerlugs a nice unit I am happy with. Thanks for the comment.
Re the FL6 capacity. Tilley state to fill it with 6 pints (imperial). See Tilley FL6 document here by @Carlsson https://classicpressurelamps.com/threads/1953-about-tilley-fl6.407/ This is stated by Tilley to be about 2/3 full. This aligns with common advice. However, I used 3 quart bottles full and thought it looked light on so added one more pint, thus 7 in total and near enough 4 litres. This probably made it easier for pressurising it. I also emptied out the bad kerosene and used new stuff. Well worth while. I also changed the handle as it clinked and the small spacer above the pump top cap was reversed and embedded in the old wrong handle and this meant it didn't stop at the correct position when pumping. Ran it nicely for 30 minutes with no extra pumping and then turned it off.
