Hello people. Im pleased to say that its been over a yr for me and a mate playing with lanterns etc and we really enjoy every aspect of this hobby. I have had issues with a porkpie 246 that i cant figure out why it was doingwhat it was doing. Ok so I bought this 246 and started with cleaning the vapouiser and replacing all of the seals . I cleaned down everything so I could repaint / polish everything and got the orange hood disc re enameled . With painting /polishing seals etc sorted I reassembled it ready to test. It fired up well then over a few minutes died down to quite dull. I then set to and spent age sorting out what bit was the issue by . By means of deduction the hood was the cause. I made sure everything was clean and clear etc but still did it. Finally I replaced the burner in the hood and issue went away. My question is why didnt a spotless seemingly undamagd burner do this ? Thanks for reading . Cheers
[my bold/italics/underlined] On the outside, looked ok. Inside, coked up or otherwise under-performing probably. John
I think John is probably correct. If, for instance, your kettle stopped working, you wouldn't expect to fix it by polishing it. You may care to remove the dome from the burner and have a look inside. Be careful though, the threads are fine and if they're worn or burnt out you may find it difficult to get it back together. Do not attempt to unscrew the three air intakes - there's nothing to be gained by doing that and much to be lost. Don't ask me how I know...
Hi everyone. I will put a picture of it up after work this evening but i can assure you I have had it fully apart and cleaned both the inside and the outide of it and there is no carbon or even a speck of dust on the inside. I totally agree with you guys that iif it were dirty inside it would most likely the cause. I couldnt see the point however of polishing it externally as it cant be seen and wouldnt stay that way after use . Cheers
This is the burner that i took out of the hood and when I changed it for another the lantern run sweet as.
When you put that burner together were any of the threads worn, corroded, and or loose? And was the burner shape distorted at all? Tony
Hi the top thread was fine and the threads on the 3 tubes felt fine also and were all firm. The burner itself is not out of shape but the inner vertical tube is showing very minor rusty colour if that is of any help
Thanks. I’m stumped. I’d try it on another lamp and see how it goes… Wait: how close to the top of the dome does the inner steel tube go when the burner is back together properly? Tony
In the first photo the threaded part looks out of shape? (arrows) Very common which can let hot gases in the circled area shows where the burner dome is bottoming out on the air tubes.. try some copper ease or a small amount of exhaust paste on the threads or it may not be salvageable
I have had similar problems, but for whatever reason they've always been resolved by two things: 1) disassembly and thorough cleaning of burner, chamber, and air tubes and 2) coating all threads with copper anti-seize sealant and reassembling. I have found Tilley and Bialaddin burners to be very sensitive to gas leaks. Once I seal everything up I have had good success. Ulf.
Thanks for the information guys . I will have a look at wht you all are saying . The knowledge in this group is amazing .
So update . Im not surprised to say you guys hit tge nail on the head. I sealed uo the thread on the dome at the top an bingo. I now have a very happy lantern ticking away perfectly content. Is it just me or are there others who need to have a lantern fired up even though its midday and sunny as hell outside ? Thanks for your help
I had a lantern which had a flat like that. It didn't let hot gases in - it let hot paraffin vapour out so it was a right stinker whenever I tried to use it. I got it back to round and it burned sweetly after that...
@David Shouksmith tilley burners do seem prone to this do you know if the same has occurred with the willis bates burner at all? regards pb
This happens when the burner runs hot enough for the brass to soften. The weight of the hood on the air tubes provides a down force so the sides of the burner bend like that. It would certainly occur if the flame is allowed to burn up in the dome for any length of time. That can happen if the tank pressure is allowed to get low. In the extreme it ends like this. Tilley X246
I've just remembered i read in Ian Ashton’s book that they tried hard to find a suitable type of Brass for the burner for the E41.. that would explain a lot I wonder if there are examples of Kayen burners with similar symptoms?
I can answer that question, yes they do. Here are some photo's of 2 Kayen burners, as best as I can get them. First one Second one Regards Brian.
at first i thought the walls of the vapalux burner body might be thicker but they look similar :/ it has to be the type of brass then
