Tilley X246 old model help to restore

@David Shouksmith, we talk about the temperature of the bail and the wire cage. These do get hot. The question is what temperature paint is needed for them.

The hood gets high temperature but we do not talk about this. This is NOT to be painted.

 

The bail will only get very hot if hanging the lantern up, I'm planning on running one of my X246B lanterns tomorrow, and I'll take note of how hot the cage gets and let you know.

 

Thank you!

 

As they say, watch this space.!

 

The message that the tank doesn't get hot enough to require VHT (or even HT) paint...

 

@David Shouksmith is correct about the temperature and relevant paint.

Some of the confusion when talking about very high temperature paint lies in the fact that, at least in Australia, the brand “VHT”, while it does make very high temperature paint, also makes ‘ordinary’ temperature paint (like their mag wheel paints) which don’t require heat curing.

The most important thing for the tank is that the paint cures to be fuel tolerant (including to metho).


Cheers

Tony

 

The results of the test are as follows:
Tank/Fount 43.2°C
Cage 143.5°C
Very top of dome 238.2°C

So the bail might approach that latter temperature if the lamp was hanging up.
Have you considered getting them re-chromed.?

 

Oh wow! Thank you! Rechrome what? The cage? The tank is brass, the hood enameled in good condition and the cage and bail had some golden paint which was damaged by the years of use (is that chrome?).

 

Yes, just the cage, once you get it off and the bail, I've attached a picture of where I took the temperature readings.
Those individual legs will just screw out, you might need to use a penetrating oil to loosen them off first.

 

And how do you chrome the cage? Can it be golden as it was?

 

It'll look the same as mine, just search locally for somebody that does chrome plating.

 

This link might be useful to you.

 

On the X246 Guardsman for instance Tilley used ordinary paint on the globe cage and handle. I can tell you without fear of contradiction that neither of these get hot enough to melt the paint. How hot does your car body get in direct sunlight? - you can't put your hand on it, yet even car body aerosols can withstand that temperature.

I'm pretty sure that Tilley even stoved their ordinary paint on their lanterns at high temperature to facilitate a rapid setting/curing time...

Yes, but not hotter than the globe cage which is much nearer the mantle...

 

In my experience of painting lantern cages or frames, especially Tilley Guardsman's, then only the inside of the top ring will slightly darken after a few hrs litted. This assuming standard type gold paint, non-vht.

 

Indeed they did David, on page ten of Jim Dick's book there is a photograph of "components travelling by rail to infrared ovens . . . " and many of those componants are cages for X246 lanterns.

 

I knew I'd seen it somewhere, Henry - I just couldn't remember exactly where it was...

 

I've got a copy of the book, and I should really read it from cover to cover, not just idly flick through it looking at the pictures.

 

Restoration went well. All seals replaced, checked for leaks (no leaks), cage panted with 300 degrees resistant paint (or so it claimed).
But it was time to light it and this did not go well (next message).

 

It seems that preheating did not go well. OK, this can happen. After some shoot it stabilized. But what I can see (it is not visible in the pictures)

(a) the flame is not contained in the mantle. How can this be possible? There are flames around the mantle going up to the hood.

(b) flames can be seen at positions (1) and (2) (visible in the picture above) but also in position (3)

(c) the mantle emits orange light and not bright white. Some smoke is also visible above the lantern. Which tells me that there is not enough oxygen supply. But the air tubes are new from base-camp as well as the top cup above the burner (I do not remember how it is called). The burner is old but it was cleaned.

More problems appeared. The paint of the cage it seems to have melted at some points and now the glass is stuck. It was supposed to withstand 300 Celsius. How great.... I have to find a way to remove the glass without breaking it.

 

A, curved bakers razor blade did the trick to unstuck the glass from the cage. Now I have to figure out the rest...

 

Flame outside the mantle is usually the result of the jet in the vapouriser being too large (worn out).

The other thing you should check is that all parts of the burner are tight with no distortion.


Cheers

Tony

 

This could be possible since the lantern is old. But do tilleys have a separate jet like the petromax? It seems that it is one piece with the carburetor. What part do I need to replace?

 

It should be vaporizer part 606 and cleaning wire 607. But before I order this part, could it be something else? I just do not want to keep ordering piece by piece.... It makes sense though... if the jet is wider, more kero reaches the burner and the supplied oxygen from the air-tubes is not enough.

 

Hi @Antonis Tsolomitis

your lamp is coming along well but I have never heard of the paint melting or sticking to the glass like that?
I think i would be contacting the seller?

Tony has made an important point about making sure the threads of the air tubes and the burner dome are sealed?
It may well be that the vapouriser has reached the end of its life as well.. (they were made as a disposable item but the early ones lasted a long time)
I would double check the burner first before sending off for a vapouriser
good luck

pb

 

It could be the case that not enough time was left for the paint to cure fully.

 

The paint was there for a week. Anyways...

The burner was a bit disformed. So the air tubes may not seal well. Who knows. Maybe I need to change the burner too. I will talk to base-camp. It is also this stupid customs after brexit.... very annoying. Next time I will not put on a mantle unless I see blue flame.