I have been working on a Tilley radiator and the ceramic part of the burner head has cracked into several pieces. Despite having a look on the internet I can't seem to find replacement ceramic parts apart from the tube. Does anyone know if these are available? If not I shall have to get the lathe and milling machine into operation and make a replacement in brass.
That’s a shame Actually I think that part may be cast iron? Only way to source would be a 2nd hand burner unless someone has a spare? Yes, if you could turn one up out of brass or hard braze back together with a high temp rod maybe? It may weld up but old cast can be tricky regards pb Edit : Sorry, !!!! it does look like ceramic! Never seen a ceramic one yet I’ll get me coat…
New one to me also. Component ‘C’ on my burner is brass as you can see and it’s threaded to screw into the cast iron body ‘B’.
I'll have to check my old Tilley radiator burners. My recollection is that I've seen only brass fittings on mine. I think I have a spare one, but you're best going to the Base Camp for a replacement. Cheers Tony
I have several radiators and have not seen a ceramic part as indicated in the above initial post. Only ever the ceramic spigot tube protector. Very interesting indeed. Could it be a WWII war years thing to save brass?
It does look like a broken cast metal/iron piece. Are you certain it is ceramic and not magnetic? The weight difference between cast iron and ceramic would also tell.
Definitely ceramic, very light and brittle. Looks like I will be machining a replacement from brass when I get round to it.
For those that are interested I have made a replacement part for the burner head in brass. Working a treat now and been burning for a couple of hours no problem.
Thats a beautiful piece of machining...Envy is a terrible thing..... I tend to do most of my repairs with a hammer. I'm working on a bialaddin fire bowl at the moment, and the ceramic tubey thing is missing and the previous owner replaced it with a piece of half inch copper.. Can anyone tell me what it does ???
Hi Paul - yes the ceramic saves the brass tube underneath from the direct ravages of the flame/heat inside the burner screen. I guess the designer/engineer found this neccesary. I have not tried running one without it.
Running without the ceramic insulator will first damage the brass tube and eventually the vapouriser. Tony
I have just had a moment of memory : - I bought an R1 cheaply unseen and somebody had made their own brass version of the ceramic tube. The burner did not want to come off the vaporiser - so after the ever-increasing levels of violence deployed to remove it - I found that the vapouriser had expanded inside the errant brass tube that would not let go. it is buried in this thread : Tilley R1 burner home made parts
@Fireexit1 Uh Oh...that sounds very unpleasant. I will just have to wait for the ceramic tube to arrive from Jullian at Tilleylampsandstoves.co.uk
