Hello! My uncle recently passed away and left this, what I think must be a pretty unusual, lamp. I have never seen anything like it and now wonder: 1) How old might it be (could it be from wwII)? 2) What kind of fuel does it use? 3) What is the purpose of this lamp? 4) Do you guys got any idea of the value? Best regards Fredrik from sweden.
Sounds like you're gathering information to sell it - try looking in the Tilley section of the Lamp Reference Gallery. We don't do valuations here because there are so many variables that affect 'value', therefore it's impossible to say...
Hello and Welcome aboard Fredrik! It's a Tilley floodlight model FL-6 and I reckon that it's a 1950's version, check the bottom of the tank with a magnifying glass, because if it's a late 1950's model then it may be date stamped. The fuel to use is paraffin/kerosene. The FL-6 was used on the railways and at airports and building sites and many other places which needed independant lighting sources and it was often used in emergency situations. We do not give valuations here. That's a fine lamp which in great condition!
Hello guys! Thanks for your answers! I must say at first I did not plan to keep it and a sell might be the best thing for this awesome lamp! (So it may be in the right hands and used perhaps). I do understand that a valuation might be tricky! But now with this information I think it may come from my grandpa. He worked at different construction sites and often in tunnels like the building of subway system of Stockholm. Perhaps this lamp is from those days. What I think would be nice is to lit up the snowsledge slope for my kids (we live outside the city in a cottage). But correct me if I'm wrong when I say that the lamp may be hard to use or perhaps even dangerous? Even if I now think it would be nice to keep I think it is better of in some other persons hands. How ever, thanks for the information, many thanks and best regards! /Fredrik
Hello Fredrik, perhaps some of the other Swedish members of this website will be able to assist you. Once a Tilley is fully restored then it's a joy to use! Jeff.
Hi Fredrik. The FL6 isn't a rare lamp in any way. Not even here in Sweden. The reason people just don't see them so often is of course because it only were large companies that used them, e.g. Vattenfall, and that they generally were kept in storage. Also the civil defence had them. Some has entered the market later on, when others just simply has been scrapped, as I was told by a guy at Vattenfall. (He had saved a couple, and I took one of them.) That fount was used on the 60's models, but I have no idea when the change took place. It can just as well be sometimes during the 50's as jeff suggest, but atleast the first period of the 50's used another kind, as you can see in the FL6 section. OK. I'll correct you. They are not hard to use, just heavy and a bit awkward in size. And they are absolutely not dangerous. I see that someone has been "innovative" and placed a preheating cup from an old Primus blow lamp on it. The blow lamp cup isn't really suited for the job, but I guess it will work just due to the sheer size of it. Better still to get something that concentrate the preheating flame around the vapouriser rather than a bit beside it.
It looks to be in excellent condition so I'm sure most collectors would be happy to give it a home...
You can never have enough big ones Just like Tilleys thats all. Maybe all the bid ones are down under. Bob
Bob, what an awesome display of FL's. Yet again you have impressed me with your amazing collection. I think the one with the tripod looks the goods. Well done !!!
Nice gathering Bob. And even an SL Lucky B***er FL`s are rare here, seen 2 + 1 SL (and power off all day for auction finish) on e/b Aus.in 10 years. I resorted to UK e/b but now exchange rates gone bad & haven't got an SL in sight. Graham::
Hello again all you guys! Really nice to talk to you and I see that you all are true experts. I must say that I get more and more fond of the lamp. It turned out that the lamp was bought of my late uncle probably from some sale of old military equipment since he worked at the navy. But Christer, so you mean that from my photo you can see that the lamp is not original? Do you mean taht some of the parts inside (behind the glass) is replaced? I must say that I'm impressed of your knowledge and sight!! How ever there is still a original label dangling from a string on the backside saying "if you need more info of some other lamps ..." To me that looks like this lamp never has been used. (But there seems to be some kerosene inside it so it might been used) . But do you think that the navy might hvae bought a couple and before any use they have done some modifications? Best regards Fredrik
Christer is referring to the part I've outlined.. This part isn't normal on these lamps and has probably been borrowed from a blow torch. It will have just been slid on and so isn't an issue.
The fuel in the tank and the burnt-in mantle mean that this lamp has almost certainly been lit at some point, but not very often - perhaps just test-fired. The lamp would originally have come with a Tilley preheater torch. This clips onto the vapouriser where the blowlamp preheater now sits. The preheater torch is very easy to lose which is probably why someone has replaced it with something else to perform the same function. This will be excellent in the snow lighting up your kids' toboggan run. We'll need some pics in due course...
Yep. Gneiss understood exactly what I meant. I thought I was clear enough for anyone to understand... And as I also said, this cup came from a Primus blow lamp. This preheater cup was used on a couple of blow lamps. E.g. the No. 603 as seen here: It's just as David says: probably a quick remedy after the loose torch clip has disappeared someway along the road, which also indicates that this lamp has been used a bit (apart from the obvious bit with the mantle). Normally the FL6's I've seen here has most parts with them, including both the glass jar and torch, since they often comes unused directly from storage.
