hi,i have a leak coming from my pressure indicator rod on my tilley lamp tank, it looks like the indicator rod is stuck, any ideas on stopping it leaking. regards boater
Hi John, before applying a permanent seal of solder blob, I would try a good soak with penetrating oil over a couple of days. This has sometimes worked for me. But if it doesn't, then the solder seal is the only option. Anyway, the pressure indicator was never very accurate and just a bit of a gimmick really. Cheers - Steve.
Hi boater, these pressure indicator's were not all that reliable, and quite often stopped working after a while. I would go with Steve's advice, and see if you can get it working by soaking it in penetrating oil, if you have no luck then seal it with a blob of solder
Good advice you two,,,but if its leaking then isn't the diaphragm split and even if it starts working with a bit of oil it'll still leak?
Aren't these pressure tits soldered into the tank? So if you get it hot enough to make an effective solder seal, you'll run the risk of the whole thing dropping into the tank. Then you'd be pretty much bu&&ered. I think I'd be trying a blob of body filler first - after scrupulous cleaning, of course. If it didn't stick there's been nothing lost because you could then try your 'blob of solder' trick. Just a thought...
I've never had any luck soldering those things up. The pressure always seems to cause the piston to push the solder out of the recess.
I'm with David, there is too much risk of the whole pressure gauge falling into the tank with soldering. I guess it's not the end of the world as you can easily get another tank but its not the same as making a repair yourself to get a lamp working. An alternative to David's body filler suggestion, is araldite. You need to clean the inside of the tit really well, plus the top surface of it and then mix up your araldite, force it in and then mound it up on top a bit so it's domed then let it set for a couple of days. I've done this on a kl80 and it set solid and has worked really well. The first pic below shows my repaired kl80, the second shows my vase lamp, someone clearly had no idea what they had when they took a blowtorch to it.
I had a similar sort of thing happen when I tried (with the help of Gary - Redspeedster on CCS) to solder up the bottom seam on an FL6. Even with the pump removed, sufficient pressure still built up inside the tank to push the molten solder out of the seam. I think another part of the problem was that I couldn't get absolutely all the kero out of the tank so some was vapourising and passing through the molten solder, burning with a little yellow flame. Luckily, Mrs Redspeedster chose that moment to go out for something, so we got the vacuum cleaner and held the nozzle to the pump opening, thus creating negative pressure within the tank and allowing the soldering to proceed successfully. Needless to say, the vacuum cleaner was back in the cupboard tout d'suite, as they say, and to this very day nobody except me and Gary was any the wiser...
The skill is in the soldering itself ,those more experienced than me know what solders melt at which temperature and use a lower melting point solder so other joints dont become soft,,,,
I have a X246 which had a leaking pressure tit; I cleaned it very well and then filled it in with Superglue. This was about 3 months ago, and it is still working fine, no leaks so far, and this is one of my regular user lamps. Steve.
Well you could, Stephan, but what's the problem with the easy way i.e. Araldite - which was what my brain meant but my fingers typed 'body filler' instead... Anyway, I've had a couple of these leak slightly over the last eleven years but never to the extent that a couple of extra pumpstrokes every hour or so didn't overcome the problem. Or just light a different lantern - even more simple - not worth farting about with, really...
David, my post was related to the following: I thought that this might not happen when a screen is used, a grub screw might look nicer, so I recommended it.
These pressure tits can appear to leak when in fact all you are seeing is some liquid from inside the diaphragm being forced out under pressure. If the inner rod moves under pressure then the diaphragm is probably OK and you can ignore any apparent leak. ::Neil::
Agreed, I have seen this on an R1. Empty tank, pump it up and try a snoop with soapy water to search with bubbles for air leaks. If you find a continuous leak, out with the soldering iron Alec
I'm not 100% au fait with the construction of these. I thought the diaphragm was a sealed circular box with a corrugated top and bottom. What liquid is it, how does it get into the diaphragm and how does it leak from there to the outside?
Boater does not say how he knows it is leaking. The indicator should expel a little air when the tank is pressurised. If the indicator is slow to respond, you may see air bubbles when testing for leaks generally, by immersion. If it is leaking a liquid, most probably it has got in the top - possibly through the partial vacuum formed when checking a leaky tank by immersing in water or possibly oil etc dripped in from the top when seeking to free a seized indicator. The fuel is not usually as high in the tank as the diaphragm. If it's passing air over a lengthy period - it is likely that the diaphragm has fractured, but that is not common in my experience; perhaps I have been fortunate.
I had exactly this issue the first time I came across one of these. Fortunately someone had warned me... A bit of WD40 freed mine up and it has been working without issue ever since.
Hi when I pressure pumped my tilley tank,I could see paraffin bubbling up the indicator I have used a glue with a hardener and this has stopped it leaking. When I thread the vapourizer into the tank on my guardsman the threads do not go all the way down,and are exposed although i have got it working i am not happy with it,i am not sure about the clamp washer on the pump lock nut that threads on the tank i need to see a diagram to see if i have got it right. any comments please boater
Go to the Reference Gallery (if you are a paid-up member and look through the reference material for the diagram you need). Failing that go to Base Camp (link on this site) and see their "Exploded View" of the pre 1960 X246: http://www.base-camp.co.uk/exploded%20views/Tilley/guardsman.jpg On the point about your vaporiser, you will see from the exploded view of the X246 that there are two fittings to locate the control cock and vaporiser onto the fount (tank): the Cock (part 2563, and the locating bush (part 337). The locating bush is used to get the control cock "on/off" mechanism clear of the cage, pump and pressure pip. The trick is to put the locating bush on the control cock; put the washer on the bottom of the control cock; screw them together until the locating bush and control cock are almost fully located inside the fount and then fiddle the tightening of the control cock and the locating bush (no more than a full turn in either direction) so that the control cock ends up fully tightening to a position where it is not being interfered with by other parts of the lamp. As with all old lamps, and I've fettled many an X246: make sure all your pieces are clean and tight (but not overtightened); that your seals and washers are up to scratch; that your fuel is clean; and that your vaporiser is clean and it's jet is not enlarged. A proper pre-heat (2 mins) out of the wind and a hundred pumps on one and a half pints of kero: it should go well. If you want to PT me with your email address, I can send you a *pdf of a 1942 Tilley Manual. While it pre-dates the X246 it has great information relevant to running any Tilley. Good luck.
