Just bought this Tilley lamp from Ebay. Never had a kero lamp before but want to get it going for camping etc. I bought a service pack(hope I got the right one) and waiting for it to arrive. I think it a '54-58' model? maybe someone can id it? Also the control cock seems a bit strange. it sort of locks into the off position and when you turn it on it kind of springs into the full on position. is this how there supposed to be? When I get it serviced ill post an update. thanks....
Unlike some lamps Tilley lamps have a definite end stop in the "on" and "off/clean" position.. They tend to get tighter toward the "off/clean" position as you push against the spring... I've had at least one where it is too tight and I simply put two washers between the vapouriser and the stop cock to fix this. There's a tread here where I asked about dating these lamps... some of the answers should help you with yours. http://0flo.com/index.php?posts/30043 By the way, if I'm not mistaken I think you have an original globe there... Others will hopefully confirm.
Looks also like the first version of the hood (ie the top section does not have a lip). Therefore the globe and hood could be from an earlier lamp. Look at the bottom of the fount (tank) and see if it has any printing or numbers: the numbers could be preceded or followed by a letter. The last two numbers will be the year, the preceding number(s) will be the month. If it has no numbers it is an earlier X246 with the more modern cage. Look also at the side of the fount and see whether it has writing. That will help date it. Cheers Tony
The bottom of the tank doesn't have any numbers printed, only the words "made in England" the only thing printed on the side is "TILLEY-OWL LOGO-ENGLAND". The control knob has tilley lamp printed on the end with a letter B in the middle. Hope its not a silly question but what does the B stand for?
Somewhere between 1955 (because of the 'new' cage) and 1959 (when they started dating them), by my reckoning. I've always wondered what the "B" was for...
I think dating started around November 1956 so that'll help with the age of your lantern. The marks are sometimes faint, though, and can be made even more difficult to spot by the paint. FWIW, my thinking about the 'B' (which has been dismissed by some here) is that on instruction leaflets, the cleaner knob was often shown as 'B' with an arrow pointing to it. In the absence of any other explanation, that seems the most obvious to me...
That particular variation was in the middle of its production run when Tilley started dating so some are marked and some not. No date stamp will make it between 1954 and October 1956. After that they are date stampoed in the base. This as it happens is also the last "Good" tank Tilley made. The next variation has an inverted base plate which is prone to dish down under excess pressure. I am sure David is right here and the B in the control is simply because it is named as Button B in the instructions. ::Neil::
Thanks for all the comments and advice. Its such a nice antique piece of equipment, and fully usable. can't wait to fire it up.....
It looks to be in pretty good condition so it should clean up really well... Don't forget to post pictures once it's done
UPDATE... Well I finally got my x246 Tilley lamp fired up. Not having any experience with pressure lamps or knowing how they work it was a little bit of a challenge!! First I completely stripped it down and cleaned all the parts. Replaced all the washers. When I put it back together the burner(top bit)was to high and wouldn't clip down past the handle. pulled it apart and found the base washer under the control cock didn't seat properly. That fixed and full of Kero I tested the pump but couldn't any pressure. pulled apart & put back, got pressure alright, Kero started jetting out from the pump handle(also from the needle, the cock was turned on) With Kero all over the kitchen sink(yeah I know should have been outside, the Mrs has already told meI pulled the pump apart again and found some pieces of the old leather pump washer caught under the valve at the base of the pump. When the pressure built kero was forced out the valve that couldn't close properly. That fixed, pressure holding and no leaks I had to modify a mantle to fit over the vapour tube. I made a preheat cup from aluminium foil filled it with metho and lit her up. DONT EVER DO THIS!!!! The metho leaked out and......ok you get the picture, no harm done but the mantle did pre burn nicely! This time I preheated with a small butane burner, opened the control cock and PUFF!! she fired up, pumped up the pressure(just guessed how many pumps)and she hissed away like everyone says they do. Was surprised that the control cock body was still cool to touch, even the base of the vapour tube was not overly hot. The pump mechanism is a bit complex, when unscrewing to fill or release pressure the inner screw(the bit that holds in the pump handle) seems to undo as well?? I just used plain Kerosene from the hardware. Check the photos.......
Why did you have to modify the mantle? With regard to the pump the large outer nut needs to be screwed right down on the pump tube before you screw in the rest of pump assembly but don't force it, finger tight should be more than enough. With about a pint and a half of fuel it takes around 15 pumps to get it up and running then a further 85 to bring it to full pressure, I usually err on the safe side and do a few less. If the fuel is low it will require a few more and if you have overfilled it then less. For pre heating you really need to get yourself a Tilley preheating torch, these are quite cheap and readily available.
Another fine old Tilley lives again! There is a pressure indicator on that lantern, it's the small brass tube which protrudes from the top of the tank and when the top of rod which inside of the tube is level with the top of the tube, then you have the correct amount of pressure in the tank. Sometimes the rod becomes stuck when the lantern has not been used, but it will often free up once the lantern is in use. Sometimes the tube leaks and then it needs to be soldered, Jeff.
Well done on getting it running ok, learning by having problems and fixing them yourself is the best way as long as you dont contaminate the kitchen with paraffin ( but you've allready done that ) I bet you'll be buying another lamp pretty soon...
Good work! If you want to have a chat about the oddities of the X246 I'm happy to call you if you PT a number to me. Did you get the manual? Are you allowed back into the kitchen yet?
Yes I forgot about that... But I still keep count anyway. Incidentally I had one fail as I was pumping it up the other day and now it's leaking. Fortunately it was only on a spare I was trying out and not one one of my working lamps. It failed quite suddenly and dropped back from showing nearly full pressure and then wouldn't pump up again. I'm going to have to do the solder trick at some point as it's otherwise a good tank.
Thanks for all your posts, they've all been really helpful!! After a bit of trial and error my Tilley lamp is now running sweet!! Before(as in the pics) it was running on to low pressure, bit dull, yellowish light. But I didn't really know what to expect anyway. At first I couldn't get the pressure indicator to rise. turns out I didn't prep the leather cup properly. I soaked it in olive oil and now the pump works like it should. Un-prepped cup:- 300 pumps, prepped cup:- 80-100 pumps. I just used mantles I bought from the camping store. I think there mainly for gas lanterns, no hole all the way through. They had small, medium & large. I wasn't sure which one so I just used the small. Have now bought a Tilley pre heater from E-bay too.... Cheers, Liam.
The size of mantle you should look for in the camping stores (at least in Qld) is a D3 (double tie, 300cp). I've used a few of the cheap brands and they all seem to work well enough. They probably come from China or india but the price is right.
Yes, pumps have been one of the main causes of problems with my lamps and not all lamps have a pressure indicator and you can't always tell the pump isn't working right. I had one Tilley where it felt the same as any other when I was pumping it but if you unscrewed the pump there was hardly any pressure in there... I never really got to the bottom of it and just changed the whole pump in the end.
