I live aboard a boat all year long and need to keep her heated through the winter so as to be comfortable. I have a great, diesel heater in the engine room, that can keep the entire vessel quite 'toasty', however, I refrain from turning it on until the temperatures average about 45 degrees Fahrenheit. And so, I use my Tilley R55 & R1A on a daily basis. You Brits sure know how to put together a kerosene heater that is two things, effective and inexpensive to operate. On the topic water in the founts of both lanterns & heaters, I am given over to turning them upside down to drain almost all of the residual 'leftovers' from the fount each time it needs filled. I was shocked to see the 'debris' that came out of the founts; however, with each new 'dump & fill', less and less debris and water displayed its ugly head. At this stage in the game, I get very little debris any more, which pleases me no end. I believe regular 'dumping out' is the key to slowing rusting out founts and clogged jets. Thank you for reading this verbose dissertation. Captain Mike De Long aboard the trawler 'Covenant' in Hampton, Virginia USA.
Mike ,good to hear a tilley is doing good service over the pond,,,,the muck in the font probably comes from many years of inactivity ,you might have to eventually clean the mesh at the bottom of the control NRV with a bit of thinners. ,,, Is the R55 font brass or steel.?
Hail Norf. Thank you for your input. The fount on my beloved R55 is steel. I believe I have the problem under control. A friend of mine in California straps his founts, loaded with little BB's, to a paint shaker and lets them bounce around for about a half hour before he adds kerosene and flushed the whole thing out. He claims it is like bead blasting the inside, I think he's on to a good thing unless it's overdone. Captain Mike in Hampton, Virginia.
Hail Paul. How are things on the farm? Yes, thanks to you and your ability to supply me with 'the goods', I am as happy as a sedated clam. Winter is on its way. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr,....Captain Mike De Long in Hampton, Virginia.
