Two identical Bialaddin Bowl Fires... One running perfectly, they other had what I would best describe as a lazy flame. Perfectly blue, not a hint of yellow but it never fully illuminated the mantle and a lot of gentle blue flame outside the mantle. Fitted a brand new vapouriser, same result. Fitted a different stop cock and feed tube, same result. Swap the two burners over and both bowl fires work perfectly
could you post a picture of these burning please , i have one it lights up and has a blue flame but the whole mantle does not glow just the top half . matt
You probably need more pressure in the tank. You can pump these Bialaddin bowl fires until your thumb hurts. If that doesn't improve things then I'd suggest a good clean and service, renewing seals and the vapouriser if necessary...
renew the vapourizer ??? i have had some new vapourizers finding there not much cop to the old ones . have a few 2nd hand ones what's wrong with the heat treatment from a blowtorch and dunk in water to decarbonise ??? matt
Because experience has shown that, generally, it doesn't work or, at best, delays the inevitable replacement for a while only because there's no nipple to be removed and most of the loosened carbon remains trapped inside the vapouriser. You might need to replace the vapouriser if it's clogged and therefore no longer able to provide a sufficient volume of fully vapourised fuel at full pressure into the burner. If it can't, the flamelets from the burner will be too small and won't have sufficient heat energy to reach the bottom of the gauze...
Try pulling the cleaning wire out of the vapouriser. I have three Bowlfires and find that after around 50 hours of use there is a build up of hard black crud midway up the wire. Removing it with some fine sandpaper does wonders for the stove's performance. Terry
Check that the feed tube isn't partly blocked. I have various sized long screwdrivers that I use to clean these out...
ahh good point there , il give it a go , as always into stationary engines and converting a van into a campervan always lots to do
I'm coming to the opinion that Tilley vapourisers might be saved. Yes they fill with crud but that can be removed. As already suggested hard deposits on the pricker should scraped or sanded off - but the rest of the crud is still stuck inside the tube. It has to come out. I tackled one of these recently - since at the time I had no alternative. I put it on the fount (on it's own minus everything else) so that I could heat it from all directions with a blow torch. Warming it to dull red from about 2/3 the way up to the jet and also applying fuel intermittently made it issue a volcano from the jet. By applying pressure - and allowing it to burn out on it's own - over and over - that got the carbon crud dislodged from inside the tube. Hard tapping of the threaded end against a solid surface, and some paper to catch the bits, netted lots of little needles of black crud. Repeat it over+over. When no more crud can be dislodged and it burns with a good 2-3ft of yellow vertical flame while tube is heated to vapourise as fuel+pressure is applied it is done. (be careful of this - can rain unburnt paraffin which soaks hair and clothes - I was banished from house after this) Afterwards, a vapouriser which would hardly burn at all before I started - very feeble - ran so rich it sooted up the mantle. I am now working at sizing the jet hole (it was enlarged). This can be closed up by tapping a square ended metal drift across the jet opening to close it up. (see various threads about 96 stove vapouriser tubes on forum of sister site CCS) So far this technique, for me, has closed up the jet too much. Opening the jet back up with a 0.2mm pricker has meant slightly rich mixture - yellow light. I am now looking for a pricker of 0.18mm or so which should be just about right. I have bought a new vapouriser - not as well constructed as the old - there is not much difference in performance between them just now. A bit more work and I think the old one will turn out to be superior. If this can be done more than once then the old one should carry on forever? It's 50 yrs old now I suppose. Another 25yrs will do
If you got, say, an old bicycle brake cable inner, you could cut off about 6" and mount the cut end into a drill. Then shove the raggy end into the vapouriser and switch on/rotate the drill at slow speed, moving the wire in and out. That might loosen most or all of the carbon up to the stricture in the vapouriser. It wouldn't be a difficult or time-consuming operation and wouldn't present a risk to either life or limb, nor incur the wrath of the missus. My suspicion would be that little carbon accumulates above the stricture since that's in the hottest part of the burner and carbon would oxidise as fast as it's produced. Just a thought...
I'm sure that would work in the lower portion David. I'll bow to greater knowledge, since I have been a Tilley owner for only about 4-5months, but isn't there some kind of guide (maybe 2) to direct the pricker to centre in the jet orifice? I think it guides itself somehow else the thin sharp point would be wrecked clashing at the top. That hasn't happened and I have never had to "aim" for the jet hole. It's the carbon above these guides (if they exist) up to the jet which would be most damaging to mixture - here's why I set about it the way I did. It was fun too.
Yes, the guides are above the stricture an inch or so from the top of the vapouriser. I don't know about greater knowledge - I was just thinking aloud based on something someone said at Newark. I've never attempted to clean the inside of a Tilley vapouriser. It occurs to me that you'd have to be careful about the direction of rotation of the brake cable because it would tend to unwind in one direction. One of the reversible type drills or screwdrivers would suit or you could put the other end of the brake cable into the drill chuck. Perhaps someone could give it a try and let us know...
Thanks! You have confirmed something I suspected but did not want to prove using a hacksaw - not before I had a totally scrap vapouriser anyway. Yes brake cable will unwind - I forget what target was my first try at that using a drill. I don't believe it was lamp/stove related. Clockwise + anticlockwise reversals were effective I do remember.
Newbie question but it seems important: What does the term "bowl fire" mean? Is this to do with the spirit cup/wick at the base of the vaporizer?
When you see one running the name becomes clear.... Picture originally posted by Dan D in the reference gallery.
