I have an X246B with a 2-ring guard from 1974, and one with a 1-ring guard from 1980. So, I asssume that the model changed somewhere between those two years - but when?
The latest two ring I have listed is from November 1975 and the earliest one ring is September 1977. If anyone has an X246B between those dates then can you let me know and we may be able to narrow that down some. ::Neil::
That's already a short interval - less than two years. But it could be fun to be able to tell exactly when it happened. Could there have been a parallel production of the two versions?
I have couple of 246B's from 60's that are having two rings. Pumps of those are having differences... Older one is having new style pump but all parts are from brass. Newer one of them is having pump that pump knob, both caps and piston shaft are made of aluminum. Also handle in older one has a different shape. My one ring 246B's are from 80's and 90's so I cannot help with dating question.
Unlikely I would have thought. Mind you with Tilley anything is possible. As they date marked with month and year we may be able to tell the month it changed. Just need folk to turn over lamps and report the type and dates. Got to be able to get closer than two years. ::Neil::
Interesting! Just checked the four I have: from 72, 74, 76 and 80 - all have the same pump with brass inside and aluminium outside. The one from 80 has a different nut, though, for the NRV. Also checked the X246As: one from 3-63, the other from 12-63. The first has a different knob from all the others, the second is aluminium inside but looks like the others on the outside. There are small differences in style so, going into the details, not two are 100% alike. Strange, really, as it should be supposedly cheaper to stick to just one design? Unless they have been made by various 3rd parties, of course.
Here is the tally from my collection of (mainly junk) Tilley X246Bs: 1972 (double ring) 1973 (double ring) 1979 (double ring) 1981 (single ring) 1991 (single ring) Tony
Well well... your 1979-lantern, Tony, seems to collide with Neil's 1977-lantern. Maybe Australia continued to get the two-ring type longer than the UK? Or maybe one of the lanterns has been restored at one point in time and did by that occasion get a new cage?
Hmm.. I wonder what happened here - I do not have one from 76. That would have been great, though, for helping clearing up the matters
I'll double check to make sure I didn't make a mistake on the '79. Some of these lanterns were in Antarctica for quite a period, so it's possible that the cages were swapped. As I said, I'll double check the '79. Tony
Jorgen, Yes, it's quite interesting how much there is variation in details when you look lanterns carefully. On those 60's two ring 246B's pumps are different, but also NVR in older one is a bit different than in old 246's (I don't hae any 246A's (yet ) so I cannot compare to them). In that older 60's 246B that I have NRV nut is same as in my old 246's but brass holder that keeps the pip is not having that center rod that comes through the NRV nut. Pip on NRV is just rubber disk as in old 246. Newer 246B from 60's NRV is like in current Tilley lanterns, aluminum nut and molded pip . Also handle in older 60's has a different shape. It has same width starting from cage. Newer one gets narrower 4-5 cm from cage as in current 246B's. Older one cannot be detached from cage as in my 60's newer one and current ones. That older version is better since handle will not scratch to second ring. On those newer 246B's with one ring that I have there is variation on nut that mounts the pump to the tank. Shape has variation and also knurling has different pattern. So quite many things to find/discover...
The 1979 Tilley X246B definitely has the 2-ring cage. It is marked "1079". No other markings, and painted red over bare brass.
Looks like there may have been some overlap then. Could be an aftermarket change with a replacement cage. There are a lot of minor changes in these lanterns down the years. I suspect a lot is due to Tilley tweaking design to save costs and possibly also because they were outsourcing and the changes reflect different manufacturers. ::Neil::
I Just add additional information... Manufacturing month and year for my 60's 246B's with two rings are: -older one October 1965 -newer one March 1967
Yes, true, they have made sure that we could get an interesting hobby I am a little surprised to hear about the handles - I thought that the straight handle was found only on the older models, like X246A and X246. But some X246B also have it? Just to make sure I understood it correctly: are all straight handles non-detachable and fitted on a two-ring frame? And all bended handles are detachable but can be found on both two-ring and one-ring frames?
The handles on the X246/A/B series have all been detachable since the introduction of the 'clip-on' lugs on the globe cages sometime around the mid '50s i.e. well before the 2-rings became 1-ring...
Well, David, it might be possible to detach them if you really want to, but some of the older ones do not look like if they were meant for that - they have a round hole, while the newer types have an oval hole. The first type holds back the flattened handle end, while the second type allows for it, at a certain angle, to be detached.
Well now you mention it, I might have come across the odd one-or-two that weren't removable but generally they were - and not linked to the 1/2 ring thing. I'd say don't sweat it too much with Tilleys or you'll drive yourself nuts. Tilley themselves weren't always that bothered about what they fitted to which lamps and lanterns as long as they worked (and sometimes didn't e.g. the X359) so they could get them out of the factory and on sale. Coupled to that, there don't appear to be any works diaries or other documentation still extant. And then folk have had the best part of a century to swop bits around for themselves so it's always going to be difficult, or even impossible, to tie in production changes with precise dates...
You are right But every time I see such a mess I feel urged to try to make some kind of order out of it In the case of Tilley it is almost like one of those poems that somehow sound like if they have something to say, but... what? However, if it is possible to draw up some general lines of product development, these might also explain certain things like why specific models were introduced or disappeared (perhaps because they were tied to other models) or why market shares varied. So maybe it is really worth something to try to find the corner and edge pieces of the puzzle and then at least see some sort of frame for it all. You are no doubt right in seeing Tilley's main objective as selling something, whatever it is - I have seen that same pattern in many other lamp manufacturer's behaviour. Btw., I wasn't aware that the X359 didn't work? There are not many of them available but I thought that it was simply because they originally sold at a higher price, which traditions bound Tilley buyers didn't see a need to pay. The preheat technology used should work, I would think, as it does so in the lanterns of many other brands.
Except that the other brands didn't use that crappy oval washer made out of some sort of (cheap, probably) degradable rubber held in place by two piddling little pins that are prone to falling out of their locating holes. Even Tilley themselves gave up on it in the end and simply replaced the entire preheater with a bolt - much more reliable (but useless at preheating!). Do I sound bitter? - surely not!
Ah, I have seen such a bolted lantern - I imagined that it was the result of an owner's lack of patience in a fettling project And bitterness is not for the enlightened who of course understands and appreciates the reasons of necessity...
