Hi all, I've been having a few problems with my Tilley X246 lately and finally replaced all the washers with a set from the Fettle Box. Excellent washers but beware that sometimes the NRV washer can take a little bedding in. I now have a small leak coming out of the top of the vapouriser which means I can't leave the lantern under pressure as kerosene slowly dribbles down over the tank. Would anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this or is the only solution to get a new vapouriser. Can the vapouriser just be cleaned or is the needle worn out, or is the hole now too big. I'll look forward to some responses.
You should be releasing pressure from tank when shut down and leaving pump a little loose, this will stop temperature change causing dribbles
I don't tend to leave my lamps under pressure, whether it's fine to or not. It sounds to me like you are either not completely shutting off the control cock or perhaps your control cock is worn out.
James, I have had the same issue myself. You will see the the NRV washer is tapered slightly. If you put the smaller end in first it should settle in quite well. Just a little slide on the table will make sure it's sitting flat. The other problem I have had before is a little bit of gunk stuck under the seal. Give it a blow out and all should be OK. Let us know how you go.
It helps to clean and "dress" the brass lip on which the Viton pip seats on the pump NRV and control cock valve. One would usually release the pressure in the fount after using the lamp. This should ease the pressure on the seals and help to extend their life.
^^^ What they said.... Also I always empty my lamps before transporting them, the last thing you want is paraffin all over the floor of your car.
Never leave a lamp or a lantern which does not have a positive shut off valve pressurised. When a Tilley is not in use the pump should be unscrewed.
Most pressure lanterns do not have a positive shut off valve, especially the kerosene lanterns and therefore, tend to "dribble" in time. I always let the air out of my lanterns, even the Coleman lanterns that do have a positive shut off valve. I feel that leaving the lantern pressurized all the time just puts an added burden of the seals.
The NRV pip in a Tilley does need bedding down sometimes. I generally give the protruding end of the pip carrier a tap on the bench to bed the pip down when fitting a new one. This will also sometimes cure a slight leak past the pip. If there is just a minor push back of the pump rod then a tap on the end of the NRV carrier might cure it. ::Neil::
Thanks for all the replies and the good info. I've had the kero on the floor of the car (took almost a year to go away) and come across all the problems with the NRV valve. The viton ones are quite hard and take a little time to soften minutely. Once bedded in they are fantastic. It sounds like depressurising is a good idea and although I do it most times I'll have to start doing it all the time.
James, Now you have your answers..... Do you ever go into the Brindabellas camping? About 40 years ago a mate of mine worked for the Forestry Dept and came across some very old, even for then, and very interesting maps. Obviously the maps were outdated and lacked many of the newer locations etc. What was interesting about the maps was the marking of some old places on the maps that had disappeared from the newer maps. One place in particular took our imagination - Kings Mine. It was no longer marked on the Dept of Forestry maps and my mate had not heard of the place prior to noticing it on the old Forestry map. We decided we should go and see what was there and I can tell you I'm very glad we did. We set off on a four day trip atop our motor bikes. (I, on a Suzuki DR400) Remember, no GPS back then and just a map that was likely around a hundred years old to go by. The Brindabellas' back then was virtual all dirt roads and as you are aware it's very rugged terrain. It kind of brought to mind a line from Banjo Pattersons poem, The Man From Snowy River, "...hop scrub grew thickly, and the hidden ground was full of wombat holes, and any slip was death." We decided to try and find Kings Mine by doing some calculations from known spots marked on modern maps and transposing them onto the old map, to come up with where and how we could tackle actually getting to the mine - if we could locate it. Even on modern maps there were no marked trails in the vicinity of the mine (Think 50 miles) We could tell the mine was located very close to the Brindabella River which of course isn't surprising. Once we got to the region where we suspected the mine to be, which believe me wasn't easy. At least the slips hadn't resulted in death, just some bumps and bruises. Now it was down to exploring possible avenues to reach the river. After trying various options over the course of a few hours, we came across a flatish section of the mountain where lush green grass was growing. After setting off into the lush grass it was quite clear from the outset, no one had been there for a long, long, time. Our motor bikes were sinking into the very damp ground and carving deep wheel tracks. It was obvious that if our motor bikes were doing such tracks, 4 wheel drivers would have left deeper trails that would have taken a long time to repair themselves and they would be noticeable. As we got closer to the edge of the mountain, that had been divided by the river, we found our first glimpse of Kings Mine, the remnants of the sluice which looked a lot like this image that I have taken from the net. To see that sluice and know we were within a few hundred yards from the mine was something else. Eventually we were able to get to the mine. Sitting there, surveying what was in front of us and knowing how difficult it was for us to get there, made you understand just how hard it must have been for the miners to get their mining equipment to this remote area 100 years before. I suspect the only option they had was to use bullocks, it was just too tough a terrain for horse and carts. The river is far to wild and dangerous to be an option. Finding old bottles and bits and pieces amongst the still standing kiln, sluice, dilapidated huts etc, was very cool. It was also very cool knowing you were likely the first two blokes in 50 or 60 years to have seen the mine. I think the most astonishing bits of equipment I saw there were long steel rods, perhaps ram rods, that were massively heavy. I wouldn't have liked to be a bullock on the bullock team with that lashed to our backs. Once you were at the mine, that is obviously where you worked ate and slept. There was no going home for the weekend. I suspect the miners would have had to take months of food supplies with them. It would have taken months to get there and back from the nearest civilisation. From Wikipedia Gold was found in 1860 and mined from the 1880s. In 1887 the Brindabella Gold Mining Company was formed and mining continued until 1910
