I have fitted new mantles to my Tilley 246B and Bialaddin 300x. The mantles are the same but the Tilley is a bit brighter and the Bialaddin pulses a little. What should I look for in the 300. Also the non return valve spring in the Tilley was missing. I have made a temporary bodge but where can I get the correct one please. Thanks
Hi Terry The mantles for Tilley and Bialaddin are different. 164H/164X for the Tilley and V42 for the Bialaddin. Tilley service pack SP1 will give you all the washers and springs etc you require. The pulsing may be caused by low fuel/pressure or a pressure leak. Vapalux washer kit W5 may help. These are all available from www.base-camp.co.uk although the Fettle Box here does excellent washers. Good luck with your project, please let us know how you get on. Regards, Jeremy
I have bought a few generic 2 tie mantles which fit on both lamps fine. There is definitely no leak in either both having been rewashered and holding pressure perfectly. The mantles are very bright indeed but the bialaddin is just a tad dimmer even when highly pumped.
Sorry to be so ignorant but am I correct that the vapouriser is the tube from the reservoir with the jet in the top. And the answer is I haven't a clue how old it is. I have had it about a year and know nothing if it's history but it was very tatty and unloved when I got it.
Don't worry - we all had to learn at some point. Yes, that's the vapouriser you've described. Liquid fuel enters at the bottom and as it travels upwards, it boils and becomes vapour. Tilley and Bialaddin / Vapalux vapourisers have a finite life and despite what you may read here sometimes, weren't designed to be serviceable but simply replaced when they wore out. Service life was reckoned to be around 500 hours but the use of inferior or dirty fuels will shorten this. You'll soon find that knackered vapourisers are commonly the cause of many running faults. Vapourisers (=generators in American) from various other manufacturers were designed to be cleaned out and the jets replaced. Hope that helps...
Just as general info in the vapouriser/generator service life. I have a Wizard manual and in it they state that one of their generators has a service life of 200 to 400 hours whilst the Arc generators had a service life of 500 to 600 hours. It seems by Davids' service life for a Tilley vapouriser, Tilley compares pretty well with a replacement jet generator.
Thanks chaps. I thought that the top part with the air tubes and burner vapourised the fuel not the 'tube'. The Tilley is fine. It's the Bialaddin that's the problem with the pulsing. So can I get a new or at least decent vapouriser.
Base camp sell new vapourisers from Vapalux and when I put one on my 300x it was transformed . Old vapourisers are the cause of all sorts of dim light or pulsing it appears.
No, the fuel becomes vapour in the vapouriser (hence the name) and then rushes out of the jet causing a lowering of the air pressure at that point i.e. the venturi effect. This means the pressure there is lower than air pressure so air moves into the burner through the air tubes. The vapour and air mix thoroughly in the mixing dome and exit through the row of holes in the burner plate where combustion takes place. I hope that doesn't seem too pedantic for anyone (in the nicest possible way, naturally...)
Thanks for the informative replies especial David. I have checked out base camp but nearly £30 is more than it's worth. I'll have to live with it for now.
Well, you can remove the vaporiser and take out the pricker-rod and spring. The amount of carbon on the pricker-rod will give you a fair idea of what's inside the vapouriser. Scrape it off the pricker-rod. The vapouriser itself is more difficult - you can easily tap the bottom end against something and hopefully, some carbon may drop out. Some folk try heating and cooling i.e. quenching which may loosen some carbon by thermal shock. Others try ultrasonic baths with all sorts of cleaning solutions. Maybe a soak in vinegar or citric acid solution. My view is that these are 'chicken soup' - they won't do any harm and may just have some beneficial effect. Vapourisers come up on eBay all the time but buy a new one, not used. You wouldn't buy used brake linings on eBay and you can see the condition of those. You are pumping up the Bialaddin until your thumb hurts, aren't you? Don't try that with the X246B, mind, which is a different beast altogether and you'll end up dishing-down the baseplate...
By some fluke, not sure where from, I found another vaporiser in my junk box. It's much better. I will try some of the techniques you mention on the old one.
