Servicing a Bialaddin/Vapalux vapouriser

A common problem with Willis & Bates products - Bialaddin & Vapalux lamps and Bialaddin Bowlfire heaters, is the sudden onset of flames outside the mantle, usually yellow, after 50-60 hours of use, as shown in this Bowlfire which I lit today:



My experiences have shown that 95% of the time this is caused by a build up of carbon in the vapouriser. I have found the 'heat & quench' method of de-carbonising to be a bit hit and miss, so the following is my method, which requires no tools and works every time. For this method, the vapouriser needs to be dry with no kerosene present. If there are kerosene residues, dry out the vapouriser. In this case I balanced it on top of another Bowlfire for a couple of hours:



1. Remove the vapouriser and slide out the wire and spring. The wire will have a build up of carbon, particularly in it's central area. Remove this with a small piece of very fine emery paper. If there is any carbon up near the tip, ONLY slide the emery paper upwards, off the tip end. Do not come back down from the tip as you will almost certainly damage the cleaner wire set in the tip - upwards only.

2. Once the wire is clean, take a length of wire (stainless steel works best) and bend the tip slightly:



Insert into the vapouriser and work it in and out, around and around to scrape out the inside, tapping out regularly. There may well be a ridge of carbon half way up the vapouriser. Keep working away until the ridge is gone and the wire will slide easily to the end. Remove the wire occasionally and re-bend the tip. For a general service it is a two or three minute job, for fettling a neglected heater/lamp, it may take an hour of twiddling to really clean the crud out.

3. While you've got the vapouriser off, it's a good idea to remove the wire mesh mantle from the burner and clean out the ring of burner holes. Reassemble and you're good for another 50 - 60 hours:



I just did the same to a Bialaddin 305 which had black mantle disease and yellow flames outside the mantle (forgot to take a photo). Now running sweet as a nut. Took me five minutes:



I am sure that many of the vapourisers that get discarded as 'shot', could resurrected using this method.

Terry

 

Hello Terry, that is a good tip thankyou!

 

I have a vapouriser on a Vapalux M320 that is acting up and I will give your technique a try.
Thanks for posting!

 

Excellent, Terry.

Cheers

Tony

 

Sounds like a plan to me terry I will try it right now, bit nippy here in the bowrie, south Wales tonight so bowlfire litt and 2 vaporisers sat on top. After thinking about your method for not many seconds it occurred to me it sounds like a good idea thank you.

Gozzy.

 

...Think we all may be taking to the shed!

There may also be a rush on S/Steel Wire !!!.

 

Get an old bit of braided brake cable which has a frayed end. Place the cut end in a drill chuck and push the raggy end up into the vapouriser. Rotate at slow i.e. screwdriver-type speed until no more carbon is loosened...

 

The brass end unscrews making cleaning a doddle and also helps the bent wire trick get into the top part with the spring!

 

It does but I've only ever known one that did it willingly...

 

Yet again the old man has passed off my idea as one of his own, or we both discovered it whilst drunk! I,ve been using this method for years with a little blast of compressed air. Seems to work most of the time.
Si

 

I can't see where I passed it off as mine, or yours or anybody's, come to that. Neither have I any recollection of ever doing it previously. But as you say, I'm old...

 

I can't say I saw David pass it as his idea either.
And of course he couldn't have.
This is a method that comes in natural and has been used for ages.
Many of us has either just simply heard someone else do it or even come up with it ourselves since it's such a natural thing to do.
I think it probably was made the first time not long after the steel cable was invented and someone needed to clean a narrow tube.

 

Strange that, every one I have tried unscrews just fine? Then again I was the official tight lid unscrewer in the house!

 

Which 'brass end' are we talking about? I wasn't aware that anything could be unscrewed from a W&B vapouriser .

Terry (Who's calling into a bike shop later to scrounge some old brake cables) .

 

Er, the bottom end...

 

Brass bottom , must be related to the Urang-Uclang then?

w!m

 

Well I'm blowed - didn't know the bottom end unscrewed! But just tried it on three different ones and none would budge. I think I'll stick to wire.

Terry

 

You mean unscrew like this?

Spoiler

Perhaps this old thread about Bialaddin vapourisers is of interest.

 

They must have some sort of thread seal on them from new. I put them in a vice and use some Stilsons or pipe grips. Once you have unscrewed one they will leak if you don't do something about it. Luckily it's not the hot end so just about anything works to seal it from silicone to vitreon washers!

Oh and the cleaning wires turned out pretty simple to make after all from that old thread, just a very light touch from a 600 grit diamond stone to a spinning stainless rod gets it done a treat!

 

Another thought while on about vap tubes....I got an idea, you can buy these Brass end things on EBay. Now it's got me wondering if the end of a vap tube could be turned down a few Thou, remove the worn jet piece and clean out the end and one of these brass ends push fit on ? The knobbly bit removal and .20mm hole is no problem to do but I'm thinking of the gas escaping as sealing these super hot ends against leaks is a real pain and how Petromax do it with their replaceable jets I just don't know?
Well anyone reckon it's worth a try, if it worked you would have everlasting vapourisers.

 

Mr AATPies

I'm not quite sure I've got the hang of your brass end thingy, but one of the issues with a brass vapouriser inside Tilley-style burner, encased in a double-tie mantle, is that they get very very hot and the brass distorts, sometime jamming in the spigot. I've written about this before somewhere here.

Your solution would have to avoid that kind of problem.

Cheers

Tony

 

Hi tony, I wish I could load a picture up, used to use photo bucket here but it won't allow any more and as I'm on an iPad I'm stumped!

These brass things are little round end caps with a flat top. They are too small a diameter to just push on a regular vap tube so the tube would need a bit skimmed off slightly. I believe this wouldn't give the expansion problem with a pure brass vap tube? It's just a case of whether I could get a gas tight seal?

 

Mr AATPies

To load from an iPad:

1. Go to the CPL Image Optimiser and upload your photo to get it the right size.

2. Save the photo in your photolibrary on the iPad. It will sit in a sequence after the original one.

3. Now go to "Full Reply" and choose upload a photo and then select the reduced image from your photoalbum.

4. Make sure you click both "Full Size" and "Finish".

That should work.

Cheers

Tony

 

Again....



Thanks for explaining that for me Tony!

 

Seems more appropriate to post this here than to create a new thread, someone in germany has machined brass vapourisers which use Petromax jets and needles.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vergaser-Messing-fur-Vapalux-Bialaddin-Brass-Vapouriser-Vaporizer-/322003413694

Only 250cp, but it would be interesting to see if it performs as advertised, I guess Paypal gives you six months to find out.

 

I think there's a chap in Korea that does steel ones that take Petromax needles & jets too.

Yup :- http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/kkn4602/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

 

...Hmmm....and the Orange Tilly cap also, plus others.....Very Interesting!!!

 

I've bought from him before, but I did not notice the vapouriser.

It should be relatively simple to cut down and tap a worn out vapouriser to take a jet.

Tapping and threading the brass rod for the needle and adjuster would need some precision, but not beyond the capabilities of a hobbyist.

 

Finally got around to calling in to my local bike shop and asked if they had any old brake cables. The owner said I was welcome to rummage through the scrap bin out the back and take anything I could find of use. Came away with lots of assorted brake and gear cables which I was able to put to good use last night cleaning out the vapouriser loop on my Optimus 930. Thanks for the brake cable tip chaps, very useful.

Terry

 

Was out having a play in the garage so thought I would see if this mod worked.
This replaceable jet mod just doesn't work in so many ways so back to the drawing board!!! I got the jet hole drilled no problem but there is no seal to the push fit top. Some ultra heat proof tape would be great but I don't believe any such stuff exists that can take the temperature at the tip of a vap tube? Also the brass end caps are very brittle and I think even if it worked a few cycles later it would crack?