This is what is happening, when its lit if I open the valve fully it over fuels and flames appear around the mantle, so I adjust the valve closed slightly and it gets white but light output is compromised. When lit and adjusted it sometimes pulses. Any ideas?
You are probably looking for a new vapouriser. I had a 246B to which I fitted a brand new vapouriser. It didn't last long, just a few lightings. The cleaning needle was far too long and eventually it punched through the jet at the top making the hole oversized. Massive overfuelling and flames everywhere. Adjusting the needle so it was partly blocking the hole was the only way to calm it down. As this happened one night in a dark Cornish field I was not amused. By daylight I found it was possible to peen the jet hole back to reasonable size. It was also possible to adjust the length of the pricker (I filed the brass insert at the bottom) so the same can't happen again. Pricker only just protrudes through jet now. That vapouriser is still running 2 years later. It's not perfect but it serves until another comes along. I won't buy another one the same! The position of the pricker is affected by the thickness of the vapouriser sealing washer. Maybe that was at the bottom of the problem otherwise the 2 parts of the vap assembly were just wrong.
That could be it, I rebuilt it using a new vaporiser and genuine service kits, I'll have a play with it later and see whats what.. How long should a vaporiser last?
Tilley claimed a working life of 500 hours. I'd say that was possible in an ideal scenario so in the real world, probably quite a bit less. Factors which will reduce vapouriser life would be dirty or low-quality fuel, low working temperature, short periods of use and frequent start-ups...
Do you guys think I'm better off sourcing a new old stock vapouriser? The one I put in there had around 50 - 70 hours on it at a guess. Also would it be prudent to use two washers?
It's hard to be sure from your pix but it looks like the top of the vapouriser is rusty. Possibly corrosion has led to the jet widening which would explain the over-fuelling. If you've another Tilley with a vapouriser known to be good, try swopping them over. Somehow, that pricker, protruding as it does, looks odd...
I seem to recall the one that burst through on mine was protruding a bit more than that but of course it depends where the pricker shoulder is sitting. The very end wire can be different lengths. The signs were there that all was not right, I just didn't interpret them correctly. When turning off there was a tight spot just before the proper "off" position was reached. This was the shoulder of the pricker jamming against the jet. I was turning the valve to be fully off. That was forcing the pricker rod to compress and eventually caused it to punch through the jet. Here's a lesson. If it doesn't feel right then it probably isn't!!
As others have said are possible also have you checked all airways in burner are 100% clear as any restriction to airflow is will also give a rich burn. GP
I have the same problem when switching this off, I also noticed the wire to be very bent on disassembly but I thought the heat might have done that. I watched a youtube video where a guy was switching his lamp off by unscrewing the pump assembly and releasing the tank pressure, I don't think I would feel good about switching it off that way. When I first rebuilt it it worked perfectly so whatever is causing the flaming around the mantle could be due to something wearing out. Can the dome thing that sits over the top of the vapouriser and holds the mantle wear out? Is there a specific way to assemble this part correctly? I seem to recall three tubes that screw into it, perhaps its off centre? Either way I think a new vapouriser would be a good place to start with this.
Just to add, the hole in that vapouriser is off centre , I will shoot some fuel through it today but I also seem to recall it was shooting a jet of fuel off to one side and not straight up.
It needs to fire the fuel stream straight up. Much of what you describe makes me think the pricker might be jamming against the jet. How about adding a thicker washer at the bottom of the vapouriser until the pricker end really only just protrudes through the jet at the highest position? If the pricker is too high when off, it's probably too high when on. The pricker might be causing obstruction and that is skewing the fuel flow off to the side?
If your jet is not straight, take it the pricker and VERY GENTLY, insert it from the outside into the jet. If the jet still squirts off centre, very gently file it at the top with a very fine diamond file, and reinsert the pricker from the outside... If that doesn't work, your vapouriser is cactus... Cheers Tony
This is actually a good way to shut off a Tilley because it reduces wear on the pricker. In fact if you look at Vapalux/Bialaddin instructions they tell you not to use the pricker but always shut off by dumping pressure. Since Tilley burners are the same design as Vapalux and W&B were pretty good engineers I tend to think they would have been giving sound advice and that advice will also be good for a Tilley. ::Neil::
I always turn off Tilleys (and other paraffin lamps!) by dumping pressure. Makes sense to use a pressure relief screw when fitted (for paraffin) and the Tilley pumps (certainly the older ones) had a pressure relief hole drilled into them for that purpose.
I have a Tilley Guardsman, a Vapalux 310 and a Hipolito 502 and all of them get switched off in the same way by depressurising. I have sometimes forgot to leave the pressure off and have found the following morning my lamps sitting on a puddle of smelly heating oil when the volume inside the tank has expanded due to rising ambient temperature.
