I have recently restored a Tilley Table lamp for my wife. She has fallen in love with it and really wants to see it working at night after a BBQ with friends etc. I have replaced all the seals and tried lighting it for the first time the other day. Although I am sure I preheated it enough, it kept flaring and the mantle was slightly glowing, but most of the smoke and flames seemed to be coming from the gallery. I am sure I had enough pressure, as I actually popped the safety valve at one point and it lowered the pressure. Any idea's what I could be doing wrong. I have a Bi-Aladdin X300 and this works a treat. I did use a generic mantle, not a Tilley specific one (so a mantle I use on the X300) could this be it? But that would not explain why it is flaring at the top. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Safety Valve? Are you talking about the little pip on the top of the tank? That is a pressure indicator and it is not meant to release pressure, if it is then you have a problem.
Tilley table lamps should be preheated indoors and from your description it sounds like the lamp was not hot enough, but the vapouriser's jet may be enlarged or the cleaning wire may need a clean and there may also be problems with your burner. Each part of the burner needs to be clean and properly tightened, including the mixing tube which is located inside the mixing dome. Also, burners do burn out after a while. Photographs would help us to assist you and the link below shows Tilley operating instructions, but that part of this website is only open to subscribers. http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/813
Tilley lighting instructions are here:- http://www.base-camp.co.uk/instruction.html These refer to the lantern but it's the same procedure with the table lamps...
Thanks for the instructions. I did not pump it forty times before the nipple was releasing pressure. Probably thirty at maximum. I did think at the beginning there was just not enough pressure. By simply pressing my finger over the nipple can i at least check it is not the nipple releasing to much pressure, or will a simple finger be too weak to avoid pressure release? As regards the burner, i will admit i have not striped this down, simply because i cannot open it. I have tried the special mixtures posted here(Spirit Burner gifted me with some) and this also had no luck in loosening the burner assembly. The Vaporiser is brand new, without sadly the brass ring at the bottom, just a steel ring. The old Vaporiser would not allow me to insert the cleaning needle and seems to be full of gunk. I have heard heating and dipping in water and then tapping will clean this, but that was on a stove burner, not a vaporiser. When I used a piece of leather and a clamp on one of the air tubes, I started to pinch the air tube before it was loosening so I stopped.
To dismantle the burner, get it nice and hot with a blowtorch and then chuck it in a pan of water. You may need to repeat this several times before it comes apart.
If the pressure indicator is leaking then it will have to be soldered before the lamp will work properly, it's not meant to leak.
1. Test the pressure indicator by putting light oil in it and pumping. If it leaks a lot, solder it closed, 2. If your old vapouriser is that clogged, it's probably knackered. Use your new one. 3. If you're having trouble getting your burner apart, don't force it. Leave it assembled, clean it with some 1:4 vinegar and water or carburetor cleaner, use pipe cleaners or similar to make sure all orifices are clear, check that it's all tight and try again ensuring good preheat and follow instructions. Cheers Tony
All good advice. They do work exactly as the Bialaddin but they have a much bigger meth reservoir than the Tilley torch does so one fillof meths is enough. However Tilley table lamps do seem to need a little more preheat than the lanterns. I guess because the top parts are not as restrictive and don't hold the heat as well. For folk that are not used to them it is a good idea to give it two goes with the torch before firing it up. ::Neil::
