Tilley X246B 500 series

Discussion in 'X246B' started by mr optimus, Nov 19, 2011.

  1. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Hi lampies this tilley X246B 500cp lantern i found this around 12 years ago it was thrown out by a member of the public with a few other items and i had the job top clear it as i am a driver/dustman i have found about three pressure related items i collect

    1321726036-P1010021.gif
     
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  2. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    1321726408-P1010018.gif

    1321726426-P1010019.gif

    i dont know what happend i did try too upload these pics as well at the start so the two above is the lamp working and a close up shot of the mantle i am sure the vapouriser will need to be changed as there is a bit of a flame halo around the mantle and all so within five mins of working i had to clean the jet two or three times so the jet orafice may well have enlarged and the tube it self has got quite a bit of carbon build up
     
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  3. JEFF JOHNSON

    JEFF JOHNSON United Kingdom Subscriber

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    You could try cleaning the pricker wire first, Jeff.
     
  4. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Hi Jeff thank you for your response and advice i will give the wire a clean and try it again tomorrow
     
  5. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    I'm somewhat bemused by these '500cp' lanterns.

    When I first looked at them, the only difference I could detect was that the burner had a longer spigot to accommodate a larger mantle. Fair enough - bigger surface area to incandesce; more light output. That assumes, of course, that the vapouriser can produce sufficient paraffin vapour and the burner can mix it with sufficient air and flow the resulting mixture in sufficient quantity to 'fill' the larger mantle. Hmmm...

    So I phoned Tilley to ask if there was a 500cp vapouriser to be had. No, I was told, the 500cp lantern uses the standard 606 vapouriser as fitted to the 300cp lanterns. The next step was to obtain a 500cp burner and use it make an ersatz X246B500 from new parts. I recall that, although it was bright, it wasn't a convincing 500cp due to some areas of the mantle glowing with a greyish tinge - see Mr. O's lowest image. I concluded the mantle wasn't being sufficiently filled. I've just re-lit it and it's exactly the same as I remembered.

    Now, I see that Base-Camp are offering a 500cp 606 vapouriser but Tilley aren't - not listed at all, not even as out-of-stock.

    I've a 'proper' (i.e. made by Tilley) 500cp lantern coming in the next few weeks so it'll be interesting to see how that performs in comparison with my attempt at it. Watch this space, folks...

    Edit - it occurs to me that if you have a used 606 vapouriser with an enlarged jet i.e. worn, not clogged, maybe that would be OK to then use on a 500cp lantern because it would provide a larger amount to vapour to the burner. Just thinking aloud...
     
  6. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Hi David i agree the burner has just got a longer spigot prepared to the standard 246B the standard mantel can not be used on the 500CP a 500series mantel has to be used, i have been looking on tilleys web site and they dont have the 500 series burner just the standard 246 neither the 500 series mantels or a tilley 246B500cp lantern,
    when this lantern of mine was used a while back when there was no flame halo around the mantel when it was working perfectly i all so like you thought that it did not live up to the 500CP as stated it just seemed a bit more brighter than a standard 246 model i expected it to be on the same par as my petromax 500CP but it did not seem so bright,
    i wonder if it has been discontinued beacause it was never as good as it should have been
     
  7. JEFF JOHNSON

    JEFF JOHNSON United Kingdom Subscriber

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    If I recall correctly, the number 500 refers to the series, not the candle power.

    To see what a proper old style Tilley 500cp., burner looks like click on the link below.

    There is an old style 300cp., burner shown with it for comparison, Jeff.

    http://0flo.com/index.php?threads/1156
     
  8. David Shouksmith

    David Shouksmith United Kingdom Founder Member

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    Maybe you're correct, Jeff, but then what would be the point? See Neil's input, here.

    We are, of course, referring to claimed candle power, here - everyone knows the 300cp lanterns don't actually produce 300cp, so the 500cp ones won't produce 500cp, but they should be noticeably brighter.

    I've just read the Base-Camp listing for the 606 500 vapouriser and it says it won't fit the standard lantern. So how is it different? Anybody know? It'll be interesting to receive my X246B 500 series lantern in due course...
     
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  9. JEFF JOHNSON

    JEFF JOHNSON United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Hello David, I reckon that the point was, that Tilley were trying to boost their sales.

    The old style Tilley 300cp., burners were brighter than the modern ones, they were bigger and better made and when they were new and were fitted with an unused old style vapouriser and the old style of mantle which had a tighter weave, then I reckon that they did give 300cp.. Jeff.
     
  10. Mackburner

    Mackburner United Kingdom Founder Member Subscriber

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    Took me a while to work this one out but a read of the instructions is dare I say it instructive. In the X246B instructions it says fill with a pint and a half of paraffin and give 15 pump strokes to light and then a further 85 pumnp strokes for full pressure. In the X246B500 instructions it says 15 strokes to light and then a further 135 strokes for full pressure. So they gained light by adding pressure. 150 strokes will probably get you to around 40 or 45 psi and that will certainly increase the light. Sounds like a cheat to me and Tilley may well have been right that the vaporisers were the same. ::Neil::
     
  11. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Hi David i have just read your link from Neil and what interesting reading regarding the extra pressure i have my self noticed a slight bukge in the base plate of the tank and i agree with Neil very badly engineered adding 50% extra pressure to give a better light with a standard tank i wonder if tilley had some bad response about the 500 series that may well be why the no longer manufacture the 500 series i have a standard 246B upper burner i think i will change it over or buy a standard 246 spigot that way i will be able to use the standard mantle and not hunt around for the 500 series mantle
     
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  12. mr optimus

    mr optimus United Kingdom Subscriber

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    Many thanks lampies for all your response and valued information
     
  13. Phil Harris

    Phil Harris United Kingdom Subscriber

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    I have come to the same conclusion as many others, that the Tilley 500 was nothing more than a standard Tilley X246B fitted with a longer spigot and larger mantle, and intended to be operated at 3 bar instead of 2 bar.

    I have a 500 series spigot, which came with an X246B that now has a split in its brass tank (probably as a result of over-zealous polishing by a previous owner) and some mantles. In use, it's barely any brighter than a standard model. By fitting the longer spigot and 500 series mantle to an older X246 Guardsman, and pumping up till the pressure indicator was level, it was nice and bright but I only measured 125CP! I'm reluctant to over-pressurise these tanks as I have seen the results on an otherwise perfect chrome X246A :cry:
     

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