Hi everyone. New to the group and apologies if this is answered elsewhere but I haven't been able to find any answers on the forum for this.....however I am sure they are there somewhere. Anyway...managed to pick up a complete Tilley Guardsman X246 at a carboot for £8.....bargain! I had a No12 stove I bought a while back which was in rag order which I referbished so thought this will be largely the same. Purchased a set of new seals and have replaced them, cleaned the needle and checked the hole is there/free of carbon etc. I checked that it held pressure which it did and hissed appropriately when I turned the valve on and off. I also removed the old mantle which was completely shot and put on a new 164x from Tilley. I have just fired it up and it came on full blast where flames were licking out of the top. As I dialled it back a bit, got a nice glow but this went down to almost going out after about 60 seconds, so turn it up again and flames licking out the top, so dial back to a nice glow. I didn't add any additional pumps between turning it up or down so I don't think it's a pressure leak or anything like that. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to sit at a nice glow. Is there something I am doing wrong or something I should check is in place, something that needs cleaning or tightening or something? Thanks in advance.
Did you pre-heat it first? Tilleys need a pre-heater 'torch' to heat up the vaporiser otherwise the paraffin comes out as a liquid and you end up with a fireball like you describe. One of these... You soak it with meths, clip it to the vaporiser and light it.
Hi yes I preheated first using meths for about 2 minutes. I have just been reading and maybe the nozzle is shot and needs replacing. It just seems strange that it's great for about 60 seconds then starts to go out? I'll keep reading and hopefully get some more guidance. Thanks
@Davo Tilley lamps can’t be “dialled back”. They are disingenuous to operate at full pressure with the needle fully retracted from the jet. When lighting, you open the control cock at about 15 to 20 pumps, taking it up to full pressure When the mantle is hot and glowing white. If you are getting flames around the mantle after starting it correctly it indicate too much fuel or too little air. Make sure your burner is clean and all parts tight. Check all the components for wasp nests or spiders. Then if it’s flaming around the mantle, the jet in the vapouriser could be shot. These are great lanterns. Cheers Tony
Welcome aboard! If it's cold then it will require more than one pre heating, so it's best to have a few meths torches and it should be pre heated indoors, in a shed or garage until you get the hang of it.
Great stuff. Thanks for the replys. I did to realise that they were designed to be operated "fully open" so to speak, so that's definitely something I have learned. I'm going to give it another go tomorrow and see if I can get some better results.....maybe I was too hasty. To be fair, I was sat out in the yard having visions of blowing myself up Thanks everyon
Hi @Davo and welcome! If the jet tip at the end of the vapouriser is worn, sometimes when you turn the control cock to almost off position it lessens the fuel enough to give a half decent glow ? You can also trial run without a mantle to check everything is ok to save using them up let us know how you get on and photos are always welcome good luck with things
Hi Davo ,one of our members has put some excellent tuition videos on you tube under the name of broadlander, they are very informative and should give you all the info you need to strip, service and light up your lamp, good luck on getting it running properly. Regards Ian
Hi @Davo and welcome to the forum. All good advice above, the ‘Broadlander’ vids on YouTube got me pointed in the right direction when I caught the lamp bug. Good luck with getting your lamp fettled! Stevie
